Looks like a extended baja. Anyone have info and what are your thoughts?
Looks to be an extend 113. I've seen a photo somewhere, but I don't recall where.
That looks like a 113W with a tib frame to me, like an updated 268. The square drive means it probably is a baja inside, depending on the price it might be a cool reel although I would still prefer a wide 113 with all of our upgrades.
Ron
Steve (Tunanorth) confirmed that Penn will coming out with it at Icast. I would be interested in one as the lugs are convertible and I know I can get the drag on the baja special to 40 + lbs.
The right sideplate, star and arm/knob all scream "Baja Special". It must be a wide version of that.
Interesting.. The frame is numbered like it was built by Penn. The 9th. built in January, 2014.
Nice reel. This one is a prototype built on the Baja platform. You can see on the spool the grooves for the line capacity rings.
the plot thickens in the search for a high capacity casting reel..........
I hope Penn starts building more reels back here!
I HOPE THEY DO A 3/0 SIZE ALSO
If it's above the 200$ price mark it will be made in the US.
I doubt they will make a 3/0 size as that would eat into the fathom and squall and torque sales. The narrow 4/0 and now soon to be wide 4/0 in baja style fill a nice niche for castable larger capacity star drag reels.
Quote from: maxpowers on May 13, 2014, 07:51:15 PM
I doubt they will make a 3/0 size as that would eat into the fathom and squall and torque sales. The narrow 4/0 and now soon to be wide 4/0 in baja style fill a nice niche for castable larger capacity star drag reels.
As I understand Penn's thinking on this (FWIW) it is not a question of eating into another reel's sales, it's a question of what could this 3/0 Baja special do for the average guy that a Fathom 25N can't?
The answer is: Nothing.
In fact, it can be argued that the Fathom 25N is superior for most peoples fishing ie instant AR for fishing braid in addition to back up dogs.
Penn can't even really justify the existence of the Baja Special (narrow 4/0) despite it's universal recognition as the most dependable and best all around offshore reel for many styles of fishing for the dollar made. It simply doesn't sell. It doesn't look cool unless you are in the over 50 crowd more or less.
Something I learned in the outdoor industry long ago is that people do not want what works. They want what *looks like it works* to them and makes them feel *l'm an elite end-user*. Being a user of brutally effective simplicity simply doesn't appeal to them. They want something that appears contemporary ie *bling*and they don't want to look like their dad fishing. They want to think they discovered something new so they get one over on pops.
The company that makes a reel that works just long enough and also looks and feels like it works gets the most sales, regardless of economics or the reality of the internals.
You can apply that to any consumer good. It's the reality of the consumer mind set.
The good news is, it drives innovation and occasionally a company combines the best of the old and the new (ie Torque).
I guess I'm wierd, still have a bit to go to get to 50 and would barely recognize a purple lever thing as something you try and catch fish with.
Ron
Quote from: noyb72 on May 13, 2014, 09:52:41 PM
I guess I'm weird, still have a bit to go to get to 50 and would barely recognize a purple lever thing as something you try and catch fish with.
Ron
Has nothing to do with being purple (however, people complain all the time that Penn's are gold and they want silver). It has to do with the overall appearance of the product and the Baja Special looks just like a Senator from the 1940's.
1940's bling when out with Studebakers.
When's the last time you bought a Baja Special? :)
The reason I ask is that we all sit here and sing their praises day in and day out and yet we ourselves probably make a different choice when we spend our $$$. :D
Something a little lighter...something with an instant AR...something in a faster retrieve...ie a Fathom.
I think that Penn is planning a Baja wide to complement the narrow Baja currently in production and give the whole series a cosmetic upgrade. The model number might be 113HW Baja Special.
Quote from: johndtuttle on May 13, 2014, 10:01:45 PM
Quote from: noyb72 on May 13, 2014, 09:52:41 PM
I guess I'm weird, still have a bit to go to get to 50 and would barely recognize a purple lever thing as something you try and catch fish with.
Ron
Has nothing to do with being purple (however, people complain all the time that Penn's are gold and they want silver). It has to do with the overall appearance of the product and the Baja Special looks just like a Senator from the 1940's.
1940's bling when out with Studebakers.
When's the last time you bought a Baja Special? :)
John,
I have a Fathom 40 and it felt flimsy. Not sure if the smaller ones felt more solid.
The reason I ask is that we all sit here and sing their praises day in and day out and yet we ourselves probably make a different choice when we spend our $$$. :D
Something a little lighter...something with an instant AR...something in a faster retrieve...ie a Fathom.
