Though I would start a topic on this short lived series of Penn International Reels. I just picked up a 2.5 and it is built like a tank! These reels are pretty simple to work on and after cleaning it up it's ready to fish. I'm interested to see if there are any other owners and what they think about these reels. Also any tips or questions about working on these reels could be posted here.
Beautiful looking feel!
What weight rod and line would go on that beauty?
Quote from: pjstevko on February 18, 2018, 03:27:16 AM
Beautiful looking feel!
What weight rod and line would go on that beauty?
The International Fly 1.5 would be for a 5-6-7 WT Fly line
The International Fly 2.5 would be for a 8-9-10 WT Fly line
The International Fly 4 would be for a 11-12-13 WT Fly line
They are beautiful and they are internationals. Should last for several lifetimes.
Mid '90's weren't they?
I have a 9wt 3pc International flyrod in the cupboard from the same era, nice dark matt black blank (were they IMX?). The only drawback I can recall is that they were heavy as **** for a 9wt reel!
Beautiful fly reels--will have to look at their history more.
Frank
I have a 4G that has seen a lot of use with tuna, sharks and mahi mahi. Still as smooth as the day I bought it.
Holds 500m of 50lb braid backing and whatever 35yd Fly-line I put on it. I have done a couple of services to it and there is no appreciable wear on internal parts. Just got a little corrosion around where the counterweight is located on the spool.
Only drawback with the reel, is the retrieve is ridiculously slow when compared to "modern" large arbour fly-reels. Yes, a little on the heavy side too, but a 12+weight rod is a canon anyway.
The only big fly reel I will ever own, and it's all I need anyway. Beautiful reel!
You see the odd one here used as a mooching reel for salmon. A buddy had one for sale but it was a little rich plus I have three Islanders which do the job. Those penns are really nice though.
Cheers:
Todd
They are heavy, but absolutely outstanding. I have my 2.5 set up for a 9wt. My heaviest application for them as been smallish tarpon in FL and full size silver salmon in AK, but no question they would handle the kings as well, let alone a bunch of pelagic saltwater species.
Here is some info out of a catalog
Kim
Beautiful indeed.
I had a chance to buy a couple on close out at a sporting goods outlet a little over ten years ago. The 2.5 was marked down to less than $100 apiece I believe. I'm sorry that I didn't pick one up, even though I'd stopped fly fishing about 15 years before that. At that time, it would have made a great photo, alongside the 50SW, 30SW, and two 20Ts that I owned at that time.
Quote from: tgoff on February 18, 2018, 03:48:45 AM
Quote from: pjstevko on February 18, 2018, 03:27:16 AM
What weight rod and line would go on that beauty?
The International Fly 4 would be for a 11-12-13 WT Fly line
I didn't know there was such a thing as 11, 12 and 13WT. Wish I could be a fly fisherman.
-s
Quote from: Rothmar2 on February 19, 2018, 05:21:08 AM
I have a 4G that has seen a lot of use with tuna, sharks and mahi mahi. Still as smooth as the day I bought it.
Holds 500m of 50lb braid backing and whatever 35yd Fly-line I put on it. I have done a couple of services to it and there is no appreciable wear on internal parts. Just got a little corrosion around where the counterweight is located on the spool.
Only drawback with the reel, is the retrieve is ridiculously slow when compared to "modern" large arbour fly-reels. Yes, a little on the heavy side too, but a 12+weight rod is a canon anyway.
The only big fly reel I will ever own, and it's all I need anyway. Beautiful reel!
Yep.
Same issue as a lot of older high capacity big game conventional reels. The dimensions are not quite right when loaded with braid backing. This is worse than conventional, in that fly rods (especially at the high $$$ end) are getting very light.
Small spool diameter can come in handy for tuna, as it is hard enough to wind those stupid little knobs under load. Less inches per revolution makes a difference. But the knob needs to be as close to the spool edge as possible. Which the Penns do not do.
But the big game fly reel market now is targeted toward billfish or similar situations where you run down the fish aggressively with the boat. So a high retrieve rate is desirable.
Looks like the Penn 4 is about 13 oz, with a spool diameter of 4 inches. A modern 8-9 weight saltwater reel would have the same diameter (large abor), with a weight from 7.5 to about 10 ounces.
A modern 12-14 weight big game reel would have a diameter in the 5 inch range, and would still weigh less than the Penn.
But just like an old 80w international trolling reel will still do the job, so will the 4g. No reason to abandon it if you have one and like it.
