would y'all recommend I get for my 8 yr old? Something that will hold a good amount of line and enough drag to pull up a 20# fish if need be. I want to get a level line reel so he doesn't have to concentrate on the line bunching up on him. Jamie
Maybe a Penn 320 GT 2.
hi broschro i'm a penn guy, a penn #9 is on the small end, a penn #209 is larger, i don't know what the drag ratings are, i'm sure one of the members can fill you in on that. you can get penn parts everywhere and the reels are relatively cheap, if anything bad happened to the reel or lost, it's not a big money purchase to fix or replace. harryk
Lever Drag - Shimano TR-1000 or TR-2000
Star Drag - Shimano TR-100 or TR-200
Okuma CL200L or Catelina Level Wind
Penn - 310GT or 320GT, 9M, 209M
Daiwa - Sealine 27SH
Strongest, I would say the Daiwa Seline 27SH or Penn GTs
Lightest, Shimano TR-100
Easily fixed - Shimano, Penn and Daiwa.
Quote from: broschro on July 30, 2013, 11:57:08 PM
would y'all recommend I get for my 8 yr old? Something that will hold a good amount of line and enough drag to pull up a 20# fish if need be. I want to get a level line reel so he doesn't have to concentrate on the line bunching up on him. Jamie
So far my ABU Alphmar has been a good reel.
I really don't think you can beat the 320GTi for your application. The nice thing is as he developes his technique you can build it into a fantastic all around reel.
Ron
ambassaduer 5500. it's a good kid sized reel. a rod with a longer foregrip would be helpful, also.
I agree with the rod, Alan. I bought the girls the 30# Mariner boat rods, the butts are to long and the fore grips are to short. reversing the hypalon would actually make them just about right.
Ron
ABU 5000,5500 or Penn 109,209 make good kids reels.
Are you talking 20# test for 20# fish? or maybe 10# test for 20# fish?
somthing that could land a 20# fish. 309 any good?
If you are using 10-12# test line, I would recommend an Abu 5500C3 or 6500C3 depending on how much line you need.
I take a lot of kids fishing. I have everything from Calcutta 50's for kokes up to Calcutta 700s and Convector 30Ls for sturgeon. Anything over something the size of a Shimano Tekota 500 is tough for most kids. Have really good luck with Abu 6500s and Shimano Cardiff 400s. Put a small power handle on them and they work well on salmon and even shark. The Tekota 300s and 500s work well too.
Penn 309. Same width as the 209 and about 0.5" larger in diameter. Jigmaster/500 gears so more drag surface area. They were available with SS spools if you can find one.
Penn210. Same size as 209 but with 500 main gear. It does have spool bearings instead of bushings. Also available with SS spool.
Penn 9 with 50lb braid. That will whup some fish and be great size. Or an abu 6500 with the same line
Last year I grabbed an Abu Alphamar 12 for my wife -- same size as my Fin-nor OFL16, but with Levelwind and a graphite frame.
This winter I took it mutton fishing on the Yankee Capts (Dry Tortugas) and it worked great (I had to test it for her, right ? :) ).
Nice and light, decent drag, nice gear ratio for bottom fishing.
It looks like the schematic is pretty much the same as the one for the Fin-nor levelwinds other than the graphite instead of aluminum frame.
(Shelly uses it for bottom fishing up here in the northeast -- Cod, seabass, etc - but I have no doubt it will handle stripers or blues that come calling if needed)