Penn Battle 4000 opinions?

[Boca Jetty Rat]

Im looking to replace two 4000 sized reels on my 7'6" Redbone spinning rods. Used for 12# mono casting 4" sized swimbaits, plugs, 1oz spoons, 1oz flarehawks on the beach and jetty. Currently using two 4000 sized Pflugers that really arn't holding up to well. Had a old white Stradic 5000 on the heavy action rod, but blew it up this mullet run. What is everyones/anyones opinion of this reel for this application? I only handled the 3000 size this evening for about 2 minutes but my first impression was good.
I really want a pair of Stradics but my economically challenged status is more in the Battle price range. Thanks

[Miamipescador]

Ive had a 4000 for about a month now, have it on a St Croix mojo inshore and it matches nicely.
Have it spooled with 10 lb ande igfa.

The reel performs flawlessly, drag is excellent.
Stradic wins every time in the weight and smoothness factor though.

For $100, there isnt a better reel.

[Boca Jetty Rat]

I should add I havn't held the 4000 size yet only the 3000 size is there a size difference on the body of the reel? Weight difference of 1oz from spec sheet between the two. From what I see not much of weight difference between the stradic and battle in the 4000 size.

[Miamipescador]

I should add I havn't held the 4000 size yet only the 3000 size is there a size difference on the body of the reel? Weight difference of 1oz from spec sheet between the two. From what I see not much of weight difference between the stradic and battle in the 4000 size.

Yes, the 4000 is a little bigger.
I have a stradic 2500 and a 4000 and the penn battle just feels bulkier.

[Chevy Juan]

Great bang for the buck bjr.

[Boca Jetty Rat]

I should add I havn't held the 4000 size yet only the 3000 size is there a size difference on the body of the reel? Weight difference of 1oz from spec sheet between the two. From what I see not much of weight difference between the stradic and battle in the 4000 size.

Yes, the 4000 is a little bigger.
I have a stradic 2500 and a 4000 and the penn battle just feels bulkier.

Yeah I played with the new stradic 4000 today with the $180 price tag, smooth light great feeling reel, but the price is out of my league in these tuff economic times. I'd rather get a pair of reels that will hold up and not turn into "pepper grinders" for the price of one stradic that I will just use to break my fall on some rocks and scratch/dent/break anyway. I'm getting them.

[Boca Jetty Rat]

So I ended up picking up the old gold version of the Stradic 4000 online for around 135 + free shipping, and also picked up (had to order online because no one had them) a Penn Battle 4000. My first impressions are great on the Battle. I have not casted it yet, really cant wait to, but seems very solid. China vs Japan I don't know. When I was a kid everything made in Japan was crap and nothing was coming outta china. Now its the other way around everything coming out of japan is good and china is crap. I ended up with 3 reels this christmas, an Abu 5600 c4, not really sure on this one first impresions with a 1oz spoon was not great, Penn Battle 4000 (cant wait to catch a 32" snook on this one), and a Stradic 4000, a wicked smooth reel that I just feel nothing for because I know it will work perfect and its just another 4000 sized reel.

[Zebco]

You get what you pay for

[Sirsnookalot]

I have 2 stradic 4000 fi, excellent and I can't complain about my abu soron 40's either.

[Boca Jetty Rat]

Love the Stradic's Sir. Battle is not to shabby either.

[goodolmikey]

I been fishing a battle 3000 since november,,, its a great little reel,,, I use it mostly for crappie jigging macs with,,,, the drag is smooth as butter and I have it loaded with 15lb power pro,,, for the money there is no better reel,, I also have a battle 8000 on 1 of my surf rods,,, it hasnt failed me yet...

[Miamipescador]

I admire my battle more and more the more I fish it. Have a 4000 spooled with 10 lb fireline.

[sinbad1]

That's good to hear about the battle. Because I just purchased one last night on ebay. It is a battle 7000 new in box, I bought it for, (believe it or not) $78.89 including shipping.
Since you have one, should I go with braided line or mono. Once, I used my friends reel and he had braid on it, but the with strong currents, the leader would end up in knots with the main line. He was using a swivel between the main line and leader, with a sliding egg sinker. Is it better without a swivel or is the set up of the sliding sinker with braid not a good idea? I prefer myself, especially in the keys a chicken rig with only 1 hook, with the sinker on the bottom. Would you say that is the best way to go with braided line? Thanks for any info you can give using braided line, if I do go with that on my battle.

[Miamipescador]

That's good to hear about the battle. Because I just purchased one last night on ebay. It is a battle 7000 new in box, I bought it for, (believe it or not) $78.89 including shipping.
Since you have one, should I go with braided line or mono. Once, I used my friends reel and he had braid on it, but the with strong currents, the leader would end up in knots with the main line. He was using a swivel between the main line and leader, with a sliding egg sinker. Is it better without a swivel or is the set up of the sliding sinker with braid not a good idea? I prefer myself, especially in the keys a chicken rig with only 1 hook, with the sinker on the bottom. Would you say that is the best way to go with braided line? Thanks for any info you can give using braided line, if I do go with that on my battle.

40-50 lb braid or 20 lb mono for that reel.
You can use whatever rig you want with braid, with really strong current i usually prefer a knocker rig with 1-3oz and bouncing it on the bottom, the braid lets you feel everything!

[sinbad1]

If I would go with braid, and use the knocker rig (assuming egg sinker). Should a swivel be use or just tie main line to the leader? And also with the knocker (never used it) should you let the the sinker run all the way down to the hook or not. Thank you for all the info on this subject.

