Which Old School Penn Reel Would You Modify?

[Cuttyhunker]

How about this conventional line up, at short money, for just about anything that swims

1 Surfie or Squidder
2 the 49
3 116a 10/0

Either of the casters for just about anything in the bay including the biggest stripers and have historically taken much larger with a skilled angler who knows how to manage their drag settings.  Penn has commented here that the majority of the returned failures are reels with line strength way over the design limits of the reel and arriving for service, usually stripped gears, and the drags tightened to the max. 

The 49's are still pretty much a dime a dozen, Handi pointed out to me once the 349 is a superior design, no argument there.  In the 1950's Penn widened the 49 for the South Africans who were taking medium tuna casting off the cliffs down there. In those days the 114H didn't exist and the 114 was too slow of a retrieve.  The 49A (Africa) was born, sort of the 1.0 version of the later 114H.  They took lots of tuna with the rig.  For a not much money troller today tough to beat, all I do to modify is switch to carbontex.  Wire or leadline for stripers in the rips, braid for offshore.

When Otto went to Wedgeport he took a 12/0 (Gen one), back in the days of linen line a wider spool was needed, today with the skinny braids the narrower spooled 10/0 has more than enough yardage capacity to land about anything. Upgrade to a 5 stack HT-100 as the older reels came as the thick 3 stack.

Better reels out there to do it all no doubt, this is just my idea of a low buck kit that has worked for generations, they can all be souped to a reasonable degree.  The American 113 & 114 series were tough to pass over, just a matter of acquisition cost.  For the cost of souping a 49 the initial cost of the Senators might well be the better initial choice. 

 


A painting of Otto from a photo of him fighting a tuna with a prototype 12/0, Still in the Henze family

[JasonGotaProblem]

That's a cool painting. There's a fella locally with 2 349 reels for a good price. If I didn't already have more tackle than I can manage I'd be jumping on them.

[Shellbelly]

349 is a superior design, no argument there.

Agreed, but which version do most anglers prefer...H or HC?  Is the AR switch necessary these days?

[Cuttyhunker]

On the 49 I "lock out" the AR eccentric lever by tying it off with some light twine to the closest cross post, especially if I have inexperienced guests fishing on the boat to avoid knuckle buster syndrome.  Neat enough and works fine.

[Surfrat]

I recently saw a Penn 180 hotrod with most of the goodies. I wonder if I can do the same to my penn surfmaster 200 mutant? 

[thorhammer]

I recently saw a Penn 180 hotrod with most of the goodies. I wonder if I can do the same to my penn surfmaster 200 mutant? 

yes, and the 200 has bigger, stronger gears- older ones had steel.

[JasonGotaProblem]

I recently saw a Penn 180 hotrod with most of the goodies. I wonder if I can do the same to my penn surfmaster 200 mutant? 

yes, and the 200 has bigger, stronger gears- older ones had steel.

I found a bag with a pair of small steel gears with no label in Keith's bin of vintage penn parts. Maybe that's what they're for. Hmmmm..... Dang it i gotta shut this idea down before i get excited, i can't add another project to the queue til i start tackling some that are already there.

Hmmmm.... Too late.

[ExcessiveAngler]

So, I swore the next time, a 146 showed up!
That I would run right out and buy it, because I missed the last one!
I now see, why everyone loves these 146's so much, it's slightly smaller than a Penn Power 970, and not really that much bigger than an Abu 5500 size wise!
But surely feels solid, like a little tank!
Also happened to grab its bigger brother, the 140L! I should've picked up the other Surfmaster 200 that was there! I decided against it unfortunately, but looking back on what I went through on the trip, I should've grab that one too!
I literally drove an hour to get these yesterday! My truck was even breaking down, after I was just about, there!
All the gauges were normal, except for the one blinking, service engine soon, over and over, so continued to drive slowly to get them, because I was literally five minutes away, and the truck was only misfiring!
I didn't want to turn the truck off, but couldn't accelerate over 30 miles an hour and still made it back home somehow, Lol!
Still not sure about my truck, but it is misfiring like a mother *#*#*#*!!!
I honestly, was going to turn around, when I was just on the way there, but noooo!
Then five minutes into the trip, I actually saw somebody's car on fire, in the middle of the road smoke everywhere! It looked like everybody was OK, with the state police being there, so I continued on!
Oh, the silly stuff, we do for Fishing Gear
Anyway, here's my little grab from yesterday! And I am strongly thinking about doing some thing with the 146!!!
So, I would love to hear some ideas for upgrades and improvements, before, and after I tear it down!!
As always many thanks in advance!

