Surfmaster 150 - Getting it Ready to Fish

[jurelometer]

I also discovered that the stock sleeves are very inexpensive. If one of those gets rounded, does it cause damage to other components?

Mark

No.  The flats on the end of the sleeve  get rounded off by the hole in the handle arm.  Just get a new sleeve and you are good to go.

And you won't round off the sleeve if you don't wind against heavy load- so if you are surf fishing with  something like 20 lb mono and keep this in mind, you should be fine.  Those of us that push the reels a bit  past it limits are the ones that run into trouble.

Thanks for all the info, jurelometer! Sounds like a good argument for the pump and
reel technique.

Exactly.

Nice looking reel!

You can get the stock  Penn wrench for less than 2 bucks from Mystic.  They also sell the drag washers.    If you know anyone that has old Penn reels,  they probably have a wrench. All the old Penn star drag reels came with one.

-J

[work2fish]

Work2Fish, I can't add anything useful to wjat the others have said. I a newbie to these reels, too. I have had better luck buying the reels I find that have Aluminum spools, and swapping parts with other reels if they need help. I found an Aluminum spool Jigmaster on Mercari and a Squidder at a flea market. Keep an eye out when you go to the beach. There are a lot more of these reels in saltwater areas. I've done well at flea markets in Florida and Marketplace in North Carolina.

I just think it's funny that I am also in the Pittsburgh area, primarily target carp and cats with vintage reels, and go surf fishing a bunch. Convetionals and levelwinds work best for my style of carp fishing. I put it in freespool, clicker on. When I get a take I put it in gear.
I'm originaly from O'Hara and Aspinwall. Now I live near Punxsutawney and work around Pittsburgh, Kittanning, and Butler. I fish the Allegheny and tributaries mostly, plus some of the lakes.

Good to meet you, bja105! Thanks for the tip about reel hunting in saltwater areas. My son and I primarily target carp, buffalo, and catfish at Lake Arthur, the lakes at North Park north of Pittsburgh, the 3 rivers near Pittsburgh, or the Beaver river near Rochester. We use a few spinning reels (my son's) and lots of Ambassadeurs. I love to hear the sound of the clicker when a carp takes a run with the bait!

We only go on surf fishing trips a couple times each year, but I think I would be surf fishing every day if I retired near a beach.

I had been wanting to try a Penn conventional, so when I saw the pair of Surfmasters on the auction site for a low price I jumped on it and ended up with both of them for $47 total after shipping and tax. I didn't even know about the different spools until I did some research after receiving the reels, looking at them, and realizing that one spool was aluminum and the other was plastic.

I'll PM you in the summer. Maybe we could go fishing sometime.

Mark

[work2fish]

Those of us that push the reels a bit  past it limits are the ones that run into trouble.

I would love to push a reel past its limits, but I can't seem to catch large enough fish 

I guess the only time we did so was when my son caught his first blacktip (3-4 ft) on a Penn Fierce II 4000. That version of the Fierce had felt drags, and they were probably already dry before they encountered the shark's runs. When I took the drag out to change to HT100 the bottom felt washer was very thin and hard, didn't even resemble felt anymore.

Mark

[thorhammer]

Welcome, Mark! The Surfmaster line up has a nice pedigree in fishing history. The 150 is one of my favs, and I built a couple with Newell kits as you just got from our boy Randy (who is a treasure in his own right). The reel is excellent fished in it's limits. If you get bored you can get tail plates cheaply enough (180/100/150/160/200/155) all fit and could be magged for cast control. I put 29S-310 handles from Mystic on my 100 / 150 / 145 / 146 size reels; you will appreciate them.

Your 250 is largely interchangeable with Jigmnaster 500 parts, so many of Tom's goodies (Cortez) will fit that reel. 

John

[Keta]

Fill the plastic spool 1/2-2/3 with Dacron or Spectra and top them off with mono and spreading or breaking the spool in a non problem.

Due to the tree taking out our house I can't find the box I put my highly modified Surfmaster reels in, 100,150 and 250N, to show you what can be done to them.  I quit using Surfmasters when I got a few Momofil reels due them being the same size but liter.  The Monofil 26 is the same size as your Surfmaster 150.