[sinbad1]

What about if I just use this set up for long cast towards the power lines on the bridges??

[Sirsnookalot]

For a real that size 20 lb is the max I would and would opt for 15lb. Mono or copoly will coil, soak the line before spooling in warm water, then troll your line out before use, a practice that should always be done before an outing. I troll my line out at the inlet, I like the outgoing tide, early when there are no boats. The only time I use mono or copoly is offshore and usually on a drift boat, private boats I use 30# braid. My shore fishing is all done with spinning gear, nothing bigger than 4000, 15 or 20# braid........I don't bait fish, strictly artificial from shore. I use swivels the majority of the time but when spanish mackeral are in I tie my leader on with an alberto knot. Biggest problem going without a swivel is line twist, even braid twists, I've wasted entire spools of braid due to twists trolling a drone or casting a cuda tube.

[sinbad1]

Sorry I lost you.. Soak which line before spooling, braid or mono?? And what is copoly??

[Sirsnookalot]

Soak mono, fluorocarbon and co polymer lines in warm water for about 15 minutes before spooling it on to your reel. If you get coiling (when the line jumps off the spool) at a later date just remove the spool from your reel and soak it again. Without getting technical co polymer lines are mono lines made with different chemical make up, I personally see no advantage over standard mono like trilene xl for your type of fishing.

Good luck.........I fish the Boynton Beach area and mainly target snook and tarpon.

[Miamipescador]

Maybe some braid backing with a 100 yard or so topshot of 30 pd mono. I personally dont like bottom fishing with 20, when you get hung up the line breaks too easily compared to 30.
I use momoi high catch mono, its a bit more expensive but the 30 lb breaks close to 40

[sinbad1]

Thanks for the tips, so I guess braid is out of the question for the bridges as someone said earlier. Thank you for the tip on soaking the line before spooling, didn't know that. And isn't thirty alittle to big for shore fishing??? I have a Daiwa BG 60 spooled with Hy- Zurir (I think it's called) and let me tell you that line is very hard to break off also, as you said alittle more expensive but it's worth it, especially if you go fishing to Bill Baggs. Thanks for all the info.

[Sirsnookalot]

Thanks for the tips, so I guess braid is out of the question for the bridges as someone said earlier. Thank you for the tip on soaking the line before spooling, didn't know that. And isn't thirty alittle to big for shore fishing??? I have a Daiwa BG 60 spooled with Hy- Zurir (I think it's called) and let me tell you that line is very hard to break off also, as you said alittle more expensive but it's worth it, especially if you go fishing to Bill Baggs. Thanks for all the info.

I'll preface my remark by saying I do not fish piers or bridges, I do fish the Boynton jetties quite a bit and there are plenty of pylons but not near the height.
Any 8000 and under spinning reel will yield line management problems with mono larger than 20#. I won't give a long winded technical reason why lines load differently between spinning and a conventional reel, just take my word for it. I'm not saying you couldn't use 30# mono bottom fishing with a spinner, line management problems will be lessened for the simple fact you are not doing repetitive casting as you would be with a lure. If it were me, I'd be using conventional gear as opposed to spinning if I choose to employ a heavier mono line.
I'm a braid spinning man and again if it were me I'd consider using 30-40# braid. Have I ever been cut off in the pylons, you bet..........but I see that happening with mono too. Bottom line, as the name implies BAIT CASTER, that's for bait fishing, heavier line and heavier rod needed to handle the weight needed to hold bottom. Spinning, lighter application, lures used for repetitive casting.
One thing about forums, there are always going to be opposing opinions, you make care for another more than mine.
Be thankful you aren't a bass fisherman, you'd be taking 10 $400 combos to catch 2# fish using 15 different techniques, insane?...lol., I hate those guys. haha.

I use momoi high catch mono, its a bit more expensive but the 30 lb breaks close to 40

Not that I have a problem , I don't and I do the same thing......if the breaking point of a 30# line is 40 lbs., in essence you are using a thin 40# line regardless of what reads on the label.

[sinbad1]

Thanks for the advise, I guess it's up to personel prefrence and experiences that each one of us goes through, to make the choice of either, or. It's like everything in life there is pros and cons. With braid you can feel everything, and the knot strengh is great, plus the capacity is unmatched. Mono has been around alot longer than braid in the fishing world and still going strong, especially in blue water fishing. You don't see too many fishing show using braid in deep water fishing. Mostly, I see braid being used mainly for freshwater and inshore or bay fishing. I myself have only used braid with my friends reels. I never had braid on any of my reels and never though about it until now. Well, thanks for the advise and I'll keep asking around.

[fishaddict0916]

Sinbad1, just a word or advice.....if you do decide to try some braid, do yourself a favor and buy a GOOD QUALITY braid. I've tried most of the popular braided lines, PowerPro, FireLine, Spider Wire, Etc. Spend a couple more bucks and buy some Jerry Brown or something comparable. I run JB on all my rods now and love it!! It's worth the money!!

[sinbad1]

Never heard of that brand. Do they sell that locally? I just saw that on ebay, it's pretty expensive. Do you know I can get it at a good price?? Thanks.

[sinbad1]

Never heard of that brand. Do they sell that locally? I just saw that on ebay, it's pretty expensive. Do you know I can get it at a good price?? Thanks.

[fishaddict0916]

I think there are some tackle shops that sell the JB hollow core for offshore fishing, but when I was looking to buy some, I couldn't find anyone local that carries the spectra (solid). The best prices I found was online at jamestackle.com up in PA. It's awesome braid, and now that I've used it, I'll never go back to using the cheaper brands....it's well worth the money!!