Penn Torque spinning reel

[jig42na]

i agree. i had similar thoughts. mainly that it doesnt have enough bearings so isnt very smooth, and that its just not very 'finished'...i didn't like the powder coat finish it seems to have. i'm not sure whether it has a dual stack of drag washers or single, i took the spool off but couldnt tell. the marketing doesn't mention this either as far as i've seen.

perhaps it being sealed and available in bailless will appeal to surf guys, but its definitely no stella or saltiga.

time will tell but im not trading a stella just yet

Not just the amount of bearings either, its the quality of the bearings. Sometimes fewer very good bearings are better than lots of junk bearings. Look at the ticas, okumas, etc. They have reels with 14 bearings and not one of them are worth a damn.

[BretABaker]

true, good point

[Capt. Brian Daley]

Not just the amount of bearings either, its the quality of the bearings. Sometimes fewer very good bearings are better than lots of junk bearings. Look at the ticas, okumas, etc. They have reels with 14 bearings and not one of them are worth a damn.

Whats an exultant point right there, Penn needed and had the change to supersede all others at this time but failed and fell flat on there face. No one love's penn reels more then i do. just not thinking it threw and putting somthing out there.

[Kimberly662]

Whats an exultant point right there, Penn needed and had the change to supersede all others at this time but failed and fell flat on there face. No one love's penn reels more then i do. just not thinking it threw and putting somthing out there.

I'm going to have to agree with you on that one.

[Tunanorth]

Bear in mind that the reels shown at ICAST were not production models, but handmade prototypes.
My experience in the past is that final versions are much smoother than prototypes.
Reels over $400 were not that much of a hit for anybody this year, Penn did get an excellent response on the new "Conquer" spinning reels, which are in the "mid" price range at $199-$229.
In particular, the dealers noticed that the Conquer's drag system had a higher quantity and much larger drag washers than any other reel even close to that price range.



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[BretABaker]

thats good about the drag - but thats only one piece of the puzzle. the strength of the gears and the smoothness has generally been the achilles heel of the new spinners. check out the fin nor.....lots of drag (marketed as such, anyway) but i watched glenn blow one up on a 35lb amberjack.

Why did this reel not have the 10+ quality bearings of other reels i.e. stella? Is it truly meant to be a jigging reel? There were bailless reels on display, and when coupled with the marketing of it being 'sealed' it leads me to think this was made more to compete with a VS or zeebaas than a stella.

Additionally, does it have one or two stacks of drag washers?

I'm not trying to be critical, just wanted to clear up questions I had.

Thanks

[Tunanorth]

thats good about the drag - but thats only one piece of the puzzle. the strength of the gears and the smoothness has generally been the achilles heel of the new spinners. check out the fin nor.....lots of drag (marketed as such, anyway) but i watched glenn blow one up on a 35lb amberjack.

Why did this reel not have the 10+ quality bearings of other reels i.e. stella? Is it truly meant to be a jigging reel? There were bailless reels on display, and when coupled with the marketing of it being 'sealed' it leads me to think this was made more to compete with a VS or zeebaas than a stella.

Additionally, does it have one or two stacks of drag washers?

I'm not trying to be critical, just wanted to clear up questions I had.

Thanks

Hi Bret,
It was good meeting you at the show, ICAST helps beat the modern problem of knowing people on the web but never actually meeting them.
The large Stellas and Daiwa Dogfights are now in the $1000 [or more!] category, as has been mentioned it's the quality not the quantity of ball bearings for function.
No doubt 14 of the super bearings [not cheapies] would make them smoother, but not necessarily function any better.
Yes, some of the sealing and bail features are pointed at the surf market, but the drag and gearing are intended for the jigging market.
The Torque drag stack is like souped-up version of the Slammer, with a extra-large conventionally-aligned stack in front, and an International-style washer on the bottom of the spool, for a "double-drag" effect.
As for the Conquest gearing, it's been fine so far, I will be in Baja on August 6, with specific intent of catching striped marlin, etc with my test model.
The same spinning reel engineer designed the Conquest as designed last years' highly-popular Abu Soron spinner, and the Conquest is intended as the next step up.



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Penn Pro Staffer

[BretABaker]

It was great meeting you as well . The show was fun, my first ICAST!

Thanks for answering those questions......clears a lot of questions up. good luck next month!

[johndtuttle]

The market for this product is either the identical performance of a Stella for the same or lower price in a Domestically made reel or superior performance for more money.

People serious about the high end in spinning reels want performance. I'm not gonna try and save $3-400 dollars on a reel that if I take on one $5000 fishing vacation to Panama it's gonna blow up on that fish of a lifetime or if its so heavy i'm using lighter reels made by competitiors.

Build a Stella with Penn on it and you'll have a real winner. Don't settle for less.

[BretABaker]

$5000 fishing vacation to Panama
.

I hope that 5k is for 2 people