I've never bought a Baja, to new fangled. Senators and Jigmasters have worked forever and we here are making them much better. I have a few Diawa's, all star drag. Some of them have IARs but that os only because I haven't figured out how to put a couple dogs in yet.
Ron
You make some very good points, John. Penn probably would have sold more Baja Specials if they had originally been in introduced with red side plates. I bought one in the last year. I've mostly avoided reels with IR bearings in favor of Pro Gears, Squidders, 501's and Newells, but you can probably guess my age.
Quote from: doradoben on May 13, 2014, 11:50:21 PM
You make some very good points, John. Penn probably would have sold more Baja Specials if they had originally been in introduced with red side plates. I bought one in the last year. I've mostly avoided reels with IR bearings in favor of Pro Gears, Squidders, 501's and Newells, but you can probably guess my age.
Well, that's the rub Ben, we start favoring substance over style as we get older. Hell, I still think my first car a '67 Bug is the greatest car ever made :D.
Unfortunately, the average consumer favors style over substance. Substance is too hard to figure out (ie internals).
Other technologies have made some Penns reels obsolete in many ways, that being line technology. Braid has made many Reel companies go back to the drawing board and make smaller reels with tighter tolerances to handle the much finer lines of braid. Drag technology is improving, and now Alan is vindicated in that more and more reels are coming with prelubricated drags. Rod technology is improving and making many of these reels seem like boat anchors attached to them.
Quote from: kmstorm64 on May 14, 2014, 06:38:55 PM
Other technologies have made some Penns reels obsolete in many ways, that being line technology. Braid has made many Reel companies go back to the drawing board and make smaller reels with tighter tolerances to handle the much finer lines of braid. Drag technology is improving, and now Alan is vindicated in that more and more reels are coming with prelubricated drags. Rod technology is improving and making many of these reels seem like boat anchors attached to them.
Right...
Well, see that is the thing. We can say the "state of the art" for performance is not a Penn Senator...
O wait, what is "performance"???
Is it casting distance, light weight, max drag, braid friendly (spool and AR design)...etc...??
Or is it longevity, ease of maintenance, availability of parts, cheap and reliable mono friendly, cranking power, simplicity and reliability?
I used to only chase rainbows. Then parts availability for my other than current model Shimanos started drying up.
And realized I had been sold a Bill of Goods.
Don't kid yourself that you might have bought something that has made a Senator obsolete. What you have bought in all likelihood is a disposable reel that can perform amazingly well, for a time... I still use them and buy them, but I am realistic that you simply will not have a functional reel in 5-10 years from most companies when there are no parts because there has been a model change.
I ain't making this up. Shimano says they will provide parts for 5 years after a reel is discontinued. Ask someone that needs a part for his old Stella FA what he thinks about the reel he bought that was supposedly "built for a lifetime".
It's a paperweight.
Yep,
I have a Newelled 501 that when done will be a 80 pound line rate reel if I want. It will have a high retrieve ratio and all kinds of stainless innards. Total investment will be $200.00 with line and it will last forever and parts will be available forever. Nothing obsolete about that.
Like I said, this new reel is basically a slightly faster 268 with a nice frame. It will be a nice reel but it will have nothing on a Tibbed/Newelled 113HLW with all the upgrades that are happening on here. I'll stick with the old trusty.
Ron
Again, I'm on the same page with John. What he is describing is planned obsolescence. Shimano is not an isolated example. Regular introductions of new series drives profits and stock prices, but it also starts the clock ticking on the model that you currently own. The only reason that Penn WAS different is because they were family owned, had a solid lineup of products and operated in a marketplace that was devoid of serious competitors. That is far from the case, now. Fortunately for some, there is a large availability of repair parts and modification procedures that make some of the old Penns and reels based on them, not nearly as obsolete as they could have been.
Quote from: noyb72 on May 14, 2014, 09:34:40 PM
Yep,
I have a Newelled 501 that when done will be a 80 pound line rate reel if I want. It will have a high retrieve ratio and all kinds of stainless innards. Total investment will be $200.00 with line and it will last forever and parts will be available forever. Nothing obsolete about that.
Like I said, this new reel is basically a slightly faster 268 with a nice frame. It will be a nice reel but it will have nothing on a Tibbed/Newelled 113HLW with all the upgrades that are happening on here. I'll stick with the old trusty.
Ron
Be careful about this as the spool shaft will be the weakest component once all the upgrades are in.