Quote from: oc1 on April 16, 2020, 06:28:27 AM
Quote from: tgoff on February 18, 2018, 03:48:45 AM
Quote from: pjstevko on February 18, 2018, 03:27:16 AM
What weight rod and line would go on that beauty?
The International Fly 4 would be for a 11-12-13 WT Fly line
I didn't know there was such a thing as 11, 12 and 13WT. Wish I could be a fly fisherman.
-s
Just takes a fly rod. Just like having a boat makes you a "captain" :)
Up to about 12 weight, it is possible to get a rod that casts like a normal fly rod. From about 13-16 weight, rods are designed mostly for fighting fish, not much for casting. The line weight is kind of meaningless at this point, and is more an indication of the fish fighting backbone. I have a 14 wt that throws an 8 wt floating line just about as well as a 13 wt floater. Maybe a bit better.
-J
I've wondered why fly reel makers didn't put more substantial handles on their larger reels. Maybe some do, but I'm not aware of them. Tibor offers a "speed handle" design, appears to be hinged and slightly offset, but it otherwise still looks like a regular knob.
Those bigger reels, 10 weight & up, are way out of my league --I don't have the financial resources, proper boat, gear, etc., needed to pursue that kind of fishing. I admired those big gold Penn fly reels decades ago in Florida tackle shops, but they were never practical for me any more than a Seamaster would be and I admired those, too!
I have a couple of 9 wt reels, and for my current state of fishing I have no need for anything larger than that. With stripers being the largest thing I now target, I have gotten by for many years with an 8wt and landed fish up into the 30lb range with it. Although, a 9wt does provide a greater sense of security with a bigger fish on, and you can stand in a river and really zing a heavier weighted front end out there.
Quote from: wfjord on April 16, 2020, 09:34:09 PM
I've wondered why fly reel makers didn't put more substantial handles on their larger reels. Maybe some do, but I'm not aware of them. Tibor offers a "speed handle" design, appears to be hinged and slightly offset, but it otherwise still looks like a regular knob.
It is a bit of a tradeoff. The knob cannot be so wide that it sticks out past the edge of the spool and prevents palming for extra braking and pumping. And you have to be able or slide your fingers out and away from the knob when a fish takes off, so you don't get whacked. Some blue water species are really good at surprising you. Same stuff that you probably have experienced with bigger stripers. It just happens faster and hurts more.
Since you are letting go of the knob all the time, having to fumble around to get the right grip on a flat sided knob is a pain. So round knobs prevail.
Since the knob is attached to the spool, it cannot be too heavy either. It will unbalance the spool without a big counterweight, and it will hurt even more when you get whacked.
And finally, catching coils of line in the knob when shooting a cast can be a problem, further limiting design choices.
That Tibor thingy is for speed winding. A clever idea. I haven't tried it. Tibor also makes a somewhat oversized knob called a gorilla handle. I made something very similar for my Abels. I am working on some prototypes of larger knobs, but nothing that good so far.
Quote
Those bigger reels, 10 weight & up, are way out of my league --I don't have the financial resources, proper boat, gear, etc., needed to pursue that kind of fishing. I admired those big gold Penn fly reels decades ago in Florida tackle shops, but they were never practical for me any more that a Seamaster would be and I admired those, too!
I have a couple of 9 wt reels, and for my current state of fishing I have no need for anything larger than that. With stripers being the largest thing I now target, I have gotten by for many years with an 8wt and landed fish up into the 30lb range with it. Although, a 9wt does provide a greater sense of security with a bigger fish on, and you can stand in a river and really zing a heavier weighted front end out there.
Those Seamasters are purdy. I read that the Penn fly reels never took off because they used their existing distribution model, and the reels did not get into many fly shops, where all the action was for high end fly gear at the time.
I never got a striper over 10 lbs or so on the fly. A big striper is on my someday list...
-J
Quote from: jurelometer on April 16, 2020, 11:12:11 PM
Quote from: wfjord on April 16, 2020, 09:34:09 PM
I've wondered why fly reel makers didn't put more substantial handles on their larger reels. Maybe some do, but I'm not aware of them. Tibor offers a "speed handle" design, appears to be hinged and slightly offset, but it otherwise still looks like a regular knob.
It is a bit of a tradeoff. The knob cannot be so wide that it sticks out past the edge of the spool and prevents palming for extra braking and pumping. And you have to be able or slide your fingers out and away from the knob when a fish takes off, so you don't get whacked. Some blue water species are really good at surprising you. Same stuff that you probably have experienced with bigger stripers. It just happens faster and hurts more.
