What's your take on this Penn?

[george]

I used one of these on a grouper charter twice and I really liked them. I don't know how they hold up.

PENN Fathom® II Lever Drag 2-Speed Conventional Reel | PENN® Fishing

The all-new PENN Fathom™ II Lever Drag reels take a class-leading reel and raise the bar even more. New models, sizing, features, and optimized billfish models round out the assortment to give a model for every application. Integrating the palm side plate and frame allows the PENN Fathom™ II...

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[Leprechaun]

I can't give anything but generalities, as I've never even seen this reel. I do think that Penn makes some pretty darn good LD reels, mostly with tech that's migrated down from their forever-great gold International reels. Plus Penn service has a good presence on the interwebs - though not on this site, unfortunately.

I guess the same could be said of both Daiwa and Shimano, tons of their LD reels out there. But, what do you want to do with this reel? If its Florida bottom fishing, like grouper and snapper, I do have some input there. I work on/PM the very high-end star drag reels of a prominent local Head Boat captain that takes about 10 of them to Florida every Winter, to fish big grouper, snapper and the like.

He uses both the Daiwa Saltiga and the Shimano Ocea Jiggers - in BIG sizes. I have to admit that both of those reel's engineering is just awesome. I know both are expensive, but they are worth every penny asked. Both have drag systems that could stop a locomotive, so inadequate drag is not a thing with these reels.

If it were I, from my experience breaking these reels down and seeing both the engineering and the fact that they get heavily fished without any measurable wear of any kind, that is the direction that I'd go, and would forget big awkward LD reels for this type of fishing.

 

[george]

I can't give anything but generalities, as I've never even seen this reel. I do think that Penn makes some pretty darn good LD reels, mostly with tech that's migrated down from their forever-great gold International reels. Plus Penn service has a good presence on the interwebs - though not on this site, unfortunately.

I guess the same could be said of both Daiwa and Shimano, tons of their LD reels out there. But, what do you want to do with this reel? If its Florida bottom fishing, like grouper and snapper, I do have some input there. I work on/PM the very high-end star drag reels of a certain local Head Boat captain that takes about 10 of them to Florida every Winter, to fish big grouper, snapper and the like.

He uses both the Daiwa Saltiga and the Shimano Ocea Jiggers - in BIG sizes. I have to admit that both of those reel's engineering is just awesome. I know both are expensive, but they are worth every penny asked. Both have drag systems that could stop a locomotive, so inadequate drag is not a thing with these reels.

If it were I, from my experience breaking these reels down and seeing both the engineering and the fact that they get heavily fished without any measurable wear of any kind, that is the direction that I'd go, and would forget big awkward LD reels for this type of fishing.

Thanks Pete!