TOBO

Am I the only person to use Penn and Shimano? Could they possibly both be good? I use Shimano inshore, Penn offshore, and Shimano'sin the blue water. Am I commiting a cardnal sin, is it like being a FSU fan and dating a Gator? I said dating, not, anyhting else.

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19ft Cape Horn " Something Catchy "

Buckyt

I have a sackfull of Penns and Shimanos, and (for the most part) have had pretty good luck with most of them. I do have 2 or 3 small size Penn ss reels with broken reel seats. Not sure what happened, but they all broke between the reel and the seat. These reel bodies seem to be graphite that is pretty fragile. I am saving these reels to salvage parts for the others if they wear out. My Shimano baitrunners, TLD 15's, and Calhutta 700's have been solid dependable reels. These will probably last me a lifetime the way I fish.

I do have one OKUMA spinning reel that a friend gave me and it seems pretty good so far. I do have a problem hearing the drag when a redfish hits., but that could be my CHS (can't hear sh--)condition instead of the reel.

Bob

Danno

If you want to fix it yourself or learn how go to http://www.mikesreelrepair.com/advan...;x=27&y=11

I fish Shimano, Diawa, Penn and Okuma for salt water, I like them all. When I need parts or info I can usually find it here at a reasonable price.

Just offering an alternative.

Emerald Ghost

Thanks for making that point TOBO , I also use both Penn's and Shimano's. Correct application of reel size is vital to it's longevity.

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Boomerang !

floater

i would't trade or throw my penn reels or shimano tld 25's off the boat for any okuma crap had a few and they are absolute garbage

jackedup

if none of you would buy a new penn how do you know how bad they are? Mine work great and I've never taken them apart to clean them. matter of fact I bought a cheap a-- silverado 4000 so I wouldn't have to worry about it getting stolen,never do anything but spray it off and rarely even do that, caught kings and a ton of bonita on it and still haven't had enough of a problem w/ it to go buy something else. I'm not saying don't buy a shimano, but I think your all a bunch of haters

kingfish501

lobstr...I have 706Z's from the early eighties I still fish, and used to fish them every single day.You must have bought the $5 grey ones they saved to sell to tourists.

Georgiaboy

I know I will get slammed here but I have three Penn 550SSg and enjoy them and have had no problems with. Also have a Shimano Stradic for inshore. When I fish with others on the boat, I have no problem worry if I have the Shimano or Penn in my hand -- will gladly use any of them.

PaleRed

does anyone know if you can send a shimano reel in to give it a tune up. I have had this reel almost 3 years. Used heavily. But needs some work and would like to just get it proffessionaly taken care of. I live in destin. Does half hitch offer that service?

Tightlinesinga

I use both Shimano and Penn and I like both the only problem I have had with the Penns are the Graphite models. I have 2 lever drag graphite Penns and both of them look like hell and one of them cracked after I left it in the boat by mistake in direct sunlight for a few months. I have a tld 25 that is 30 years old and still works fine even after it was left in a bucket of water all winter a few years back (a friend thought it would be a good idea to leave the rod stuck in a bucket leaning against my shed) :banghead I bought a Torium with a Trevalla jigging rod last year and it's now my favorate setup. I do have one 4/0 Okuma that was cheap and I bought a few years ago just out of curiosity. I like the reel but the rod broke on the first hard hookset.