New Penn Fathom II 15SDCS

Breadfan · May 10, 2021, 03:04:48 PM

Well, I sold the Avet SXMC and bought two Penn Fathom II 15CS (casting Special) reels from Anglers Corner in The UK. There are none of that model (or the Squall 15CS) to be had here in the states. I took it out for 6 hours on Saturday, it really does cast nicely, the magnets are as strong as you want them and then can be turned to full off if you don't need them. I couldn't do that with the Avet, one of the reasons I sold it. The Penn has upgraded bearings and the spool holds a little more line, which are the main differences from the regular fathom II. Oh, and it has a knobby mag, but you'll notice mine does not. I read many reviews on this reel and the biggest gripe was the knobby mag, located on the lower left (why?) of the left side plate will dig into your wrist. I anticipated this and had two parts, the Penn Part 302b525mag2 (mag dial) and Penn Part 302h525mag2 (screw) I needed waiting for the arrival of my reels. Sure enough, as soon as I mounted one to my rod and tested it, it dug into my wrist. Let me tell you, if I did not have the option of changing the knobby mag dial out to a 525 dial, I would not own this reel. It would be a deal breaker for sure. I again ask why? Some things I just don't get. Otherwise, out of the box I left the bearings alone, it appeared that they were oiled and not greased, they had a lot of free spool time so I just left them. I really like the reel and I do believe that this is the first Penn reel I've ever owned, aside from pedaling one or two for parts. I'm not quite sure if I've posted this on the right place, feel free to correct me. At some point I plan to do a full breakdown and review of this reel. For now, I will just get to know it.

https://ibb.co/109wkPW
https://ibb.co/N2G6bLV

Gfish · May 10, 2021, 03:21:27 PM

Nice looking Fathom. Love to see a breakdown/review.

MarkT · May 10, 2021, 03:22:58 PM

The casting special is for casting contests, not for fishing, so the knobby is easy to adjust with the weight in the air. The dial is the way to go if you're going to actually *gasp* fish with it!

Swami805 · May 10, 2021, 04:39:23 PM

Looking forward to hearing more and how it holds up

Breadfan · May 10, 2021, 05:09:22 PM

Quote from: MarkT on May 10, 2021, 03:22:58 PM
The casting special is for casting contests, not for fishing, so the knobby is easy to adjust with the weight in the air. The dial is the way to go if you're going to actually *gasp* fish with it!

Well, I didn't come to that conclusion while I researched it. The new Versa-Drag drag was made for fishing, and the knobby mag is really not a true knobby mag with a single magnet behind it like most others used in competition. Its still just the "slidey mag" that all the Fathoms and Squalls have had in them in the other models. All that aside, the mag is in the wrong place, plain and simple. But with the 525 dial change, it makes no difference. Good thing the parts are interchangeable.

jzman · May 11, 2021, 06:13:40 PM

Shark river mail order might have both the squall ii and fathom ii casting special in the US. The squall ii's dial magnet is better placed from what I saw on youtube.

Breadfan · May 11, 2021, 06:34:44 PM

Quote from: jzman on May 11, 2021, 06:13:40 PM
Shark river mail order might have both the squall ii and fathom ii casting special in the US. The squall ii's dial magnet is better placed from what I saw on youtube.

Stocks in the US are really low, I only bought from the UK because it was so hard to find over here and the price was better by about 35.00 bucks per reel. I think I would have went with the squalls too, but I couldn't find those anywhere, at least the CS's. I'm really happy with the Fathom though so it's all good. Reading up on the Versa-drag now and how the stack can be arranged different ways. I'll post a pick of the configurations tomorrow.

Jenx · May 11, 2021, 09:29:49 PM

I own the same reel and love it. I bought the regular 15 last year (my first mag reel), and I couldn't have been happier with it.

I liked that Fathom so much I decided to buy the Casting Special last month after finding a good deal for one on Ebay. Originally I wasn't interested in the 15sdcs, but then I discovered it holds almost 100 more yards of 50lb braid than the regular 15.

Like you I also heard all the complaints about the position of the knob, so I bought the replacement dial and screw to change it out as well.

However, the position of the knob has yet to get in my way. Maybe it's because I currently have it on a 13' rod, which has a long foregrip, but I typically have a few inches of clearance. For now the replacement dial is still sitting unopened in the box it came in.

I kind of like the look of the knob, even if I don't use it the way it was intended. I definitely like the blacked out look of the casting special compared to the black and gold (high speed), or black and grey (low speed) color combinations of the other series II Fathoms.

Breadfan · May 12, 2021, 11:18:16 AM

Quote from: Jenx on May 11, 2021, 09:29:49 PM
I own the same reel and love it. I bought the regular 15 last year (my first mag reel), and I couldn't have been happier with it.

I liked that Fathom so much I decided to buy the Casting Special last month after finding a good deal for one on Ebay. Originally I wasn't interested in the 15sdcs, but then I discovered it holds almost 100 more yards of 50lb braid than the regular 15.

Like you I also heard all the complaints about the position of the knob, so I bought the replacement dial and screw to change it out as well.

However, the position of the knob has yet to get in my way. Maybe it's because I currently have it on a 13' rod, which has a long foregrip, but I typically have a few inches of clearance. For now the replacement dial is still sitting unopened in the box it came in.

I kind of like the look of the knob, even if I don't use it the way it was intended. I definitely like the blacked out look of the casting special compared to the black and gold (high speed), or black and grey (low speed) color combinations of the other series II Fathoms.

I Liked the knob also, and I would like to actually try and use it if it hadn't bugged me so much. I agree with everything else, the color scheme is much better in all black.

Breadfan · May 12, 2021, 11:28:37 AM

So, here is a pic of the different ways you can configure the drag stacks. Someone correct me if I am wrong about this and enlighten me more. I take it the lighter drag stack would make it possible to more finely tune the drag? In other words, you would have to turn the star more up or down to achieve the same resistance (up to the limit of the stack configuration) as if you had the drag stack configured for the heaviest settings? Does anyone use this feature? Won't all reels do this? Is it just a gimmick? Sorry if I asked too many questions!

https://ibb.co/Ms1mg6W