Penn Sargus

[neilg]

Werries
if you can fit about 150-200m of line on you should be good.
just keep in mind that fireline is a very thick line and something in the 14lb range might help a little on the capacity side of things.

another thing, the breaking strains of these lines ARE WAAAAAY UNDERRATED. It's almost safe to say that 14lb would probably break at something like 25lbs.
remember your weak link is your connection between the braid and the leader line.

you not gonna be targetting 50kg fish from the side are u ? cause then you might have a problem.

Remember thickish leader line, with good strong well tied knots.

Let us know how the reel performed
(altough I would rather put my money on the Daiwa Oceano/Exceller Plus or a Shimano Stradic/Sustain/Spheros)
(I have all the above mentioned except for the Sustain)

 

[werries]

Thanks Neilg, the info on the reel states that you can fit 195yrds of 10lb mono on.With the 20lb fireline at a diametre similar to 8lb mono I should be able to fit 200m fireline on.But I was thinking of putting 14lb on in any case for more capacity . I will be throwing ondas,Aubrey da Gama plugs up to 2 1/2 oz and 7inch jerkshads on it so I think the bulk of the fish should be in the 4-15kg range , but as you know with fishing ...you never know what's out there. I will however upgrade my leader to 30lb or 40lb and tie it on with a Yucatan knot

 

[werries]

Howzit guys , just a report back on the Penn Sargus . I followed this thread and decided to buy a 4000 to pair with my AirXH. Spooled it with 14lb Fireline and off to Linene Island. Couple of smallish rockod at first , then a nice  bonnie of about 4kgs No problems...yet .Then into the first yellowspot kingfish. These fish fight really hard and  halfway up a felt a gear slip. Boated it , about  3kgs. Next one about 5kgs felt some more gears break inside. I said to Adrian , our host and guide , that this reel is going to let me down on a nice fish...couple minutes later a reasonable GT  jumped onto the 5inch jerkshad and brought the poor reel to grinding halt. Couldnt reel it in so it reefed me eventually. 

Maybe the 4000 is a bit light for these type of fish but I reckoned it should be good for fish up to 15kgs. The Air XH is an awesome rod! I then dressed it with my spare Shimano Nexave 6000 loaded with 30lb whiplash and I landed everything after that...nooo problems.

My opinion: nice reel for estuarine and smaller R&S fish but NOT for boating!

 

[WaterHond]

Thanks for this up-date, I was interested in this reel… It felt like a solid reel when I held it in the shop. How mush does the Shimano Nexave 6000 go for?

 

[neilg]

Waterhond
get yourself a Shimano Spheros or a Shimano Stradic - SOLID REELS that won't break the bank (but they will sure as hell make a dent in your balance)

VERY RELIABLE REELS

 

[WaterHond]

Thanks Neil, and if you have to pick one?

 

[neilg]

I would ofcourse pick the Stradic
it's a bloody lovely reel, but it's also about R 2000
and I have a Spheros, it really is a well built and strong reel going for about R 1200

but if I could only choose one it would be the Stradic.

 

[WaterHond]

Ok thanks, didn't know the prices of these two. Would you use the Stradic only for dropshot or for harder work like throwing spoons too? I do not know why but I am not happy with my Exceller 3500 Plus. I look after it but after each dropshot & lure outing I have to strip the whole thing and remove half of the beach… And the thing is I really look after my reel while fishing.

 

[neilg]

Both the Stradic and the Spheros are perfectly capable as ALLROUND reels, from dropshot to spinning to vertical jigging

My 8000 Stradic is destined for medium jigging and heavy dropshot off the boat, loaded with 300m of 50lb PowerPro braid.

Get one in your hands, turn the handle and you'll understand why I say it's solid

But that said, I feel about the same about the Spheros 12000 I have, I just don't like the handle so much, other than that I'm prepared to take just about anything on with it.

 

[neilg]

WaterHond wrote:

I do not know why but I am not happy with my Exceller 3500 Plus.

What ?????????????????????????????????????????????????

Impossible, it's a GREAT small grinder that can take punishment. But I do agree, sometimes mine also gets a tad sea sand on the inside.

Some advice, on the left and right side (handle holes) put GREASE in there around the bearings

And on the Frame, I put a VERY THIN layer of grease on the whole inside of the frame, so if and when a little sand gets in there it gets caught by the grease and doesn't end up in the "drive train".

I actually do that ON ALL MY REELS from the Grinders to the Multipliers to the Lever Drag Reels.

And another thing, I PREFER to strip my reels and service them after every trip, that way they last FOR YEARS.

 

[WaterHond]

Thanks Neil, appreciate it. I clean them each time I come home. But I expected it to last longer at the coast while fishing before it starts to feel like I am grinding rocks…

 

[neilg]

WaterHond wrote:

Thanks Neil, appreciate it. I clean them each time I come home. But I expected it to last longer at the coast while fishing before it starts to feel like I am grinding rocks…

I honestly have never had that problem with the Exceller, and I have to say I don't baby it either, mine is FULL of battle scars (which seems to be normal with all Daiwa reels, you take them out the box and they start "scratching" themselves...

 Maybe I'm just lucky ...