Fishing reel questions - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

YakDout · 08-21-2016, 04:20 PM

For kayak fishing I like saltist bg series for star drags and avets for lever drag

surfisher · 08-21-2016, 05:40 PM

Are you serious? Ive heard VERY good things about the penn fathom lineup.

Geno Machino · 08-21-2016, 05:47 PM

Penn fathom 30 2-speed...I put 2 big BFT (137 & 113#'s) on board back to back, with a lot more to spare. Straight 85# braid to 100# floro...for a little over $240.00. What more do you want in a reel? Granted I had it paired with a Calstar 800H. The fathom series comes in a 20 & 25 (2speed) size, along with single speeds. You should be able to find something to fit your sticks, I would think...

Sheephead · 08-21-2016, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geno Machino

Penn fathom 30 2-speed...I put 2 big BFT (137 & 113#'s) on board back to back, with a lot more to spare. Straight 85# braid to 100# floro...for a little over $240.00. What more do you want in a reel? Granted I had it paired with a Calstar 800H. The fathom series comes in a 20 & 25 (2speed) size, along with single speeds. You should be able to find something to fit your sticks, I would think...

Great to hear! That's a nice double. I don't plan on supporting Penn reels anytime in the near future though.

octico · 08-22-2016, 07:14 AM

I have two Penn Fathoms, they are really nice reels. I have nothing to but good things to say about them, a lot of times when I go fishing on cattle boats I will reach for my Fathom over my Talicas.

Mr_Fixit · 08-22-2016, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by surfisher

Are you serious? Ive heard VERY good things about the penn fathom lineup.

I have a Penn Fathom 25N and it does VERY well! Great setup, reliable, smooth drag, no corrosion, yada yada yada... And it looks good. Its affordable.. Yeah, if I ever need another pole, its going to have a 25N (2-speed).

YakHanded · 08-22-2016, 08:32 AM

I have the penn fathom FTH25NLD single speed lever drag and I love it killer reel - casts great and great for fishing bait too

taggermike · 08-23-2016, 08:17 AM

20 lbs of drag is plenty. Dont know what yak you're using but I've gotten enough drag out of an old beat up Shimano TLD 15 to almost flip my OK prowler 15. You don't need a $400 reel to horse in our local yt.

There are other factors besides drag. I'm fishing a calstar west coast rod (all glass) rated 20-50. Last month while fighting a thresher the shark was straight under the yak and the rod was completely maxed out, bent to the point where all its recoil could not move the fish. I was only using 30 lb line. Another 50 lbs of drag would not have helped me. Mike

taggermike · 08-23-2016, 08:25 AM

Sounds like you must have had a bad experience with Penn. I bought a Penn fathom 30 2 speed from takle direct. The reel had a slipping drag that I didn't find until I'd fought a yt with it. Still landed the fish. I sent the reel back to tackle direct. I got a replacement reel in 2 weeks. They transferred my spectra to the new reel and put in a free spool of braid as a bonus. New reel works great. Caught a couple yt and had a slug fest with a thresher, nice smooth drag and plenty if cranking power. Mike

maquinapescado · 08-23-2016, 08:50 AM

I have several Fathom lever drags. They are great. Smooth drag, cast well and at jandh.com you can get the singles for 130-155. You can pop the side covers off pretty easy for greasing. The only thing is that if you surf launch and submerge them, you'll want to pull them apart more often, like any reel. All you need to do is pull the clicker control cover off and put like 1-2 drops of oil down the axle. More drag than you'll ever need kayak fishing.

Sheephead · 08-23-2016, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taggermike

Sounds like you must have had a bad experience with Penn. I bought a Penn fathom 30 2 speed from takle direct. The reel had a slipping drag that I didn't find until I'd fought a yt with it. Still landed the fish. I sent the reel back to tackle direct. I got a replacement reel in 2 weeks. They transferred my spectra to the new reel and put in a free spool of braid as a bonus. New reel works great. Caught a couple yt and had a slug fest with a thresher, nice smooth drag and plenty if cranking power. Mike

Great point's and thanks for giving me insight on something so obvious I'm not sure how I completely ignored it. My penn jigmasters death is why I hate penn so much. Opened it up and everything spewed out before I took the cap off... Trying to replace my reels with easily serviceable one's so I don't spend $50+ every month per reel. Guess I'll have to give the newer penn products a chance.

08-21-2016, 05:40 PM	#2
surfisher Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Carlsbad Posts: 388	Are you serious? Ive heard VERY good things about the penn fathom lineup. __________________

08-21-2016, 05:47 PM	#3
Geno Machino "Relax" Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: O'side Posts: 554	Penn fathom 30 2-speed...I put 2 big BFT (137 & 113#'s) on board back to back, with a lot more to spare. Straight 85# braid to 100# floro...for a little over $240.00. What more do you want in a reel? Granted I had it paired with a Calstar 800H. The fathom series comes in a 20 & 25 (2speed) size, along with single speeds. You should be able to find something to fit your sticks, I would think... __________________

08-23-2016, 08:50 AM	#10
maquinapescado Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 326	I have several Fathom lever drags. They are great. Smooth drag, cast well and at jandh.com you can get the singles for 130-155. You can pop the side covers off pretty easy for greasing. The only thing is that if you surf launch and submerge them, you'll want to pull them apart more often, like any reel. All you need to do is pull the clicker control cover off and put like 1-2 drops of oil down the axle. More drag than you'll ever need kayak fishing. __________________ Climb, Surf, Fish, Repeat

08-21-2016, 04:20 PM	#1
YakDout Brandon Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: San Diego Posts: 2,345	For kayak fishing I like saltist bg series for star drags and avets for lever drag

08-22-2016, 07:14 AM	#5
octico Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: The city of Orange Posts: 1,278	I have two Penn Fathoms, they are really nice reels. I have nothing to but good things to say about them, a lot of times when I go fishing on cattle boats I will reach for my Fathom over my Talicas.

08-22-2016, 08:32 AM	#7
YakHanded Thread Killer - sorry Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: San Clemente Posts: 256	I have the penn fathom FTH25NLD single speed lever drag and I love it killer reel - casts great and great for fishing bait too

08-23-2016, 08:17 AM	#8
taggermike Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Chula Vista Posts: 1,589	20 lbs of drag is plenty. Dont know what yak you're using but I've gotten enough drag out of an old beat up Shimano TLD 15 to almost flip my OK prowler 15. You don't need a $400 reel to horse in our local yt. There are other factors besides drag. I'm fishing a calstar west coast rod (all glass) rated 20-50. Last month while fighting a thresher the shark was straight under the yak and the rod was completely maxed out, bent to the point where all its recoil could not move the fish. I was only using 30 lb line. Another 50 lbs of drag would not have helped me. Mike

08-23-2016, 08:25 AM	#9
taggermike Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Chula Vista Posts: 1,589	Sounds like you must have had a bad experience with Penn. I bought a Penn fathom 30 2 speed from takle direct. The reel had a slipping drag that I didn't find until I'd fought a yt with it. Still landed the fish. I sent the reel back to tackle direct. I got a replacement reel in 2 weeks. They transferred my spectra to the new reel and put in a free spool of braid as a bonus. New reel works great. Caught a couple yt and had a slug fest with a thresher, nice smooth drag and plenty if cranking power. Mike