How many of you have owned or used a Penn 500A/L or Penn 49 sometime in their fishing career?

[Dorado75]

I am sure that most of you will have at some time owned or used a Penn 500 or Penn 49, what you say?

 

[carcharias]

I have owned bothof those. I still use a 500 on my scrathcing stick as well as a 555gs on one of my 14ft rods.
I was given a brand new Dawia a few weeks ago- still havent used it.

 

[Dorado75]

they are a bit prehistoric now but they have to def go down in the hall of fame as one of the best reels ever. Look at how the old anglers landed massive tunas etc from the shore on the 49's

 

[carcharias]

What about those old senators the guys used off the boats?
Im sure that if it were possible to calculate which make of reel has caught the most fish, PENN would be so far ahead the opposition would give up with a cry of shame.
Stirring the pot now Im sure!

 

[Sylvester]

I still love to haul out the old jigmaster for a cast or two. I have two of them, one is at least 20 years old and is in mint condition! I caught a nice Hottie on it last trip to Tiettiesbaai. I was taught how to cast with one by my brother, I was all of 7 or 8 years old. I got an old 49 (mint condition)from a work colleague and handed it to my Dad. He swears by them. I've never seen anyone cast a 49 like him!

 

[brendon muscat]

The penn 500 back in the day was legendary, i've still got 1 lying around in the garage aswell as 1 smaller I'm not sure on the part number, but they deserve their place in history.

Brendon

 

[Pylstert]

at one stage they held the most IGFA records, not sure if it is still the case. I had a 500A and upgraded it to an L, I remember how noisy it was, you could hear the spool wining even above the sound of the surf. They were pretty good reels.

 

[Dorado75]

And then there was the problem of getting the line stuck between the spool and the sideplate. It was the reel that i learnt to cast on!

 

[Bunks]

I still have both, had a guy make a stainless spool for the 500 and used it for years.

 

[Walt]

Just as well my Penn 500 can't talk!It'd give my Grandwave an inferiority complex!That 500 caught Yellowtail,Leerfish,Skates,Horse Mackerel,Stockfish and even a boat or 2 going past and still hasn't needed any maintenance or given any trouble.Cheers!

 

[Weedeater]

Yebo, I've got a 500L buried somewhere, good reels but always battled to cast with the thing. My fishing partner still swears by his even though he has a Saltist 40H/50H.

 

[sardinella]

I got my Penn 49 at the young age of 12. Playing and fiddling with it I eventually stripped the reel apart and could not get it together again.
That landed me the the biggest hiding I can remember.
The reel was salvaged by an expert and I used it for many seasons.
I gave it away to a newbie on a tight budget just 3 months ago - I hope he will care for the reel.
A Penn 49 loaded with maxima ultra green brings back memories big time

Sardinella

 

[Dorado75]

[color=#006600]SARDINELLA[/color] wrote:

I got my Penn 49 at the young age of 12. Playing and fiddling with it I eventually stripped the reel apart and could not get it together again.
That landed me the the biggest hiding I can remember.
The reel was salvaged by an expert and I used it for many seasons.
I gave it away to a newbie on a tight budget just 3 months ago - I hope he will care for the reel.
A Penn 49 loaded with maxima ultra green brings back memories big time

Sardinella

Ha ha, had to laugh at that one because i had a similar experience, got my first 500 at around 14, we went fishing at the beach, and thought that i would service it myself afterwards, my dad wound up having to send it away to be reassembled!!

 

[Simen]

Grew up with a secondhand jigmaster from an uncle.1978. ( still have it )then later a 49 and 500 ( still like new in the original box with tools, rodclamp,etc. ) The 49 also like new wish I could find a s/s spool for it. also in my collection a Penn Senator. If I had a buck for every fish those reels caught I could buy myself a state of the art outfit today and still have change.

 

[Dorado75]

[color=#0066cc]Simen [/color]wrote:

Grew up with a secondhand jigmaster from an uncle.1978. ( still have it )then later a 49 and 500 ( still like new in the original box with tools, rodclamp,etc. ) The 49 also like new wish I could find a s/s spool for it. also in my collection a Penn Senator. If I had a buck for every fish those reels caught I could buy myself a state of the art outfit today and still have change.

The Penn Senators are still quite in demand amongst the Tuna mob in Cpt, where they use them on short sticks for Yellowfin, they are pretty bulletproof, i remember using a batton to tighten the drag on a 10/O to stop the fish, they could def take the punch.

 

[Walt]

I'd gladly fish with my old penn 500 as a trade for the way fishing was in the past where Hout Bay wall yielded 3 Horse Mackerel on each cast,the Bullnose in Simonstown yielding massive yellowtail and Breakwater(CT harbour) yielding Stockfish,etc.Cheers!   

 

[Polychaete]

Yes, a boater poached my 49a.......grrrr!
Anybody who fished seriously during the 60 to 80's owned a 49, those things caught big fish!

 

[Hooked]

Started off with a 49 , still have a Squidder and a 500 in the garage

 

[Patrick]

Embarrassingly (or proudly depending on which way you look at it i guess), my profile still displays that i use the Jigmaster, from time to time i might add.
Who knows the story with Penn and are they still in the market with reels or not? Kinda seems silly that they've lost their ground there when they were the leaders for so long.

 

[carcharias]

Patric
Have no fear- PENN is still alive and well. You can still get a brand new 500l as well as a large variety of other penn reels. They are still very popular with the big gamefish guys and obviously will always be popular with the Yanks.