Penn slammer III

[charlie_the_tuna]

so i'm looking at this reel and i'm wondering. do I wait until they come out with the slammer IV or the V or do I go ahead and pull the trigger on the III? chances are, it wont get much use this season but we just came into some dough and don't know when i'll have another $300. just burning a hole in my pocket. I still like Penn, even though they're made in china but I've always used the brand. I've looked at some of the other stuff in the price range and it doesn't look as well built to me. i'm looking at a 4000 or a 5000. what do you guys think??

[phatdaddy]

I m a Penn guy also, but all of mine are ay least 20 years old, so can t comment on the current line up.

If i was in the market for a spinning reel to fish salt water, i think i would go with the Daiwa BG series. I don t own one and never fished with one, but have heard great reviews and read many good things about them.

The thing i like about my old Penn s is that they are simple to tear down and parts are still readily available, usually. The new stuff, not so easy to work on. To me.

Not really an answer to your question, hopefully I didn t muddy the water for u

[charlie_the_tuna]

I tend to associate daiwa with the old crappy daiwa we used to buy for like $15.00 bucks. plus, these are in a completely different price category than the slammer. sh!t, i'm not even crazy about the shimano stuff, not that I could afford any of it.

[SkunkBoat]

My brother just bought a big daiwa BG for popping tuna. It was a rod/reel combo that was half the price of the Penn slammer combo. Both solid metal housings, both no longer click the bail back for you when you wind (I guess thats the new thing), same test line and capacity, both anti reverse bearings, both smooth as butter, both made in china not usa or japan.
Have not caught anything yet...

I have a Shimano 8000 Baitrunner (one size smaller than what he bought) and I think its great. Love the baitrunner feature when using circle hooks. Its a perfect striper/live bunker setup and its great for chunking dolphin on pots. It has caught a 40 pound bass and an 18 pound dolphin. It will probably get crushed by a 100 pound tuna someday.

[SkunkBoat]

update on the Diawa BG

Last year we boated a big yellowfin (same as the one on deck) after 40 minutes. It still works smoothly. The one on deck was on an Avet conventional..took 15 minutes.