Hey All
I'm looking for a small star drag conventional style reel that is made in USA. It would be going on light casting rod for bottom jigging porgy's, sea bass and maybe schoolie strippers. I'm a penn guy but looking for something smaller than a narrowed 500 series. Im not that familiar with other brands physical sizing. I seen a Pro Gear V20 that looked nice. Not sure it's made in USA. Does anyone have some suggestions or recommendations?
Thanks,
Pete
Check out accurate terns. The 300 size might fit the bill
Penn Torque 100 (TRQ100), mini beast.
I think someone, maybe Bryan, said the "new" Progear is out of business. Options for you may be Siegler, Newell 220, Squidder Jr or Cortez Classic Squidder (a personal favorite), Penn 100, Avet SX is affordable and a good lever drag.
John
Ya'll know what I'm gonna say...
Penn Mag 10!
Well, the Penn Torque 12 & 15, but whoo-ee $$$$. I might suggest the soon to be here narrow XN frame for the 220 Newell from Randy. Then you have a small reel with Jigmaster guts. Or along that vein the old ProGear 255, and 501. All USA made. May take some time to find. The V20 is still available and would work great, Made in Taiwan?
Tom's squidder kit has amazing design and tolerance, but you still have Squidder guts and slow gearing. I love it too.
Penn Mag 525 is another small powerful reel that can cast a mile too.
Or venture over to Daiwa Lexa and other saltwater baitcasters. Last time I fished I used the Lexa and a narrowed (XN) Jigmaster.
Lot's of choices now days. Good luck.
Oh yeah...couldn't recall the numbers on my small original progears but they are some of my favorites. I wasn't thinking levelwind, but the Mag 10 is a great call if so. I use them a lot, and can't believe the 525 didn't occur...great reels also.
Randy is my cloud backup :) ;D
I think of my Penn 955 / 965 when thinking levelwinds, (along with the Lexa's).
The way Tom scalloped the plates, the Cortex Classic jigmaster palms about like a Squidder- just checked. i don't know what he has left, but I love mine in all widths and the 99 width is a great balance of capacity and castability.
Progear. https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-stock-PROGEAR-V20-Pro-Gear-Vengeance-20-Free-SHIPPING-JAWS-COVER-RH-Silver-/382836165596 (https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-stock-PROGEAR-V20-Pro-Gear-Vengeance-20-Free-SHIPPING-JAWS-COVER-RH-Silver-/382836165596)
The Penn #9 is small and inexpensive.
-steve
For new check Accurate, Avet and Seigler. Used Penn and Newell for the most part. I may be looking to sell a Newell C220, 40 lb 8 strand braid backed and freshly serviced (open spool bearings with TSI, carbontex drags with Cal's grease and more) which looks new with clamp. PM me if you want to talk about it.
Thanks guys. I like the torque 15! It's priceeeey. So the squidder 146. What's the extra lever for? Are the side plates same diameter as a jigmaster? I already have a 500 & 501 & the narrowed 501 kit from Randy. I'm really interested in smaller diameter reel. If that makes sense. Or how about the Penn #9? Size? I'm not into the level wind but I guess I could gut it if size was good.
The #9 is noticeably smaller than a Jigmaster, side plates are 2 1/2" dia., 1 3/4" inside between sides. Palms nicely. My favorite for fluke and black sea bass inshore NJ. New ones are China made, older USA made ones are plentiful on the 'net.
Kal
Quote from: PeteRocck on February 05, 2021, 01:59:29 AM
Thanks guys. I like the torque 15! It's priceeeey. So the squidder 146. What's the extra lever for? Are the side plates same diameter as a jigmaster? I already have a 500 & 501 & the narrowed 501 kit from Randy. I'm really interested in smaller diameter reel. If that makes sense. Or how about the Penn #9? Size? I'm not into the level wind but I guess I could gut it if size was good.
