Big senators

Maxed Out · July 22, 2025, 01:44:42 AM

Senators basic design came from the first star drag reel Penn made in 1932....the model k, which got a name change in 1933 to the long beach 60&65. Simplicity and yet a very sturdy design that has stood the test of time. If you can service a long beach 60, then you can service any senator, because all senators evolved from the long beach 60, as did most every other single speed star drag Penn reel.

I fish with jigmasters, and 113h reels from the early 1980's, and those reels will still be going strong 100 years from now, and parts for many models of Penns will also still be available long after our grandkids are grand parents

Shark Hunter · July 22, 2025, 01:01:56 PM

To Each his own, But I will always fish a Senator.

Shark Hunter · July 22, 2025, 01:05:25 PM

JasonGotaProblem · July 22, 2025, 04:38:35 PM

I've made an argument similar to this before. At the end of the day, we're all fishing the way we WANT to fish, and few of us on here do so commercially. It's all recreation. If efficiency was the only metric we'd never talk about anything but nets. Nothing wrong with starting the discussion. Me personally I like a variety of types of tackle.

Swampfox · July 23, 2025, 07:10:27 PM

I got one of my dad's rod n reel setup from his building. It's a senator 9/0 on a 80weight 6'6" roller rod. I'm wanting to bring this setup back to life. I'm looking at sending the rod off to a custom builder to refinish the rod not sure if keep the rollers or not. Now as far as the reel goes cleaning it up, and not sure if I'm going to hot rod it or not. Any suggestions on which way to go is appreciated.

Swampfox · July 23, 2025, 08:21:43 PM

Here are a few more pics of my dad's rod n reel. I have no clue when it was last fished, but I do remember it from my childhood many moons ago lol. I definitely want to get it up to shape to catch fish again in honor of him.

Swami805 · July 24, 2025, 01:04:21 AM

The rod doesn't look too bad. Clean it and a fresh coat of finish could be all it needs. Clean and lube the rollers. Looks like an aluminum spool? No telling what's under the line but the rest of the reel looks ok. A couple soaks to get the green of the chrome and a full service and you're in business

Swampfox · July 24, 2025, 01:51:57 AM

Quote from: Swami805 on July 24, 2025, 01:04:21 AMThe rod doesn't look too bad. Clean it and a fresh coat of finish could be all it needs. Clean and lube the rollers. Looks like an aluminum spool? No telling what's under the line but the rest of the reel looks ok. A couple soaks to get the green of the chrome and a full service and you're in business

Agree a fresh coat of finish on the rod, and clean a lube the rollers. I will say the aluminum but and rollers are Afco brand so it seems to be a quality rod even though I can't find any info about this brand. It should be an aluminum spool.

oc1 · July 24, 2025, 05:13:03 AM

It looks like a solid glass rod instead of tubular. The first rod I had under my 12/0 was solid glass but I was anxious to upgrade to a Harnell.

Shark Hunter · July 24, 2025, 09:01:02 AM

I would take all the line off and make sure the spool is in good shape.
Clean it up and wax the spool with car wax.
Completely Disasemble the reel and check the internals and drag stack.
At Minimum, I would put a new 5 stack drag kit in there and Grease with Cal's.
That is of course if the drag looks worn at all.

Gfish · July 24, 2025, 02:20:16 PM

If you fish it often a stainless steel gear-sleeve might be an upgrade to consider.

1badf350 · July 24, 2025, 06:00:31 PM

I can't see enough of the rod to definitively say it needs new finish. Just looks dirty.
I've had many rods come back to life with a good cleaning using Penn Rod cleaner.
You can polish the rollers with about any metal or chrome polish.
Disassemble the rollers, clean them, and reassemble. You may or may not want to oil them.
Beyond that, do what Shark Hunter said to the reel.