Penn Senator 3/0 and Penn 350 Leveline

[fishingdocbeta]

I recently made my first acquisition of equipment and wondered what you guys might have to say about these couple of reels for someone just getting started.  I got them for a total of $80 and they look like they are in good condition (haven't received them yet).

I've seen on other forums that you can do some simple upgrades for better performance and would be interested in suggestions.  
Thinking of using them for light trolling in the gulf of mexico, not too far offshore, and jigging/bottom fishing, would be interested in thoughts on rods and line for setup.  I've heard the 350 Leveline can be good for casting with a swap for a lighter spool.  

I've seen great tutorials on rebuilds/upgrades so once I receive these reels, I'll definitely be looking for advice:

Penn Senator 3/0:







Penn 350 Leveline:







Thanks for any feedback!

[Tile]

Take them apart and clean the crud off them, grease them and replace the original drag washers with HT 100 ones and slother Cal's grease on them.

[akfish]

Th 350 and 12 are neat reels but are really maxed out with 303 line. Th 350 has the same drag washers as a Penn 209 and the 112 has the same drag as a Squidder. Both have very slow retrieves. I would be reluctant to fish them for king mackerel...

[alantani]

nice looking, but old reels, and pretty slow.

[George4741]

Think of the 350 as a 155 Beachmaster with a levelwind.  After all, it has the same gears, drags and spool.  The levelwind parts are almost impossible to get so be careful and don't break it.  I would't hesitate to use mine for light bottom fishing with 20# mono.