I got a 1/0 senator but it's not the best reel to upgrade with the drag,,,, ;) on sol there's a 525 for $130 and the pro gear is great stuff,,,,,,,, ;D
From left to right. Penn Monofil 25 with Carbontex drags and upgraded handle and arm knob with Newell metal spool (I do have the stock arm and handle), Newell C220-5 Carbontex drags, Penn 525 Mag with upgraded handle and arm. The following are not American made reels, Daiwa BG 20H Carbontex here and have the stock carbon fiber drags which are fine, Daiwa SL20SH Carbontex drags with aftermarket frame and handle (US made frame and handle).
All are small, compact and up to most tasks. Though the Monofil will get much less drag and a lot less inches per crank than the others.
Quote from: PeteRocck on February 05, 2021, 01:59:29 AM
Thanks guys. I like the torque 15! It's priceeeey. So the squidder 146. What's the extra lever for? Are the side plates same diameter as a jigmaster? I already have a 500 & 501 & the narrowed 501 kit from Randy. I'm really interested in smaller diameter reel. If that makes sense. Or how about the Penn #9? Size? I'm not into the level wind but I guess I could gut it if size was good.
You can do a lot with the Squidder. But... the stock gears are only 3:1, kinda slow. The extra lever is to turn on/off the anti-reverse. You godda figure out why or when you'ed wanna do this, though.
Check Pro Challenger & Cortez Classics websites in the "For Sale " section on the home page.
Quote from: PeteRocck on February 05, 2021, 01:59:29 AM
So the squidder 146.
One of my favorites for bait&wait shore fishing and light trolling. Bone stock it's stout enough to handle just about anything, casts well, feels much more compact than jiggys and 140. But, yeah, slow.
Ya'll know what I'm gonna say...
Penn Mag 10!
Xjchad, is there such thing as a regular #10? Or all #10 reels mag tuned level wind? Can you confirm a 4:1 gear ratio.
Thanks
A Pro Gear 255... smaller in diameter than a jigmaster and has 5:1 gears and jigmaster drags. Sounds like a small leverdrag like an Avet SXJ or an Accurate BV-300 would fit the bill for what you're looking for too... I have both. The newer Vengeance/Violator Pro Gears were made in Taiwan. The old 2xx, 5xx, 4xx and Albacore Specials were made in the USA.
Quote from: PeteRocck on February 05, 2021, 12:27:28 PM
Ya'll know what I'm gonna say...
Penn Mag 10!
Xjchad, is there such thing as a regular #10? Or all #10 reels mag tuned level wind? Can you confirm a 4:1 gear ratio.
Thanks
No regular #10 that I'm aware of. Just the Mag 10. Even though you're not casting much, the magnet will help with overrun when dropping baits down.
Yes, they do have 4:1 gears, and Bryan has a sweet drag upgrade for it! You can also delete the levelwind if you wanted to, but not not really needed.
The 155 stainless gear sleeve will fit.
You can find them with and without the extra anti reverse on/off lever (I prefer without).
They are about the same size as the sqidder, maybe even a touch smaller.
The 9 and Mag 10 are, for all practical purposes, the same size, which is about the same as a Squidder 145. The 10 obviously has magcast, with larger gears for speed and drag surface. They are also ball bearing, whole the 9 has bushings. I use both livebaiting stripers in freshwater, fish up to 20 lbs with the occasional larger can thrown in. NO ISSUES on these fish. If i wasnt casting for distance or surf fishing I'd leave the LW in. If you take it out you will have an open hole without further mods, and wont affect you dropping straight down. Mag 10's are getting a bit scarce, but you can find 9's all day $30 or less. I upgrade the handle on these to 24S-310's....they are stainless with offset counter balance and rubber ergo knob. The paddle handle on some 10's ok (24-155) but the earlier versions of this have the bakelite football. The 9 has a tiny 24-160 in stock form (this comes from my personal experience; others / schematics may say otherwise). For your application, I might find a 10 and spool with 40 braid and 30 mono shock leader, and grease the carbon drag washers. For this style fishing I don't know what a drag upgrade gives you over stock HT-100's. Sea bass and porgies don't run, and schoolie stripers will be stopped. I would not advise braid on a 9: smaller braid will slip in the spool gap, and the smaller gears have small teeth that aren't designed to stand lock-down drag with 40 or higher braid that has no stretch. I think you will either smash the levelwind cog (nylon) or / then the brass pinion. 20-25 mono is about it, IMO.
