Zee Baas, are they worth the money?

[Mike P]

It used to be that you could spend $70 on a Penn 704 and beat the piss out of it for 20-30 years, and keep it going year after year with about $5 worth of parts.

You can't do that any more.

Now you spend $100-$150 on a reel that'll last you a season if you fish it hard. You'll spend $2 grand replacing it over the next 20 years.

Or you can spend the 700-900 clams once for a VS, ZB rough, Saltiga or the new Stella.

Or, you can learn to fish conventional, and spend $180 on a P-series Newell. But if you swim with your reels, there isn't a waterproof conventional out there and the prospects are pretty dim for there ever being one.