Just got my two Carbos and they real good fitted on the T-curve 200 and 400.Just see how they go on a big fish.If we get a break to get out.
Life is short fish hard!!!
21,6 Sea Fox WA Pro ....
Got an email from the store in question yesterday morning following my failed transaction... offering me a further 5% off!!Originally Posted by Damned67
I know, it's only $5, but enough to put a smile on my dial.
I've been wanting to check these reels out for a while, but at that price, even if it's junk, I'll be able to find a use for it.
Cheers
so howd they look??????
I'm still waiting for mine to land.....It's camel courier to Cairns
"My biggest worry is that when I die, my wife will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it"
so would these reels - 950 ssm - be any good to go popping with?
my local shop that we are not allowed to mention had 850 and 950 Spinfisher combos for $99 the other day, so you get a Penn rod, which is sort of half decent for free, at the $99 price, kind of thought about buying one just for fun, but could not bring myself to go in.
Literally just got my Cabo 10 min ago.
Being a 70 sized reel, it's pretty big and heavy (I tend to fish with 3000 Diawas and 4000 Shimanos). I've got a 650 Penn Slammer, I'll have to compare the two side by side. Some aspects of the fit and finish impress me, some not so much. Based on out-of-the-box first impressions, I'd say it's a damn good reel for $100, but I probably would have been a little disappointed, fit and finish wise, if I'd spent $250-300 on it (or $400+ as the Jarvis Walker website suggests). I must say, though, the neoprene reel bag and little reel tool, despite being very cheap to produce, is a very nice (free) addition to the product.
The real test will be on the water. It's advertised as having 17.2kg of drag, that is significantly higher than a Stradic of a similar size.
Without the water test, I'd have to assume that it will present itself to be an excellent purchase for $100.
Cheers
Mine arived today as well....went home for lunch and had a quick look. Is seems to be quite robust and well built and has a very smooth action. I think the reel looks ok, I don't mind the look of its finish at all ....well worth the $99 + postage thats for sure but I'm not sure I'd walk into a tackle shop and pick one up off the shelf over other well known reels around the $290 - $300 mark without getting some serious positive feedback. Hopefully if the weather keeps up I'll rig it up and get out on the weekend and give it a burl.
"My biggest worry is that when I die, my wife will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it"
Just got my 70. For $114 I'm impressed. Nothing wrong with the Penn spinfisher and slammer reels but the specs and all reports I've seen these reels have a decent rep and are a step up. For this price they are hard to pass up. One bad thing I've heard is the antireverse but that feedback applied to jigging. If you don't jig with these extensively you should be right.
They are heavy but I guess that's not a bad thing and suggests they didn't cut corners in key areas to save weight and provide an inferior product. I guess time will tell. I'm going to give mine a hard time on some reds with 80 lb braid.
I have fished a Cabo 70 a few times - a friend of mine bought one back in the days when they were $300. For the price, it was ok. Seemed smooth enough to use, drag was fine, and managed some good Trevally, Chinaman and cods.
Compared it equally to the 850SSm Spinfisher I was using at the time, but the Cabo was not a reel you could fish and forget. It needs to be washed, oiled and dried every use. We both did no maintenence on our reels for 2 or 3 trips, my Spinfisher was, and still is fine. The Cabo became rough and grindy in the handle, and the line roller.
For $99, and you keep an eye on the maitenence, you should enjoy a nice reel.
Cheers,
Ben
Hi guys,
I have 2 Penn 950SSM spinfishers that are both less than 12 months old and I use them for exclusively for tossing lures for jew.
The first one I got was only a few months old and the screw on the bail roller kept coming loose for some reason and the inevitable happened one night, the screw fell out and I lost the roller and 2 bearings. not a big problem, until I found out they were going to cost me two thirds the price of a new reel.
I opted out for a new $99 950SSM and thought I will use the other reel for spare parts.
The new one is now 6 months old and the handle spindle has come loose on the main gold part of the handle assy. I ball peined it tight again but its worn out so I priced a new handle and its going to cost me $50 so I went to the old reel that is only a few months old and the handle has the same problem, knob spindle coming adrift in the handle!
The list of problems since new with these reels are;
Bail roller screw keeps coming loose.
Bail roller bearings going rusty(service them every few trips).
Bail arm holders both sides extremely worn for less than 12 months old.
Screw that holds oscillating shaft to oscillator keeps coming loose and binding up the main gears.
Handles fall apart on knob spindle.
Use minimal lube on internals as anti reverse mechanism fails as oil and grease easily penetrates it.
Drag ratchet mechanism(clicker) on spool stops working quickly with use.
Drag adjustment nut keeps coming loose.
The internal gears seem to be quite sturdy and have not given me any problem but I consider it a throwaway reel after a very short service life with parts replacement pricing..
Cheap and nasty in my books.
Might have a look at a Spheros at $150.
cheers, steve
Heard of warranty.
Hi Timddo,
I have hit up the supplier and also dealt directly with the Penn distributor.
Apparently its non warrantable because, " Quote", " using the reel like a winch will make the handle spindle come loose" and "its my responsibility to keep all the fixing hardware properly tightened"
When its working properly I reckon its a great reel but when it comes to repairs you are better off just replacing the reel due to the cost of parts.
And to have these sort of problems within twelve months of use does not exactly give me great confidence in the reel.
But I must say that its never let me down in the heat of the battle so thats a positive point.
I keyed in Penn reviews recently and there are a few fishos out there looking for old 950SSM reels to cannibalise for parts.
To replace the handle ,bail roller and 2 roller bearings is going to cost me $86 plus postage which makes it equivalent to a new reel. Mmmmm.....
cheers, steve.
My new 950 arrived last week....first cast and the 50lb braid snuck down behind the little silver cover plate for the bail spring at the side of the bail arm assembly....30m of 50lb braid and lure gone. 50lb braid has a dia of about 0.45mm and maybe 0.35mm when squashed a little. So, thats the gap between the cover and bail assembly? Whats the rest of it like? Well Steve answered that. Still, for $99 not a bad backup IMO.
I've been using the new made in China penn's for a while now and I won't be buying any more. The US made earlier one's lasted much longer and never required the maintaince the Chinese ones seem to need. $ 87. 50 is a very good price though.
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