[SAUERKRAUT]

The Penn Squidder was THE reel on the Canal and the conventionl striper coast, as any 7th decade surfwalker can tell you. As reel and tackle technology evolved, I noticed immediately how much easier it was to cast, level wind thumb, effectively fish, and tame conventional--with reels that were narrower in spool width than the Squidder. I still think this; and I would think friend Numbskull will address this and other issues in his next, followup, more advanced article for OTW--on the physics and engineering of the conventional casting reel and its use.

On a narrower reel, you can thumb more evenly over the shorter width (assuming you are avoiding those energy waisting level wind reels). A narrower casting spool also holds more line "underneath", which cannot get loosened up on the cast until the overlying line departs the spool on the cast. Finally, these ultra thin braided lines we now use tend to effectively make the reel spool "wider" by putting more line "on top", where it can potentially loosen and backlash.

In my opinion, there isn't a beefy conventional casting reel currently in production with a narrow enough spool! I just cherish my Penn 970's as a result.