Reels...What are you using

[Rip-Plugger]

Cool thread, guys, those pics got me I'm still stuck with the Penns, but I gotta get me a winch this year when some $ comes around. I lost some nice fish last year because I couldn't turn them. When you start gettin above 30's, VS or a winch is the way to go. There's a lotta hatin on the VSs, but they won't let you down.

DS,

you can still put up pix and state how your rig/s have held up,those facts are what a newbie can go by if they want to get started in this lifelong game of ours.
show us,,,
any mods you may have done to make it better or cast farther or even make it smoother will help too!

R-P

[DarkSkies]

OK, RP my bare budget Penn 550's











my bunker and clam pole, a garcia mitchell 303 with a garcia true fiberglass 12' rod, about 40 yrs old. I bought the exact same reel at a flea market for parts today, $15.

[Rip-Plugger]

thats what I mean DS,they get the job done right?

how are they holding up?


R-P

[Monty]

I used to use nothing but those Penns and thought they were great.
They held up better than anything the others I was fishing with had.
I sold a few of the Penns I had but kept these (and will keep them).
I always thought that these reels were good for surf fishing, could handle the salt and sand much better than average.

[Rip-Plugger]

Monty,

I ain't a spiinning guy or even like penns but i know those are some cold pieces.

[Rip-Plugger]

sold one of my ming-yangs to a friend who loves it so,I replaced it with a brand new CL-70 Chrome Rocket,,

[Rip-Plugger]

Took out the Omoto jungle-5000[courtesy of
Ray at stingraytackle] for a session last night.
it is an exceptional machine,smooth,powerful drag,fast and has purrdy cosmetics.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well it did eveything.from wood to rubber.
I really must say that it's as nice as anything I own,I am very happy with it's performance.

I look forward to slinging some wood and other gear with the 666-A3 and the 777-S3,I am sure they are as fine a machine.

Thanks Ray!!

R-P

[Frankiesurf]

I was killing reels on a regular basis. When I first started out a few years ago, I had gone through three cheapo reels in a year. I then went to Quantum Boca 40. That was a good reel and I use it on my lighter stick but I needed more. That is when I got me a Penn 6500SS. I was kind of sick and tired of always having to regrease and clean it out so I went and got myself a 650 at a good price. Just so I had a little lag time between pulling one apart and fishing the other. Now I had two reels to regrease and rebuild. It was getting very old last fall so I made up my mind to do A LOT of research and settled on an AMERICAN MADE reel with a LIFETIME warranty. I picked up a brand new ZX-25 at less than the price of a vs250.








BTW someone said they like American made but vs is made in CHINA

[DarkSkies]

Frankie, thanks for the research, I'm leaning towards a ZB by the end of the year. I'm sick and tired of busting reels up cause they get sprayed once in a while by an overhead wave or something like that.

These reels are all good for the casual fisherman, and will last a long time if you treat them like a newborn when you get home, wash wipe, etc each time. If you start fishin more than one or 2 days a week, you realize these reels were not built to handle abuse and bigger fish, or run after drag screaming run. It is what it is.

I'm wondering what the price range for the ZX-25s is, you can pm me if you want, thanks.

[Monty]

With the VS and ZB being so expensive, used is an option.
Both VS I have (150 and 250) are used and saved a few hundred smackers that way.

[gjb1969]

i wish i could post some picks but i am on a old mac and ms dose not support mac any more so the program dose not work now it sucks i have to get my other pc back