113 hn baja special

Keta · September 06, 2015, 06:45:35 PM

Quote from: steelfish on July 28, 2015, 07:21:22 PM
I don't fish in US..
Why would I want a US Senator reel?
J/k

Good one Alex.

broschro · September 06, 2015, 09:09:57 PM

there you have it. the baja is not all that they say it is.it might be good for catching fish that are up off the bottom but cant Handel getting big fish up with max drag.my friend that bottom fish for big grouper and snapper have gone trough four or five of them and the old 4/o and 6/0 they have are still ticking.

Keta · September 06, 2015, 09:44:48 PM

Quote from: broschro on September 06, 2015, 09:09:57 PM
there you have it. the baja is not all that they say it is.

It's a minor issue that Penn is working on, so am I.

johndtuttle · September 06, 2015, 09:57:22 PM

Quote from: broschro on September 06, 2015, 09:09:57 PM
there you have it. the baja is not all that they say it is.it might be good for catching fish that are up off the bottom but cant Handel getting big fish up with max drag.my friend that bottom fish for big grouper and snapper have gone trough four or five of them and the old 4/o and 6/0 they have are still ticking.

I'm sorry but I really don't find this credible. If your friend went through "4 or 5 of them" what did Penn have to say about it? Nothing?

What I see in the post above is one of the ratchets from the last Baja production runs that was stamped from a worn die.

This does not mean that it "can't handle big fish with max drag". It means some late model Bajas may need their ratchets to be replaced. And Penn is the same company that built those old 4/0 and 6/0 so I am pretty sure they know what they are doing. Probably more 4/0 and 6/0 reels have been thrown away with stripped gear sleeves and busted gears than the total number of Baja Specials ever made.

Baja Specials have landed thousands and thousands of fish without trouble. Hundreds of guys use them because their Senators weren't strong enough or were too crude for modern fishing (ie casting).

I can find an example of every single reel ever made on Earth with failures of one kind or another. Every single reel. No one is perfect. That does not mean for a second that they are not made to do the job they are made to do, just that mass produced reels occasionally have defects. We now have documented failures of a grand total of about 4 Bajas....out of the hundreds and hundreds produced.

A little perspective is in order rather than running down one of the very last Made in USA reels. And a little more perspective should inform anyone making categorical claims while knowing nothing of the history of the hundreds of other reels making people very happy.

johndtuttle · September 06, 2015, 10:01:17 PM

Quote from: JoePlo on September 06, 2015, 06:12:53 PM
All I need some assistance. Was using my Baja this past week to catch some monster red snapper when it failed pretty hard. While reeling the reel seems to "skip" if the fish pulls on the line. As if the double dogs are letting go briefly and then catching again. When I got home I pulled the reel apart expecting to find the dogs all out of wack but not the case. What I do see is an issue I found months ago. The dogs are deformed a bit where they hold onto the gear. I will take a few pictures and see if some of the reel wizards in here can identify the problem. All gear teeth are intact and nothing seems damaged. Just a bit disappointing that my tank of a reel failed me. The positive of the situation is that I found I really enjoyed using my Saragossa 8k on Tallas Heavy rod for bottom fishing. Seemed to give me a serious difference in sensitivity when using live baits.

Hey Joe,

This should be brought to the attention of PENN by contacting their repair department. They will be all over this and help you out.

You can also post on the PENN fishing forum at stripersonline.com and they will provide you with info as to where to send the reel to get it fixed up better than new.

steelfish · September 07, 2015, 12:32:19 AM

Quote from: Keta on September 06, 2015, 09:44:48 PM
Quote from: broschro on September 06, 2015, 09:09:57 PM
there you have it. the baja is not all that they say it is.

It's a minor issue that Penn is working on, so am I.

at this time and according to the last reported failures I think I batch of SS dogs for the Baja will help a lot to avoid this problems.

this seems to be a lot easier for you Lee than develop a new ratched and dog system with stronger springs, etc

Im willing to get at least 4 dogs

broschro · September 07, 2015, 01:09:53 AM

He sent them back.now he is having the exact same problem as JoePole

JoePlo · September 07, 2015, 02:08:31 AM

This is my second set of dogs. Not SS ones though. About 6 months ago I replaced some washers and also replaced the dogs. Now the reel is skipping no matter what I seem to do. I do not think it is strictly the dogs that are causing the skipping but I cannot figure it out. I never liked how the dogs sit on the springs and in order to get the reel put back together I placed temporary small bits of zip tie to keep the dogs and dog springs in place while I got the screws to hold in the gear/drag assembly. Still puzzled by this one. I know I put my gear through some serious beatings but having this one fail surprised me.

Keta · September 07, 2015, 02:11:07 AM

Could you send me the reel to look over and tinker with for around 2 months?

broschro · September 07, 2015, 08:01:02 PM

Lee i will talk my buddy and see if he will let me send you the one that's acting up like JoePols reel along with that datilPepper sauce. I have you're address.

JoePlo · September 07, 2015, 08:36:20 PM

I can send mine off. Was just going to give it one more look through and put it together and see if something just was out of alignment. I love this reel it has been my go to for the GoM. Do see some serious issues with the dogs getting malformed. I checked my last set to see if maybe they were in better shape and they were even more messed up.

broschro · September 07, 2015, 09:04:19 PM

Quote from: JoePlo on September 07, 2015, 08:36:20 PM
I can send mine off. Was just going to give it one more look through and put it together and see if something just was out of alignment. I love this reel it has been my go to for the GoM. Do see some serious issues with the dogs getting malformed. I checked my last set to see if maybe they were in better shape and they were even more messed up.

my buddy had four of these everyone of them were broken before a year. The dogs were disintegrated in on all of them.

JoePlo · September 07, 2015, 09:08:03 PM

Yeah I just tore down and rebuilt and still is skipping. Only thing I can figure is the dogs / dog springs are shot again.

broschro · September 07, 2015, 10:25:41 PM

I'm building a few Tanks for him now. i hope some one can do something to help JoePol and my friend out with these desk weights they are used for now.

steelfish · September 07, 2015, 10:30:26 PM

Quote from: broschro on September 07, 2015, 10:25:41 PM
I'm building a few Tanks for him now. i hope some one can do something to help JoePol and my friend out with these desk weights they are used for now.

if they are just desk weights now I can help them to getting rid of them selling them to me for cheap.