PENN 320 GT2

[offshore_4.9]

G'DAY GUYS, just after a some info on this reel. Can anyone give me some pointers. I am looking at bottom bashing,trolling,etc off & around Moreton Bay. Are they good for off shore fishing?
All help is appreciated.

[whiteman]

I bought one 2 years ago plus a 330. Both are now retired as spares as they didn't stand up to fishing for Tuna. Both have been back to Penn for warranty repairs and now I don't trust them. Replaced with TLDs and am far happier.

I got them when I was a complete novice to offshore fishing (now I'm just a novice). Never again will I buy on price. ThAt-MART shouldn't have sold them to me!

[offshore_4.9]

Thanx whiteman, geez this really isn't that flash for penn!, wonder if any others have the same hassles :o
ps TLD 's just might be the go hey.

[Cheech]

I think that is the go. Especially now that they are so much cheaper. I just bought a Silstar overhead on price, and this is after me saying that I would never do this. I am considering it a disposeable reel till I get a few more dollars and replace it with a TLD. My next offshore overhead will be a tld 20 or 25 with a live fibre rod.

[Payneful]

Offshore

Have a look at some of the good quality spinning reels. I bought a Daiwa Emblem Pro 5500 to spin for pelagics but now use it for bottom bashing and I have done some trolling with it as well. The beauty of this reel is that it comes with two spools, one spool i have loaded with 14lb fireline and the other 20lb fireline. Very versatile!

I haven't managed to hook anything that I couldn't land with the 20lb yet. If I am spinning for tailor off the beach or small tuna i change over to the 14lb. At the moment its my favourite combo! For the real deep water stuff, 80 meters plus I have a TLD 25 with 50lb braid matched to a wilson livefibre texallium. Certainly a combo I couldn't fault. I find it too big for the sort of fish I chase most often (snapper and reefies in 30-80m).

Many other people will probably disagree with me using a spinning reel for light - medium offshore work and trolling, but its just my personal preference (or lack of funds to buy a smaller TLD) :)

Just a thought

Sam.

[jeffo]

yeah ill go with the other guys and bar the penn. first thing to go on them is the level wind and they go down hill from there!!
like the others have said, the TLD range is well and truely worth spending your money on.
another reel no one has mentioned yet is something like a shimano torium. i bought myself one(torium 20) a few months back for jigging and so far i am over the moon with it. the retrieve is super fast and super smooth, so catching pelagics (even with slugs) is a breaze.
sam is also on the money in sugesting a large threadline for offshore work. something like a 6500 bait runner would be fine (my first black marlin was on a 6500 ;D).
what ever choice you make remember that you get what you pay for so its worth saving a few extra bucks to buy on the upper end of the market.

[offshore_4.9]

Hey thanx fellas, all advice welcomed!. ;)
Looks like the okuma and penn are off the cards, and the shimano will take priority.
Better start saving!, thanx again
cheers, Greg.

[Morlers]

I bought one 2 years ago plus a 330. Both are now retired as spares as they didn't stand up to fishing for Tuna. Both have been back to Penn for warranty repairs and now I don't trust them. Replaced with TLDs and am far happier.

I got them when I was a complete novice to offshore fishing (now I'm just a novice). Never again will I buy on price. ThAt-MART shouldn't have sold them to me!
Bugger! I just bought a Penn 330GTi from K-Mark on their 30% sale for $132.20 and thought it was Christmas. I bought it for off-shore fishing too. Always thought Penn reels were top-notch. What happened to them?

:) :)

Morlers

[dfox]

morler- the penn spinfishers and the internationals are extremely good reels!
but unfortunatly some models in the budget range are ordinary as jeff stated you get what you pay for mate...foxy