LI32

Thinking about adding a pair of shallow water (4'-10' depth) jigging rods & reels to my arsenal for Fluke and Sea Bass when we fish in the bays. Mostly throwing bucktails and jigs in the 3/8-3/4 ounce sizes.
Leaning towards small spinning reels for their ease of use with guests over a low profile baitcaster (Shimano Tranx 200).
Anyone with experience with the Penn Battle II - I am looking at the 2500 size and am going to spool it with 10 lb braid to a 6' 15lb flouro leader and use it with a 6'6" 12-20 lb rod.

tarpononecharter

Suggest you visit the website alanhawk.com and look at his lists page where he rates various spinning reels based on price and usage. Battle II is not a bad choice but it wouldn't be my first choice by a long shot.

Ice Cream Man

Have several a smaller 2000 series Penn Battles II reels on 6'6" rods spooled with 10 # braid for Reds, Trout & Flounders.
It's never given me any problems landing a slot Red Drum, they fight harder than a Flounder or a BSB.
But I'm fishing shallow .........
I use 2500 & 3000 series Penn Battle II for throwing topwaters for Reds & jigs for Albies.
Your choice of reel will work ........ICM

iFishMD

They are junk. I couldn’t get through a season guiding with them without issue. I went to Shimano NASCIs for the same price and am MUCH happier. Not one failure after a season of guiding plus they are lighter and smoother. However get the 3000. They are the same reel body just a little more spool capacity.

flfJack

I’ve had good luck with some and bad luck with others. I will say that I like it more than the BG.

Grog

Go with a Diawa BG instead.

TorFed

Replaced mine with Daiwa BG's

cheesewithout

love my battles

mike1010

The main problem with these reels is that the gears are cheap, pot metal castings. Even if you fish a light drag, the gears will fail after a few seasons (or less). If you don't mind a disposable reel, they are okay.

Danyelfell

I have 5-6 Penn battles that I have has for 4-5 years and not really had any issues with them. I have size 3-6k and have caught everything from Inshore trout, reds and flounder to Tarpon. I caught and 70-80 pound tarpon last year on a 5k battle with spoiled with 50 pound braid. My 5 and 6k have all caught 100’s of dolphin with no issues. They are super easy to break down abs service yourself. The main gear is a little weak but it’s a cheap and really easy to replace. Just order a few and keep them on hand. Your talking about a 80-100 dollar reel and for that price I think they are great. With that said I have been working them out of my inventory and replacing them with the Diawa BG reels.

BACKTOTHESEA

The issue with a battle is you can’t simply crank them like a monkey using a music box, which is often what happens with sports on a charter. I have a few and frankly they are fine. Use mine for the same thing as you want to do.

that said, the BG is a more robust reel and prefer them to the B2. They seem a little heavier though. For what you want to do they will work fine.

Yellow Fever

Check out the new Shimano Spheros SW’s.

GP100

Like my Daiwa BG better than my Penn Battle II. Similar price.

spcharlton

Penn Battle II is a solid reel IF you NEVER let it get wet. Seriously, it does not handle direct contact with salt water terribly well. It is however a great boat reel.

LI32

Seeing as the smallest ones are 5000's series sized - those won't work even if I didn't mind paying 115% more.
The BG2500 and the Battle 2500 have similar specs in terms of line capacity, line retrieve and weight.
I am not stuck on the Battle II if the Diawa BG is a better reel - my tackle dealer sells the BG for $4 more.

95wellcraft

Go ahead and get the BG.



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Capt. Marcus

I have a set of 8 3000 battle 2s that are headed into their 5th season of charter fishing. Have not had any issue with them. Other than a full cleaning if one gets dunked they just get hit with a water hose at the end of the day. 75% use on trout and slot reds. But also use them for bull reds jacks triple tail and the occasional cobia.

mwp135

I have used Daiwa BG for past 3 yrs now without any failures or complaints; excellent reels for the price.
Got 3 of them for 83 each, will be buying more to replace old Quantum reels.

GP100

yup. Mine didn't like getting dunked at all. Seized right up.

triumphrick

I do quite well servicing Penn Battles.....

A brand new main gear is $4.60...a pinion is $4.95...super cheap for what they do. That should tell you all you need to know about the reel.