How capable is a hopped up Jigmaster /112H ?

[CooldadE]

I love Penn reels ! Ever sense I bought my conventional reel (a Penn 60) in 1974 . I still have that reel though I retired it years ago... my question is with all the hop ups available for the Jigmaster / 112H how capable are these reels ? I have read the stats but would like real world info. Have any of y'all really put them to the test ?  Casting jigs / live bait ? I know modern reels can be bought for less than a hopped up Vintage Penn. I'm vintage and I like vintage gear...

Cool

[RowdyW]

While certainly not a shark reel but it can be beefed up. You could insall a SS gear sleeve & dog, Bryan's 5+1 drag set, a steel main gear, & an aluminum frame. With 40-60# braid or 40-50# mono it's one tough reel. You could also use Tom's (Cortez Conv.) side plates which have ball bearings instead of the stock bushings. It's the same width & gear ratio as a 500/99 Jigmaster just slghtly larger in diameter then a Jigmaster.             Rudy

[Rancanfish]

I know I'm late here but...

I fished nothing but Jigmasters /Squidders for years here on SF Bay.  This was before AT.com.  Totally stock.  I caught hundreds of Leopards, six gill and rays, some almost spooled me before I got them to the boat.   

NEVER had a failure of any type.  Very capable reels without all the mods.  The only cautionary advice?  Don't hammer down the drags.

We used to cast the baits a looong way out there with a 4oz weight.

An aside;  went to a local fishing swap meet last month. Couldn't get $60 for a 501 with 5 stack in mint shape. Or $70 for a 506.  Market for these has apparently dried up.

[scrinch]

I caught my first marlin, a 100-lb striper, with a stock jigmaster. Almost got spooled three times, but eventually got the fish in. That said, I'm never going to use a jigmaster when I expect to hook a marlin again. On the west coast, using a modified jigmaster (power handle, steel sleeve, 5-stack drag, newell steel gear, aluminum frame) I feel comfortable with fishing: the bottom anywhere off the coast of California (rockfish, lingcod, halibut), any ocean salmon, southern California surface sportfishing (bonito, barracuda, etc), albacore,  any size dorado in Baja, up to 30-lb class yellowtail or tuna. If I'm hoping to catch a strong-fighting fish larger than 30 lbs or in a situation where getting rocked by a 25-lb bottom fish or yellowtail is a distinct possibility, I prefer to go up to the next size reel (4/0 in my case). The jigmaster can work for bigger (hard fighting) fish, but the drag ends up getting a little jerky at higher settings and the fight will be longer with more possibility of ending badly, so I prefer to not use it.

[CooldadE]

Thank you all... great info. I surprised no one has chimed in with fish stories using a fully hot rodded Jiggy or 112H...
I hot to put them to the test. I live in NorCal, but would rather stress test them in SoCal...  I'll have to "hide and watch"
To see when the landings reopen.

Cool

[Cuttyhunker]

Dad fished the 112H's hard, all dead stock, trolling monel wire for years doing striper charters. Never missed a beat, the same reels are still fishing today, but not commercially. A pretty good return, 50 seasons of service, and still in the game.

[foakes]

In the early 80's and 90's -- I did hundreds of Jigmasters for guys fishing out of San Diego -- or just fishing the Coast for bottom rockfish & halibut.

These ranged from doing the "99" upgrade to just a few things modified.

My favorite recipe -- without breaking the bank -- was to install an Accurate frame, power handle, Newell Delrin side smooth bearings, dry smoothie drags, and an aluminum spool -- with a quick change back-up spool filled with fresh mono.

These mods caught plenty of fish -- and were extremely capable.

Earlier, the Newell bars were an option before the Accurate frames came out. 

Today -- a capable and fairly cheap setup is stock plates, Tib frame, Power handle, SS sleeve, Cal's drag grease, and a Delrin under-gear washer -- that is all that is really needed.  Most everything else is cosmetic and just for the angler -- not the fish.  The aluminum spool is already on the Jigmasters and more modern Penns.

Yes, we can do SS gears, all SS innards, and sharp looking anodized sideplates, and more, and more.

But I have done a couple of thousand of the earlier recipe -- and likely all that ever needed addressing after hundreds of fish -- was replacing the old hard smoothie drags with greased CF's & routine service.

Folks take these Jigmasters for granted because they don't cost too much -- and are old school -- not much bling...

However, they are, IMO, the reel that won the West.

Best,

Fred

[MarkT]

Back in the late 80's, I was using a 112H w/Accuframe on my 1st overnight trip (on the Aztec) to Catalina and caught a nice Halibut, WSB and YT.  Not bad for my 1st overnighter!  I had borrowed the reel from my wife's cousin who was working at Turners at the time.

[Alto Mare]

I agree Fred!
The most sold reel according to Penn.

Sal

[Rocket Dog]

Well, I'll be digging out my old 112h and getting to work on it.. What is the 99 upgrade?

[foakes]

Well, I'll be digging out my old 112h and getting to work on it.. What is the 99 upgrade?

