I have been looking on ebay and have found that the old penn reals VINTAGE sell pretty cheap. I have always liked the way they looked and the way they reel but if i were to use one for catfishing or surf fishing would they hold up to a 30 or 40 lb cat ??? Any specific size / model i dont know a whole lot about these reels ??
T-Bar Handle for PENN 49L & 149L Mariner Reels
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which penn’s have you been looking at. for big cats look at the penn delmar 285. for surf fishing look at the spinfisher 706z
Vintage Penn reels would be one of the few reels I might still use, (other than old Abu Garcia baitcaster’s).
You will probably have to replace some part of the drag, but that shouldn’t be an issue because parts for Penn are the easiest to find and have replaced.
Do you want a conventional/baitcaster type Penn or a Spinning reel?
In my opinion, the older Penn reels are better than the newer ones because the new design Penn’s have various parts made in China.
I say go for it.
920? 930? 940?
How cute! Those are such awesome little reels!
I have the 955, 965, and 975.
Make sure you rinse them off outside with the hose or in the shower… they are vintage, and you don’t want them to corrode and get all ugly.
Sure. They used them years ago and landed plenty of fish with them.
built like tanks, especially the old ones. spend the time to clean, oil and change the drag washers and it’s like new. you might be able to get an exploded view of the reel from penn. don’t be afraid, it’s only fishing.
What the other responders have said is true — if you clean one up, oil it, put in new drag washers and fill it with new line, it’ll work as well as it did when it was new.
But there are reasons reel designs have changed — a new 2009 reel is a much better reel than a new 1969 reel.
The real old Penn conventional reels came with plated solid brass (I think) spools, they weighed a ton and made casting very difficult. Then they came out with the hollow plastic spools, which cast just fine but tended to deform or break if you wound in with too much tension on the line, especially with stretchy monofilament. (Third party manufacturers started selling solid aluminum spools around 1970, and it only took Penn about 10 years to catch up and make their own aluminum spools.) So anyway, if you have an ancient Penn, you might look at buying a replacement aluminum spool so you can cast it.
The other issue I have with the old Penns is the excruciatingly slow gear ratio — the old 500 Jigmaster was sold as a “Fast” reel with a 4:1 ratio — nowadays that’s medium speed. But the old Squidders (140 series, with a much smaller spool diameter) had a 3:1 ratio, and I remember it would take me forever to wind in my line. Depending on the model you buy, this might be an issue.
Anyway, plenty of big fish were taken on these reels back in the day (like tuna to 100 pounds), so if you got one in working order, it should do you just fine for 40 pound catfish.
Those Penn reels on Ebay are pretty good, I own several myself and they all came from Ebay. The only things you have to do is watch out for the shipping price, take a good look at the description and picture and look over the sellers feedback. I can’t tell you how important this is so you won’t have problems later. Avoid the crusty looking ones or with a lot of rust.
Once you get the reel, clean it up or take it to a shop to replace the drag washers and bearings. It’s about 5 bucks to do and it’ll last many years more. It’s true that the newer Penn reels have foreign parts and you definitely want to avoid these. They just don’t last long.
You said you like to fish for Catfish, big ones at that. Personally I think a Penn 209 level wind would be good choice for that purpose. It’s not a huge clunky reel and and easier to handle. I own one myself and I have landed fish up to 80 pounds on it without a hitch ( saltwater). I also have it set up on a 9 foot shore master custom rod and I can cast a country mile with it.
As with many of the older Penn reels, there is a catch. The gear ratio is pretty darn slow and it takes a bit of work to reel in after a long cast. The upside to this is that it slows you down so you will have less of a chance making a mistake while landing a big fish. Penn is a great work horse reel for the price and parts are easy to find and very inexpensive. ~good luck catchin’.