Penn 501

[sharkman]

Need some expert advice. Would a modified 501 work for slow pitch jigging reel. If so what mods would you recommend.

[thorhammer]

I dunno didly about slow pitching, but have built a lot of 501's for jigging offshore. Carbontex and SS drag kit, and maybe a Black pearl offset blade with round knob, maybe a SS sleeve with the extra torque you'll get from BP blade length. That right there will go a really long way before you might want a frame. Pretty strong as-is with stock ported bars and narrow profile. So, you might put 75 bucks in, but that's a lot cheaper than an Ocea Jigga and whatnot. My 0.02. I put 50lb braid on my 501's 20 years ago for diamond jigs and bucktailing before I'd ever heard of speed jigging, slow pitch, et al or even knew what they did in Cali jigging. No issues. Perfect on snapper and sea bass, and tho I don't think I targeted grouper, I would have. Plenty of grouper caught on head boats with abused Long Beaches and 113's, which are inferior drags to the Jiggy.

John

[Gfish]

A good reel to play around with. Possible aftermarket parts can be had from Maxed-out, Black Pearl, Cortez Classic, Newell, Bryan Young, Tiburon, Offshore classics, Mystic Penn parts, etc.

[Swami805]

It will work but it's not ideal. Usually it's pretty deep water and 4-1 is pretty slow winding in all that line. Most use something taller and narrower with a higher IPT. Decent reel to start with to see if you like doing it before dropping a bunch of coin on a dedicated SPJ set up

[Keta]

Need some expert advice. Would a modified 501 work for slow pitch jigging reel. If so what mods would you recommend.

Depend on what you are targeting and how deep.  If you are targeting bottomfish or albacore size tuna under 100'  deep a Jigmaster 501 would work.

A better handle would be the first thing I would do, second would be drag upgade.  A solid frame would nice but not nessasary.