General Purpose Level Wind Conventional Fishing Reel

Not as good as the old ones, but still pretty good

Great quality and look. The reel is a little noisy even with the alert turned off but it feels very solid.

I cant speak to how well it maintains over time, as ive only used it one season.What i can say is that it is a very good reel for the pricepoint; smooth action, good break, sturdy construction.I've heard that some struggle with defects on their new reels, mine however was prestine, no faults what so ever.The handle also feels good in my hands, something not every reel does, this is great when fishing larger game that takes a while to secure. All in all a great product so far.

Okay at best. Line counters on all 4 are clunky. Drag does not get very loose. Feels cheap. Get what you pay for. Had to return all 4 due to poor quality and workmanship. Line also got stuck behind the reel and caused to not function. A tightening screw fell out on first trip and levelwind stopped working also.

This review is for the Penn 209LC. I bought a couple of these to troll for Striped Bass, and they work awseome! They cast heavy 2oz plus lures with little problems. Getting up to 110-120 feet casts according to the line counter. Now I have read the reviews, and the people that are complaining about inaccuracies may have their expectations a little high for a line counter. It is just a gauge to stagger multiple rods when trolling, or setting approximate depth with your dipsy diver. It is not supposed to be a laser accurate measuring device calibrated by the thousandth of an inch. My examples are within 3-4 feet accurate at 100 ft of line. Lots of factors can contribute to inaccuracies like a slick wet line, or abrasive braid. That is not the point, the line counter helps you get a quick estimate with instant feedback to help you make adjustments on the fly without having to remember how many color bands of line you counted off on each reel. I bought one of these reels new, and one from Warehouse in newish/used condition. The new one arrived flawless and worked perfect out of the box, All I do is oil it about every 20-30 hours of use, 1 drop under each cap. The Warehouse specimen arrived in a non-servicable state, when adjusting the spool side play to the correct amount, the bail would not let out, and the crank was almost seized up. I disassembled and found a piece of the pinion gear near the slotted part, peeled back and lodged into the slot, I removed the bur, filed, and reassembled; now it works just like the new one. Seeing this condition makes me believe there may be some quality control issues, but anyone familiar with a Penn reel (I have fished them since over 30 years ago) would have no problem resolving small issues like this. Which brings me to my next point, this reel needs to be maintained to continue to deliver trouble free service. It needs oil, it needs the tension set on the spool properly with slight, but minimal side travel. The drag clutches wear and adjustments are needed. The person that purchases this needs to love conventional reels and not mind working on them from time to time. This one is still great because you can get all the parts for it. It is the reel I grew up fishing, and it is the only conventional reel I really want. For reel.

I used this fishing reel on a recent trip to Navarre Beach Fishing Pier in Florida.Most fishermen there were using spincasting reels .. which were designed for smaller freshwater fish. They are now very popular with the saltwater fishermen who have never learned how to properly cast a levelwind baitcasting reel.However .. for "old-school" fisherman like me who grew up on the Gulf coast of Texas .. we understand that for strength and durability .. and bringing in larger game fish .. this reel out-performs the spincasters by a mile.This reel will haul in an 80lb. tarpon or a 600lb. shark with no problem !Excellent product !Excellent price !

This is not a Fin-Nor, but it's a whale of a lot less expensive, and it performs flawlessly. The level wind is a nice touch and the line counter reads a good estimate of the distance. The line counter counts the reel revolutions for distance, as all mounted reel line counters do, so it gets off a bit as the diameter of the reel/line combination decreases. A more accurate line counter will measure the line as it spools off the reel, but they are a pain in the ...back, so I'm happy.

I'm fishing for big cat's here in Arkansas and we do have some big ones. I thought I was getting a big reel but it turned out to be a reel the size of a ambassador TGC5000c reel I guess I should have looked better