Penn 970/980 Upgrades

[thorhammer]

Yep, that was it. Great memory, Sal.

[Decker]

My hand's up! Dang,  Magpower Madness as Aiala called it from the flea would triple!!!!

You guys have made me a believer.   HAND UP for one of each, 970 and 980 if possible!  And add left side plate thumb screws to the wish list for swapping spools?  

[Swami805]

I'd be good for 2, 1 of each

[swill88]

Alan spooled 250yds of 50# spectra on my 970 right after I installed Bryan's 5 drag kit.

Haven't tested it, or even ever fished it yet.

December in Baja!

[Porthos]

I'd be interested...may be well worth the price to to avoid pillar bedding eight screw holes (i.e., eight opportunities for Murphy's Law to kick in).

it is indeed stout as is. what drag# do you think your kit will get Bry? I fish mono on mine so not likely I will hurt it but curious....I'd guess it would hold close to 500 yds of 80lb braid so at 25lbs it'd be a real killer

Looks like you are using the 980 for this. the 970 only holds about 325-350 yds of 50lb braid. Capacity is the reason why I limit my 970 to a 40lb max setup; the 980 could probably go up to a 60lb max top shot setup with 80lb braid.

Alan spooled 250yds of 50# spectra on my 970 right after I installed Bryan's 5 drag kit...

Only 250? Hmm...when I was spooling mine, used a Rapala metric line linecounter to measure...got 300+ meters.

[Islandgypsy]

Good for one 970
Greg

[swill88]

Alan spooled 250yds of 50# spectra on my 970 right after I installed Bryan's 5 drag kit...

Only 250? Hmm...when I was spooling mine, used a Rapala metric line linecounter to measure...got 300+ meters.

Wai,

Maybe it was 300yds on the 97. He spooled two others for me: a slosh20 that maybe was the 250. Also spooled a Komodo SS 471P which I think was 200yds.  A lot was going on in the garage and my memory is not ageing well.

Alan probably remembers. Do you remember Alan?

[canoecaper]

Remember, the 970 and 980 are identical, just cage and spool.  990 is an altogether bigger animal.
Bought mine for Winter codding off the beach.  We fish two rods, changing bait, usually worm, every 12 mins. as the juices get washed out.
Good for an easy 150yards with 0.40mm mono.
Don't overfill.  Use very little mag with the merest touch of spindle brake added for night work.  (With ceramics they are near silent.)
That means all the time in the UK.  Daytime beach fishing is light work (match work) catching fish the size of dandruff.
Works well for uptiding too, if you know what that means.
I use the handles off my GLS25 and GLS40.  Standard gold ended barrels are very pretty but just not enough.
Casts as well as a Slosh but with 4/0 innards.  Bit tricky for low reel casters with small hands.
Use the 980 kit with 40lb mono to lift most fish straight up a cliff or other high point.

Rgds.
Malcolm Hayward

[Decker]

Use the 980 kit with 40lb mono to lift most fish straight up a cliff or other high point.

Rgds.
Malcolm Hayward

Looking forward to using my 970 to do some winching from a bridge.  I have some 80 lb. braid for the job that I plan to use with a heavy mono top-shot 40-50 lbs for scuff resistance on bridge piers.     Cheers.

[fishforfun]

It'll really be nice if Tom would make frames for these, I would commit for at least four 970 frames, please pretty please

[canoecaper]

Greets,
Mine pull 15 to 17lbs off the top with SS bridge sleeve, 349 star and the full Bryan drag, 40 GLS handles.
Remember, I believe it has a 4/0 bearing on the drive side and a 6/0 bearing on the clicker side.
Mine are now ceramic hybrids.
Careful choice of oils, "Rocket Fuel" of course, make this a bullet proof cast.  Minimum magnet, on the 970.
Absolutely right on the plate cracking if the screws are over tightened.  Cracked one, possibly me.
A decent epoxy has fixed it.

John Holden, a British champion beach caster, was part of the design team.  They started with the Squidder.
His favourite, was a narrower version than the 970, a 250+ yard reel using .40mm and 5oz.  Magnet removed!
Penn weren't sure they could sell enough.  Now, with braid!!!
"Sea Angler" article from John, issue 544, May, pages 36 to 38.

I would be very interested in a narrower cage with a narrower spool to go with it.  Say 20 to 25% narrower.
I use mine, with .45mm mono to cast bare 7oz grip lead rigs some 150 yards.  Then, I use South African style live bait sliders.  (Small Mackerel usually).
Mono, because of the slider, .45mm in case there are abrasion issues plus it makes casting much easier.  Still, the line is barely 3/4" down.

Best Rgds.

Malcolm Hayward

[Decker]

Greets,
Mine pull 15 to 17lbs off the top with SS bridge sleeve, 349 star and the full Bryan drag, 40 GLS handles.
Remember, I believe it has a 4/0 bearing on the drive side and a 6/0 bearing on the clicker side.
Mine are now ceramic hybrids.
Careful choice of oils, "Rocket Fuel" of course, make this a bullet proof cast.  Minimum magnet, on the 970.
Absolutely right on the plate cracking if the screws are over tightened.  Cracked one, possibly me.
A decent epoxy has fixed it.

John Holden, a British champion beach caster, was part of the design team.  They started with the Squidder.
His favourite, was a narrower version than the 970, a 250+ yard reel using .40mm and 5oz.  Magnet removed!
Penn weren't sure they could sell enough.  Now, with braid!!!
"Sea Angler" article from John, issue 544, May, pages 36 to 38.

I would be very interested in a narrower cage with a narrower spool to go with it.  Say 20 to 25% narrower.
I use mine, with .45mm mono to cast bare 7oz grip lead rigs some 150 yards.  Then, I use South African style live bait sliders.  (Small Mackerel usually).
Mono, because of the slider, .45mm in case there are abrasion issues plus it makes casting much easier.  Still, the line is barely 3/4" down.

Best Rgds.

Malcolm Hayward

Very interesting.  Thanks, Malcom.    /Joe

[Rancanfish]

No response from Tom on this one, so not likely.

But I'll commit to two frames anyway. 

[Bryan Young]

I think sideplates would be first. I have come across many with cracked sideplates.

[Alto Mare]

I think sideplates would be first. I have come across many with cracked sideplates.

As previously mentioned, if you take a closer look at the plates you'll notice they don't rest on the inner rings. I believe the cracks accur from guys using power drives on these and over tightening the screws.
Of course this is just my opinion, but from having over a couple of dozen and fishing with them, I strongly believe that's the case with cracking plates.

Sal