A lot of people refer to a jigmaster that has been narrowed as a 99.

It is in between the 501 and 500 in width same as a newell 332.

Newell made kits to narrow the jigmaster (posts, reelbase, and spool), I think they were called albacore specials, tiburon and accurate also made 99 kits (frame and spool). I believe the first attempts at a narrow jigmaster were built with penn parts using jigmaster sideplates, the spool from a penn 99, and the posts and reelbase from one of the penn long beach reels.

These are a good size reel -- based on the old Penn 99 Silver Beach size reel.

If you talk to some of the knowledgeable old timers in SoCal -- they have landed nearly every type of fish imaginable with this "99" Jigmaster conversion.  

The gears and width are just right --

All I did to improve on their conversion was to install better side bearings, a power crank handle, aluminum spool, Cal's greased drags, and a Delrin under gear washer.

There are lots of ways to do these upgrades -- simple to extravagant.  

I kind of chose the middle road to keep costs down for my customers -- and the capability of these workhorses as strong as is sensible.

I do advise a SS sleeve on these conversions today -- and make sure the power crank is snug and well secured.

If not going with a SS sleeve -- it is really important to snug up the handle screw & lock screw so that the brass sleeve is not rounded off over time.

The reel on the left is just an old Jiggy 500 I pulled out of the bins -- it is wider by a bit.

The purple Newell 332 in the middle has the same spool width as the old Silver Beach on the right.

Some of the early, and now discontinued Silver Beach's were labeled "Silver Beach".  A little later, they were labeled as "99".  Same reels however.

The 1:4 gear ratio of the Jigmasters -- coupled with the slightly narrower spool -- makes a formidable combo.

Best,

Fred

[Petah]

Just last November I landed two bluefin using a ProChallenger 501 and a Cortez Conversion 3/0
Both reels have all the stainless steel goodies with ProChallenger JM500X gears and drags. Not to brag, but I
got my fish in faster than some of the guys using two speeds. I do fish very tight drags though, I had them set at 15lbs for 30lb
XXX Izor. Unfortunately I only took one picture,it's around the mid 60's that was on the 501. The other fish was in the upper 80's on the 3/0 The 501 was paired with a Calstar 270H 8' and the 3/0 was on a Calstar 800M Both reels can cast flylined baits extremely well and tossing surface iron is outstanding.

Peter

[CooldadE]

That's what I'm talkin bout ...

Cool

[Rocket Dog]

wow..... another whole to chase a rabbit down into.

[PacRat]

Just to embellish a little on Fred's comment...Jerry Morris was a friend of a friend so I had heard a lot of this history verbally (urban legend). These guys turned me on to Newell kits before Newell began making their own reels. After getting involved here I cobbled together this brief history of the '99'. I  think the info came from several sources as well as my memory but I believe it to be accurate.

History of the Penn 99 Albacore Special

Here's a brief history of the 99 size reels which will either clarify it or completely confuse you:

Penn made a 99 model also known as a Silver Beach. Width wise it is between a 500 and a 501 also the spool diameter is the same. The left sideplate has an inner & outer ring on it and the reel also has a 1-screw take apart just like the Jigmasters. The other major difference is the main and pinion gears in a Penn 99 Silver Beach are the same as a Surfmaster with a 3:1 gear ratio. Most of the "99's" that you see today are converted 500's or 501's with either 4:1 or 5:1 gears in them, same basic reel as a Newell 332 size wise.

In southern California during the 60's and 70's, the Jigmaster 99 conversion was a favorite among the old Japanese guys that fished the day boats out of southern California.  They would pull a side plate off a Jigmaster and slap it on a 99 frame and spool.  It made a great 25 to 30 pound reel. Straight 30 pound mono was the line of choice in those days, and the 501 just didn't hold enough, while the 500 held more than was needed for albies. The 500's, drag was much better, and of course faster gears too.

The late, great Jerry Morris is credited with coining the term "Albacore Special" after mating Jigmaster 500 sideplates with a Penn 99 Silver Beach spool and frame circa 1966.

The first commercial use of the name 'Albacore Special' was a Newell kit. Carl Newell (a good friend of Jerry's) made bars, base and spool and called it a Model #99 Albacore Special.  This kit fit Penn Jigmasters to make the 99 size which is between the full 500 and the 501 sizes. On a Penn 99 Silver Beach sideplate the bar screw holes are set too wide apart (center to center) for Newell 300 Series or Jigmaster bars, but Newell 145 (Squidder) bars will fit them. Also, the base on Penn 99's have three screw holes, not two like all the other normal Penn reels of that size.

The 99 width is the size of a Newell 332 (2 1/8"), which is a very desirable size in the 300 series. Carl Also made the Newell 338 (2 7/16") which is the identical width of a Penn 500, and 322 (1 5/8") which is the same width as a Penn 501. A 99 Albacore Special is Penn 500 Jigmaster converted with Newell kit, or any of many other companies and machinist that have made frames for these fine reels.

These are amazing reels, especially when you look at the timeframe that Penn and Newell started making them. At the time these were considered the absolute best reels made.