Since you are letting go of the knob all the time, having to fumble around to get the right grip on a flat sided knob is a pain. So round knobs prevail.
Since the knob is attached to the spool, it cannot be too heavy either. It will unbalance the spool without a big counterweight, and it will hurt even more when you get whacked.
And finally, catching coils of line in the knob when shooting a cast can be a problem, further limiting design choices.
That Tibor thingy is for speed winding. A clever idea. I haven't tried it. Tibor also makes a somewhat oversized knob called a gorilla handle. I made something very similar for my Abels. I am working on some prototypes of larger knobs, but nothing that good so far.
I looked up the gorilla handle. I hadn't seen that before. It is thicker and a bit more what I had in mind; something that would give the feeling of a stronger grip on the spool. But, based on the photo I saw, I don't think I'd want to have a tibor spool spinning around fast that had the gorilla handle on one side counterbalanced by the speed handle on the other side unless of course it was on an anti-reverse fly reel.
Actually, the truth is, when I've got a decent fish, or any fish, on the end of the line I'm not even thinking about how small or inconvenient the knob is and it doesn't seem to really matter that much. I'm not trying to grab it anyway if the spool's spinning. I'm either just holding the rod or palming the rim, and no one in their right mind would attempt to winch a strong fish in with a fly reel.
Other than imagining, I really don't know how much difference the knob shape/size would make with reels up in the double digit weights along with the kind of fish you'd be dealing with---that's outside of my realm of experience.
In shallow water, you can just pull the rod tip toward the side or tail of the fish. It turns, and you get a few winds, even with big fish. But in deep water, a big fish can just keep it's head pointed down and slowly kick, and then you have a stalemate, unless some fancy boat handling is an option. There is just too much mass to lift, and you can't get an angle so that the fish will help you.
If you try a normal pumping maneuver, the rod just flexes, the line just stretches, the fish does not budge, and you can't release enough tension to get an easy wind or two. You have sort of pull the fish toward you with a very low rod angle, and then wind while there still is a lot of remaining tension. At least, that is how I do it. If I had a big Tani five finger hand grip on my fly reel, I could just wind them in, but using just the tip of my thumb and index finger on a tiny knob... blech.
Some might say that the tiny knob is part of the challenge of fly fishing, but I am not that much of a purist myself.
-J
My striper fishing from a boat is almost always in a lake and usually I'm plugging with a spinning reel or baitcaster out of respect for the owner of whoever's boat I'm fishing in if he's not a fly fisherman. Non-flyfishermen don't particularly appreciate a fly line whipping around over the boat, even if they don't say anything. But on a few occasions I have snuck a fly rod in, and only pulled it out if a striper school surfaced nearby.
Lake stripers I've caught were always schoolies in the range from 4 to 10lbs and usually easily netted. I can have just as much fun, though, with a light spinning reel or baitcaster in a school of fish. It's all fun! I'm a plugger when it comes to regular tackle, but the bigger fish in the lake are usually caught by guys fishing deep with live bait from what I hear.
My larger stripers on a fly gear are always caught in a couple rivers in which I wade. The largest have take me a good way into the backing and at the longest point of the runs, after working the fish away from various obstructions, there would finally be a stalemate, just like you said, where the fish just sat on the bottom and wouldn't budge for a while. At that point I know it's almost over and I just let it sit there while keeping the tension on the line until he decides he can't maintain it any longer and is ready to let me work him in.
Well guy`s I used my 2.5G for the first time this week in Rhode Island and caught multiple Stripers on the beach. Most fish were 30-38 inch beauties. I have 8WT line on it and it worked flawlessly. The 8wt.rod felt the best. I used a 10wt. also. They were the Cabela`s Vector A W series. Korean made. I didn`t even take out my Scott Meridian in 9wt. which I love. I was looking to see how the Cabela`s Vector A W series made out first. GREAT ! What a great reel. Just wanted to say that when the reel was on a 9ft. rod it felt balanced and light ! Go figure . When picking it up alone it feels like a tank. Enjoy and tight lines everyone.
Nice post, with some good info coming forward, thanks for keeping this fly section going, very interesting, cheers Don.
They certainly get the job done...
(https://alantani.com/gallery/22/10783_20_10_17_4_00_39_22198452.jpeg)
(https://alantani.com/gallery/22/10783_20_10_17_4_09_06_222122362.jpeg)
(https://alantani.com/gallery/37/10783-300922065332.jpeg)
Nice fish Chris, I'd be happy to catch them on any tackle.
Mike