EA

[Crab Pot]

So there have been some updates to my thread since, as far as it pertains to me, on the direction I'm going.

Like to thank everyone for the detailed, and I mean detailed, thoughts and opinions.

So far... I have purchased:

146 Squidder with Accuframe

Jigmaster 500 with Tiburon frame

Jigmater 506HS, stock, which I have done a lot of work to including a Tiburon P21 frame with internal upgrades.

I put Alan's Pro Challenger star drags, arms and knobs on the Jigmasters, and the 506HS already had a Cortez Conversion main gear sleeve.

I'll still take my Avet's on my August trip but the above are going to be my workhorses till they aren't.

Still looking to get a Model 99 to modify.

 

 

[thorhammer]

NICE!

EA, I might put that 146 onna shelf- really nice ones with older red plates aren't all that common.
Note, the 970 and 146 aren't remotely in the same league other than dimensionally. I think we may have discussed. 970 has gears about two sizes larger and 6 hole stand with bars rather than 4 hole and posts, plus the beefier beauty rings, sleeve and handle, let alone magged. The 970 was one of Sal's fav's as well as mine, and I think Lannie has one as well (maybe built by Sal). Sal had a stash of them...

The 146 was a premier sheepshead reel down here for ages.

[ExcessiveAngler]

So there have been some updates to my thread since, as far as it pertains to me, on the direction I'm going.

Like to thank everyone for the detailed, and I mean detailed, thoughts and opinions.

So far... I have purchased:

146 Squidder with Accuframe

Jigmaster 500 with Tiburon frame

Jigmater 506HS, stock, which I have done a lot of work to including a Tiburon P21 frame with internal upgrades.

I put Alan's Pro Challenger star drags, arms and knobs on the Jigmasters, and the 506HS already had a Cortez Conversion main gear sleeve.

I'll still take my Avet's on my August trip but the above are going to be my workhorses till they aren't.

Still looking to get a Model 99 to modify.

 

 

Those, look like they're ready for business and are very pretty my friend!
Hopefully, you don't mind me, riding on your coattails a little bit, on some of your threads brother!
Definitely been a huge help to me, in gaining some much-needed knowledge!
So, Thank You!
Really, digging that Jiggy 506 HS though!
Not sure, if it's the picture or not, but it sure looks a lot bigger than the jigmaster to the left of it!

[Crab Pot]

ThorHammer,

Now I have to go look up a 970... 

Not sure, if it's the picture or not, but it sure looks a lot bigger than the jigmaster to the left of it!

It's the angle, the 500 is much larger.

Thanks for the kind words but I'm a novice, I just follow directions well given to me by the good folks here.
 

[ExcessiveAngler]

NICE!

EA, I might put that 146 onna shelf- really nice ones with older red plates aren't all that common.
Note, the 970 and 146 aren't remotely in the same league other than dimensionally. I think we may have discussed. 970 has gears about two sizes larger and 6 hole stand with bars rather than 4 hole and posts, plus the beefier beauty rings, sleeve and handle, let alone magged. The 970 was one of Sal's fav's as well as mine, and I think Lannie has one as well (maybe built by Sal). Sal had a stash of them...

The 146 was a premier sheepshead reel down here for ages.

Well, unfortunately John, there is no shelf here!  I have a pretty nice 970 and a 980, in my bedroom, one on each side, of my tv lol!
Does that count lol! I got your point!
Other than that most of them are displayed in my garage, spread across my workbench or on the wall on a rod lol!
Yeah, I wanted to build a blue 146 Cortez conversion in the worst way lol!
Like I said, jumped the gun again lol!
I thought the squidder's were going to be a good candidate for a small, heavy duty reel!
Then, had full intentions to mono Mag it!
Both of those squidder's I picked up, have stripped gear sleeves on both of them, and the 140,  has bent frame post and bent frame rings!  I overlooked this, because I was in a rush, because my truck was breaking down!
One thing, the mag 970s don't have, is a full frame, nice easy screws, for servicing, and it's a PITA, to get the side plates off! Also, aren't there some seals in the Cortez conversion kits as well?

[thorhammer]

Build your 146 Cortez and move the rings to your 140. Needing the rings is a great excuse to buy a Cortez kit. Problem solved 

[ExcessiveAngler]

ThorHammer,

Now I have to go look up a 970... 

Not sure, if it's the picture or not, but it sure looks a lot bigger than the jigmaster to the left of it!

It's the angle, the 500 is much larger.

Thanks for the kind words but I'm a novice, I just follow directions well given to me by the good folks here.
 

So, did you have yourself a little peek, at the mag power reels yet?