Has anyone tried one of these reels yet? I am looking at picking one up this weekend. I am a bit nervous about the fold away handle. I had a Fin-Nor with a folding handle and it got wore out last year during the fall run. Its just one more moving part aht can screw up. The price is right on these reels and its a known brand, any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.

Penn had the fold away handle on the first version of the Power Graph and though I liked the reel for the money I returned 4 due to handle breaking or cracking the main body casing

I looked at these last fall at the Merrick show and they seemed like a pisser setup, the matching rod is almost a copy of an ugly stick with a stiffer tip. I thought the reels were very high quality though. I'm thinking of ordering 6 for the boat this year.

My bet they will not make thru next year

curious why you think that Mike? Before I buy them :D

Originally posted by mikecc
My bet they will not make thru next year

As in Penn won't keep the product, the product won't physically last a year, or Penn will be assimiliated by Zebco?

When I think of Penns I think of workhorses, your Chevy truck of fishing reels. The little ones are a little light and rough around the edges like an S10, The bigger ones are pretty solid like a full size chebby but still have their 70's engineering in some places (small line roller & non angled frame / pushrod technology & lousy power steering). So this leads me to think that the Captiva (is that a town in Shengxou Province?) is going to be like the Chevy LUV truck of the late 70's - lota perks but will corrode on you in a few months. I hope they can prove me wrong and while I like some of their baitcasters I think their better spinning days are behind them...

Penn is known for not staying with the overseas product it goes out to low bidder. On the old power graphs they went thru 4 design changes in 4 years that would be fine if the reels got nicer but just the opposite. :smash:

Boy I saw ALOT of them combos walking around at the RISAA show too.

Maybe I not buy some for the boat :)

Oh the gloriuos LUV truck. Thanks for the feedback guys. So these are made in good ole communist china eh. Trying to d a lot of gishing on a budget is a real pisser. Id like to spend 75 maybe a hundred or so on a reel that will last atleast 5 good seasons on the salt. Looks like the Captive isnt the way to go. I knw ya gotta spend the cash for quality. I got the Calcutta last month so the fishing budget is kinda tight. Im confident that will last many years. Is Penn good with returns/repairs? Shimanop has always been excellent in that department. This time of year is tough, ya cant do much fishing so what better to do than spend the cash getting ready for it?

how big of a reel are you looking at. If you decide not to go with the captiva, Daiwa has the solid Black Gold series and the newer hardbody reels. I'd look into the Laguna. Both are well under a hundred except for the larger Black Golds.

I got bg20's and they fallin apart after one seaso. I got 7 of them. They all $uck. What am I gonna buy this year?

I bet that they are made by Tica. I see a lot of common looking parts.

Rob - Ebay yourself an old Penn for half the dough - the oldies are - in this case - the goodies...

(On the other hand, I just picked up a Nautil 6500 :hihi: )

Hey there's that CLAMRAKE again :D

Mike is right on target with his assessment on Penn import to the low bidder.
Does anyone remember the Chevy Vega? Was it actually made out of compressed rust??

Originally posted by Surely Bassey
Does anyone remember the Chevy Vega? Was it actually made out of compressed rust??
:topic: but that was my first car :laughs:
Aluminum block=warped cylinders=lotsa burning oil.
Friends called it the crop duster.

Thats a good point about E-bay, i will do some more searching there. I have dial up and it takes forever to search all the saltwater stuff. I did get a brand new pair of Korkers for 28 bucks, no shipping either. I shoulda bout a couple pairs at that price but i wasnt sure if they were the real deal. Im lookin for something that holds 200-250 yards of 17-20lb. Im going tot he shop on sunday and will mor ethan likely walk out with something if e-bay doesnt pan out. Thanks for all the feedback guys.

Not for nothin' but I fished a whole season with a Slammer 560 and I put a hurtin' on it and I have nothing but good things to report.
I think I'll be able to say the same thing after another 2 or 3 seasons.It really is a solid reel that performed and was absolutely worth the $109(+tax) that I payed at the time.
Like JohnRs analogy of a chevy truck...An annual clean and lube,regular line changes and fresh water bath after every outing,
my 560 should last many many years.

The 560 is a made in the US product and is about the best they have produced in the last 10 years for spinners. It has a few updates over the SS series but It still has a long way to catch up to other companies.but it's still an improvement from their old product.

I also fished a 560, and a 460, SLAMMER last year. (Heck, I even have a 360 for that matter.) I really like em'.

Unfortunatley, the 560 is swimmin' around Misquamicut these days so I need to replace it. :( And, for the money, I am seriously thining about giving the Captiva a shot.

Tight Lines,
Rob