I am new to offshore/nearshore and pier/surf fishing. I am an inshore guy and have some Penns for that application. I wanted to know if the Penn SSM combos are good deals? They are usually 150-250 depending on what rod is attached.

I know this may be an insult of a question here, considering many of you make incredible rods. But for a guy like me, on a budget, I think this may be the only way to go. If you can provide any input I would appreciate it.

Or perhaps I am wrong. Is there a rod that any of you build that I could pair with a Penns SSM that would be good for pier fishing but only be in the 100-125 range?

I appreciate any input.

Well I'll tell you what I did, buy em on ebay. Penn Reels are built like tanks and they are so popular that parts are easy to find. I bought a PENN 750 ssm on ebay two nights ago for 62 bucks, they retail for 139.00, it shows a little wear but a good cleaning and it'll work like its supposed to.

If you can follow instructions rod building isn't that hard, one of my first builds was a 8ft gator glass with EVA Grips and wire frame guides, I think I had about 80 bucks in parts. So for what you are wanting to pay for a combo you could get two.

Also I havent played with any of the new SSM reels, but penn was bought out by shakespeare a few years back and have heard some guys complaining about "they don't make em like they used to anymore"

Go to rodbuilding.net and troll for a few hours, you'll be ordering stuff in the middle of the night from mudhole before you know what to do.

I suspect you may be correct about the complaining and Penn. I have a Sargus that has had the main gear break twice. They are made out of junk pot metal. Teeth ripped right off. I will try the ebay though.

Making rods...not yet. I have to much invested in my fly tying stuff and other "projects". The wife would be an ex.

Jimmy, Some are some aren't. The low end Peen's are ok but nothing to brag about. ked's right about eBay. You can usually find some great deals just don't be in a hurry. Wait for your reel at your price and only buy with Paypal. If it's not exactly as described send it back, no problem. I only own one penn surf reel so I'm not well versed on Penn reels. So you'll want to wait for others to chime in on their experience. I know Okuma has really improved and stayed pretty reasonable. The Cabo 20 is a great little reel at 169.00 on eBay. Saw one land a 4 foot bull at Juno once. sold me. Cheap reel tend to self destruct fairly quickly. So they aren't much of a deal. Watch Basspro as well. They sell reconditioned reels once in a while. Some great deals there. If you ask Rick/xpeirat nicely he may even let you know when they are there..
Hope this helps. Sorry about the spelling but I was just informed we going out to dinner at 5 and that's in 20 min, gotta run

Hey thats great info. Like I said..I have smaller stuff for inshore. My fishing buddy has nothing but Okuma and swears by it. I just checked and found some good penn prices. Im not stuck on Penn either...just familiar with it. If someone has another suggestion I am open to it.

I basically will be fishing Ponce and Sebastian as well as some beaches in between. The usual suspects of course will be targeted. I suspect though that it will be some time before I show any success. Seems like a bit learning curve from what I am reading. Looking forward to it though.

Is there a fishing partner board here? What I mean is...Im going to sebastian this monday (weather permitting). Is there an area that people announce when they are planning to fish so they can team up?

There's a where are you fishing thread somewhere on here if you want to announce/possibly meet up with others in that area. I'd just look at the reports for the region you're looking at fishing and shoot a PM to the guys posting reports from that area. As for Penn reels, the only ones I've ever had issues with are the new senators. The ones for example marked 114h2, as in a new senator 6/0. I've had every issue you could ever imagine, but never one with a newer spinner, or any older penn whatsoever. If I was you I'd just get a new Battle, they can be had for +/- 75$ shipped on Ebay, and are the most economical reel you can get with all the modern guts.

I've had a Penn conquer 7000 for about a year, used only for offshore drift fishing. The reel is still fairly smooth but it's started get that geary feel. As far as handling fish, it's done a great job.

Yeah Ebay is a gold mine for older fishing stuff.



This is a PENN 750ss I bought for 52.00, well pluss 8 bucks shipping so 60 total for a reel that retails at 140. It was a little stiff and geary as well when I bought it, somebody had cleaned it before and put TONS of heavy grease inside the gear housing. I cleaned it out and put some lighter reel grease in there and its as smooth as a new one.

and Jimmy, rodbuilding isn't as expensive as you'd think. You can actually use a cardboard box and a stack of books and a coffee cup to build a rod. If you already tie flies it'd be an easy transition for you.

picking up a penn 6500ss(ebay) and a ugly stick would do the job. this combo will come in at under 100 and should be able to handle a good majority of fish.

I have two that i bought used, i serviced both of them myself and they work like a champ.

Nothing wrong with fishing within your budget. However the Penn combos tend to be geared for boat fishing. The rods generally are a lot shorter than I like for casting. Hit up some local tackle shops or yard sales. In these dark economic days lots of nice gear to be had inexpensively used.

Thanks for all of the information again. I got a Penn SSM 650. Great looking reel. The rod is on the cheap end I expect will need to upgrade that soon. Im going to check into making one. Heading over to mudhole in oviedo this week. My wife may crap a brick when I put rod building supplies on my fly tying desk. HAHA .

Going to put the reel to work tomorrow at Playalinda. I spooled it with 40lb power pro...this isnt to much is it?

nah 40 lb power pro will work out pretty good on that, learn to tie leaders though cause it frays easy if you are fishing rocks and such. Get you some 30 lb fluoro leader should be plenty.

I run 50lb pp on my Penn reels.