Quote from: thorhammer on February 05, 2021, 07:05:06 PM
The 9 and Mag 10 are, for all practical purposes, the same size, which is about the same as a Squidder 145. The 10 obviously has magcast, with larger gears for speed and drag surface. They are also ball bearing, whole the 9 has bushings. I use both livebaiting stripers in freshwater, fish up to 20 lbs with the occasional larger can thrown in. NO ISSUES on these fish. If i wasnt casting for distance or surf fishing I'd leave the LW in. If you take it out you will have an open hole without further mods, and wont affect you dropping straight down. Mag 10's are getting a bit scarce, but you can find 9's all day $30 or less. I upgrade the handle on these to 24S-310's....they are stainless with offset counter balance and rubber ergo knob. The paddle handle on some 10's ok (24-155) but the earlier versions of this have the bakelite football. The 9 has a tiny 24-160 in stock form (this comes from my personal experience; others / schematics may say otherwise). For your application, I might find a 10 and spool with 40 braid and 30 mono shock leader, and grease the carbon drag washers. For this style fishing I don't know what a drag upgrade gives you over stock HT-100's. Sea bass and porgies don't run, and schoolie stripers will be stopped. I would not advise braid on a 9: smaller braid will slip in the spool gap, and the smaller gears have small teeth that aren't designed to stand lock-down drag with 40 or higher braid that has no stretch. I think you will either smash the levelwind cog (nylon) or / then the brass pinion. 20-25 mono is about it, IMO.
There you go! Nailed it John!
The Accurate Tern 300 is probably your best bet in a new small USA made star drag conventional.
Model Weight(oz) Gear Ratio Braid Capacity Inches Per Crank Max Drag
TX-300 14.6 4.7:1 325yds/30lb 30.5" 31
Penn makes a Fathom 8, 10 & 12 that are tiny to small but they're made in China.
Quote from: nelz on February 04, 2021, 03:51:14 AM
Penn Torque 100 (TRQ100), mini beast.
Agreed... In my opinion one of the strongest reels ever made. I don't go to Cabo without my 100 and 300. Dominick
Thank you all for the input and ideas. It is exactly what I was looking for and opened my views for my next reel. Cost being a factor. I bought a mag 10. 4:1 ratio in the size of platform being deciding factor. I'd love to have bought a torque trq100. But price is crazy for what I'd use it for. The 146 squidder "Jr" was next choice. The gear ratio is only reason I didn't opt this reel. I plan on upgrading the drag stack, gear sleeve and bearings on this reel just because.Possibly eliminating the level wind. I plan on documenting this transformation here for others beginners like myself.
Thank you all for the input. You all are great!
Pete
Chad, dig out your level wind delete thread on your pimped green Mag 10 for our friend here.
I agree dude, I'm full behind the expense if I gotta throw into orbit or catch a tuna, but I just can't justify it to bang bottom, which I love doing, but put the difference into the rod.
The Penn Torque 12 & 15 are the best casters of any non tournament star drag reel made. With drag kept at 13 lbs. & below I firmly believe one could not wear one out in single life time. The other plus is the ability to
change out gear ratio. However with these size Torques the higher 6.0:1 is for me the best all around choice grabbing 28" of line with each turn of the handle.
I'll go out on limb here & say these are the best star drag reels for light 40 & heavy 30 line ever made. However with most 30 lines being made today having no issue fished like 40 line I see no reason other than for abrasion to go higher. Sad they are no longer produced. But the reels & all parts are still available if one looks... Jeff
A made in the USA Newell 220 is the size of a 146 only with 5:1 gears and Jigmaster drags. It's a Magnum Squidder!