[JasonGotaProblem]

My collection is the size that it is so that I don't need to be "careful" with any of it.

I have a 15# weight. I have 25# dumbbells too. And a few good stiff rods. If I find the time I'll put my money where my mouth is and do a winding load test this weekend to see if anything explodes. Ya know, for science.

[work2fish]

The reel is excellent fished in it's limits. If you get bored you can get tail plates cheaply enough (180/100/150/160/200/155) all fit and could be magged for cast control. I put 29S-310 handles from Mystic on my 100 / 150 / 145 / 146 size reels; you will appreciate them.

Your 250 is largely interchangeable with Jigmnaster 500 parts, so many of Tom's goodies (Cortez) will fit that reel.

This really is a "rabbit hole," as Jason said. I've kept my Ambassadeurs stock, with the exception of carbontex drag washers, so I will try the other approach with these Penns.

Fill the plastic spool 1/2-2/3 with Dacron or Spectra and top them off with mono and spreading or breaking the spool in a non problem.

Due to the tree taking out our house I can't find the box I put my highly modified Surfmaster reels in, 100,150 and 250N, to show you what can be done to them.  I quit using Surfmasters when I got a few Momofil reels due them being the same size but liter.  The Monofil 26 is the same size as your Surfmaster 150.

I ordered the aluminum Newell spool from Randy, but might try braid on the plastic spool. I've never tried braid on a conventional reel (because I'm still a relative beginner and have heard that it is harder to fix birds nests with braid).

I read that the Monofils were designed for monofilament line, but I see that many have the bakelite spools. Did they do something to the plastic spools to make them stronger to handle the mono?

If I find the time I'll put my money where my mouth is and do a winding load test this weekend to see if anything explodes. Ya know, for science.

With the steel sleeve or the original one? Would be interesting to see the results!

Mark

[JasonGotaProblem]

The plastic spools of that era are all bakelite. I'd be doing the test with my steel sleeve, I don't foresee the one with a brass sleeve going well. I'd be interested in finding out how long til Tom makes more surfmaster sized sleeves. I'm not seeking to steal any of his business but If it's gonna be a very long time, I think I have a spare steel one that I'm unlikely to ever use, and would sell it without upcharge to someone like you who will use it. Just gotta 1. Verify I have it and 2. Figure out what I paid for it.

[jurelometer]

I ordered the aluminum Newell spool from Randy, but might try braid on the plastic spool. I've never tried braid on a conventional reel (because I'm still a relative beginner and have heard that it is harder to fix birds nests with braid).

I read that the Monofils were designed for monofilament line, but I see that many have the bakelite spools. Did they do something to the plastic spools to make them stronger to handle the mono?

The Penn historians here can correct me, but I think that the plastic spools were originally intended for casting performance with a trade off in durability.  The chrome plated spools would also fail similarly, but at higher loads.  If fished within the intended line sizes and loads, plastic spools lasted long enough to be useful.  You just didn't use them for stuff like trolling.

Once aluminum spools became common,  plastic spools ended up unpopular enough to disappear.  I only have one reel with one: a "graphite" spooled Newell, which incidentally is my best casting reel. I fish it with modern braid.

Almost everyone here will tell you that nylon mono is far easier to learn to cast a conventional reel with compared to modern braid.   

I f you are just starting out, Lee (Keta) has a good suggestion: First, don't try to cast too far at first. Second, put a little wrap of masking tape on the spool just under you maximum practice distance- this will minimize the big nasty bird's nest.

My advice:  Embrace the bird's nest.  Once you no longer fear it, you will find that you are progressing quickly.  The folk that get left behind are the ones that never lost the fear of a backlash.

If I find the time I'll put my money where my mouth is and do a winding load test this weekend to see if anything explodes. Ya know, for science.

My collection is the size that it is so that I don't need to be "careful" with any of it.

I have a 15# weight. I have 25# dumbbells too. And a few good stiff rods. If I find the time I'll put my money where my mouth is and do a winding load test this weekend to see if anything explodes. Ya know, for science.

