Old Penn Reels

[Erskin]

I recently purchased two old short ocean rods with reels.   One of the rods has rollers and the other has regular metal guides. They are about as flexible as a broom stick.One of the reels reel  has on the side Super Mariner and the other one has Deep Sea Reel on its side.  They both say Penn 49.  The reels are narrower than regular trolling reels but their dameter is a lot larger than regular trolling reels.  They are heavy also.  I wanted to try the reels on trolling rods.

 

Is anyone familiar with these model reels and would they be any good to use in Lake O.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Erskin

[G-Daddy]

I use the older conventional Penns at the shore for flounder quite a bit.  They do a good job even on hard pulling fish like rays - if the drags are still smooth.  They do have a tendency to stack line on one side if you are not careful, so you do have to train your thumb to sort of work like a level wind though.

[Sk8man]

Best used for salt water applications but we used to use them back in the 70's for Seth Green rigs and pulling monel wire for lakers on the Finger Lakes. They are much too heavy and bulky for the kind of things done on Lake O. At one point I even used them with my home made planer boards and they worked OK for that.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Sk8man

[Erskin]

Thanks for the info guys.  I thought maybe I could put a 500 foot spool of copper on them.  I guess I'll just add them to the old rod and reel collection pile.

[Big Dave]

got a 5' poolstick rod with an old Ocean City reel with greendot trolling line .  It works great for flying kites with the grandkids.  Seeing how I am not much of a runner anymore.  (like I ever was  )

[rolmops]

I have a couple of 49 super mariners that I used when going deep down shark fishing. They are strong and hold a lot of line. Once you are used to them ,you will see how you can let line out in a very controlled way. They are very good when fighting a big fish who wants to stay down, or hauling up heavy cod. For salmon fishing they are not so great

[John E Powell]

Last time I happened to run across them on eBay people couldn't seem to give them away. I saw some real nice ones for buy it now price of $5 with reasonable flat rate shipping. Some had starting bids of less than a dollar and no bids.

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[rolmops]

I use the older conventional Penns at the shore for flounder quite a bit.  They do a good job even on hard pulling fish like rays - if the drags are still smooth.  They do have a tendency to stack line on one side if you are not careful, so you do have to train your thumb to sort of work like a level wind though.

Any cod or striper fisherman will readily tell you that this is the reason why god gave us thumbs.You can have the drags replaced or do it yourself,all the spare parts are still easily available

[Erskin]

^{Thanks for the info guys.  I paid twenty bucks for the two rods and reels all together.  Like I said, I'll add them to the collection} 

Edited February 13, 2014 by Erskin

[cappyduane]

I run lead core on these reels on a deep trout lake in South Carolina. (2 full cores) You need the short stiff rods to stand up to the weight and drag. Why do it that way? Much stealthier than downriggers and proven so here. Of course, the status quo culture will pooh-pooh it. Never mind, lead core wins tournaments here. FWIW  (hint - long leaders)

 

I bought my 49s on Ebay. Good clean fresh water reels will fetch $45 - $50.