Penn Spinning Reels Suck in my book

[lunkertaker]

Had a penn cativa I used for beach fishing and boat jigging and it lasted a year and a half before grind grind grind and the gears where shot.

Bought a 545gs which lasted < 80 bluefish and < half a year and on the last fish was completely toast...gears burnned out totally

OK, I didn't spend the bank on these reels, but will never buy a penn reel again.

I have two conventional penn reels that seem to have held up...but as far as spinning outfits, buyer be warned to spend your $ elsewhere

[papabear2611]

I have seen the cheaper penn spinning reels cook easy but I have a 360 and 560 slammers that I beat to death, and if I had to only buy one reel it would be a slammer, worth the money, I did get a new battle 5000 but havent beat it up yet so jury out on that one, have two ssg's and snapped one off at the base and the other the bail mechanics is shot, the old penn z spinners guys say last forever, guess it depends a lot on certain models, I cooked some cheaper diawas and shimanos too, fwiw, I have a cheap pfluger medalist light medium that I paid 60 bucks for years ago and beat it to death and even landed stripers to 40" on and its still going, just my 2 cents of what I have had.
hth

[PALMERS TACKLE]

With all do respect --
1-- you purchased a captiva that was cheap quality to say the least..a price point reel designed for a weekend angler at best.
2-- Not to be a wise ass , but did you clean it after use?
Penn 545 is a decent reel properly cleaned lubed and washed after each use will last for years..my son used his for 5 seasons before i even had it cleaned and greased(BY PENN).
NOW here is what alot of guys and gals don't know
when the captiva was made --penn was owned by a different group than know. master fishing and sea striker where the main partners
They where making lesser quality price point reels..
Now penn is owned by a much better bunch PURE FISHING and makes reels with quality and long life designed into the mix..evidenced by the new lineup over the past two seasons..
I am not a sponsor of penn nor do i sell penn, just wanted to shed some light on your problems.
I own two of the new penn conquer reels and i must say i love them and beat the hell out of them for two years.
Plus penn service is unmatched --did you get them repaired?

[joeya78]

Did you try sending them to Penn, they may have some type of warranty on them? I have burnt out many of shimano stradics already that I payed good money for, but shimano fixed them for a few dollars shipping. It worth a shot to try. Also like the previous posts slammers i have had lasted 20 years already, also all of my Penn conventional reels are indestructible almost.

[shucker]

Older penns like the 704-706 and the SS models are bullet proof the newer ones dont like sand or salt.The only spinning reel worth the money is a VS it will probably outlast you.

[lunkertaker]

Thanks for the comments etc.

Yes I religiously wash and clean reels, rods, and equipment after every trip. Even change the line every 4-5 trips just in case.

I plan to try and see if the reel can be fixed under warrenty, but have my reservations about relying on the reel.

I have a Penn 7500 SS that has performed well and I use as my backup reel when on these trips.

I also had a smaller Penn 430 ssg I have used at Block Island in recent years for stripers. Gears burned out this year

Still investigating what the replacement reel will be, but it wont be a penn.

[scooter1010]

I am enjoying my Penn Battle so far. I'm expecting to really put the screws to it this fall and will let you know if it fails.

[JerseyCoast]

Originally Posted by scooter1010

I am enjoying my Penn Battle so far. I'm expecting to really put the screws to it this fall and will let you know if it fails.

( Will post my own disclaimer: We all know I am partial the Canyon's 6500 DJR Spinner)

But,....... Penn does have a few reels priced low that are good reels. The Battle mentioned above was tested on NC Tuna on a few well known boats. The Battle is, IMHO the best choice for cheaper Penn reels.

Another thing to consider is the manufacturing date. You can have a defect, that slipped by and maybe Penn is making good on it, as they have int he past. I believe that you get what you pay for, but........sometimes we find that diamond in the rough. ( a cheap reel that should be priced much higher). I would say contact Penn, but I agree with the post above about the Battle.....I would suggest the Battle to anyone who wants to spend under $150. Not crazy about the Captiva myself.