Team science!


This test is to demonstrate how hard it is to wind at higher loads.  The reel is at risk, but probably won't fail in the first 15 ft of winding. If possible, wind without pumping.

To test for failure, you will probably have to do it for awhile to break the reel.   I would wear out a stock gear sleeve after about a dozen big yellowtail on a Jigmaster with the drag set to 15-20 lb, so mebbe about 10 lbs of winding load with a longer "power" handle arm .

 If you can rail the rod and wind against that full 15 lbs, I would guess a couple hundred feet on average would be enough to start damaging gears, especially with a longer aftermarket handle arm and a gear sleeve that won't fail first.

Come to think of it, you might do a bit better than my Jigmasters, as the Surfmaster has a lower 3:1 gear ratio. Higher gear ratio means more leverage working against you on a star drag.  Star drags are really inefficient designs for braking performance. Lever drags don't have to be, even though some of them are.


I have only one surfmaster myself, but it was a gift reel from Sal, so I am not going to sacrifice it for science. Sal actually tested his mods to failure.  He found the biggest improvement when he made a custom spacer sleeve that fit snug to the gear sleeve and the metal sleeve pressed into the side plate.  This helps prevent the gears sleeve from flexing under load, but requires a break-in period where you keep winding the handle until it turns freely, and the bridge plate needs to be carefully re-fitted during maintenance.   I am not sure how well this would wear with long term heavy usage, but it could save your hide if you occasionally need to pull hard.

Typical hotrodding problem. Just like cars.  We all like to go for the mods that look the coolest, but sometimes the most important mod is something inconspicuous, taking a bit of work and skill to get right, so fewer people  do it.  Lots of machined frame and sideplate kits installed out there, but I don't remember seeing anybody do the spacer mod besides Sal.

-J

[JasonGotaProblem]

I've been wanting to take a shot at one, I gotta find any threads he wrote on the matter. But I dimly remember a design a threw out there for an alternate bearing for lever drags that might actually work better for this.

Hmmmmmm creative juices are flowing. Sorry for hijacking the thread.

Also, I know I'm in the minority but I think braid nests are far easier to clear than mono knots. I can far more clearly see and visually follow the individual strands. Knock on wood I've had very few braid bird nests that I couldn't clear. Definitely can't say the same for my time playing with mono. But that's just me. I agree with all the rest of the advice above as it relates to learning to cast.

[work2fish]

I'd be interested in finding out how long til Tom makes more surfmaster sized sleeves. I'm not seeking to steal any of his business but If it's gonna be a very long time, I think I have a spare steel one that I'm unlikely to ever use, and would sell it without upcharge to someone like you who will use it. Just gotta 1. Verify I have it and 2. Figure out what I paid for it.

I'm also wondering when Tom might have them back in stock. I'm not sure if my 150 has the wide threads or narrow threads, so I might need the narrow-threaded drag star as well.

If you do find that you have an extra one that you want to sell let me know.

Mark

[Vintage Offshore Tackle]

I'd be interested in finding out how long til Tom makes more surfmaster sized sleeves. I'm not seeking to steal any of his business but If it's gonna be a very long time, I think I have a spare steel one that I'm unlikely to ever use, and would sell it without upcharge to someone like you who will use it. Just gotta 1. Verify I have it and 2. Figure out what I paid for it.

I'm also wondering when Tom might have them back in stock. I'm not sure if my 150 has the wide threads or narrow threads, so I might need the narrow-threaded drag star as well.

If you do find that you have an extra one that you want to sell let me know.

Mark

Mark, I might be wrong, but I don't think that anyone ever made the 150 sleeve in narrow thread.  Your parts will be on their way today.  I put a Penn wrench in the box for you, but you should find one of Alan's wrenches if you can.  They are much easier to use.

Thanks again for your business,
Randy

[Keta]

I read that the Monofils were designed for monofilament line, but I see that many have the bakelite spools. Did they do something to the plastic spools to make them stronger to handle the mono?

I put aluminum 29L-100 and 29L-150 spools on mine.