one of their reps stated on some other, vastly inferior website that it is not made for or intended for the surf market. its an offshore jigging reel. the high end surf market is simply too small for them to invest in. offshore is where they see potential for market growth. i can't see choosing it over an accurate twinspin, saltiga, or stella myself.

i don't like the look of them.... at all, for that kinda money...:fury:

Supposedly, it was field tested at Montauk last year. I say "supposedly" because this info came from the same guy that said it would be a modernized 706, all metal, waterproofed, and US made for around $300 and that the 500 people who committed to buying one on SOL would get theirs with a special discount. :rotf2:

None of this came from TimS, who must have been as surprised as anyone to hear that 1) he'd be carrying the reel and 2) that the 500 plankowners would get a discount ;)

Yup, Im interested to see which reputable surf guys will all of a sudden be fishing these reels.

I was interested in a Penn conventional reel a few years ago, the 525 supermag I think it was. Then they had a few different versions of the same reel, some had more magnets some had less bearings then it was like- to get the right one it had to say "super" and have the silver handle not the gold handle ..wtf, I was close to ordering one but they seemed to have no rhyme or reason like a shell game to get all the features they advertised.

One word, JUNK!!

.... Agree with Clogston on this one ... interesting to see if Penn will keep it going. Granted it's now owned by Pure Fishing, which is owned by Jarden Corporation, a company that looks for cost savings wherever they can find them ... as the company produces such a wide variety of items, they cannot afford to maintain non producers ... the offshore Penn International crowd is probably the market for this - they are accustomed to buying expensive reels ... but still, it will be a waiting game ...

Would prefer the VS or ZB (which is more expensive) but would prefer to use it over the new Penn. The smaller VS reels - 100, 150s are used in South Florida by a lot of light tackle anglers that target bonefish, permit, redfish, snook, etc.

As for the bail-less, Penn has had that option for the 704 for years when it was available, so it's nothing new, even the 706 came bail less I am pretty sure ...

I still have a number of Green 7s ... don't use them a lot, but have held onto them for more than 25 years, maybe even longer ... actually my green 710s are older than most of the kids in my office ... yikes!