I know these are a bit big for steelhead, but is anyone using these small Internationals perhaps in the salt? Huge line cap. & probley a great drag, but I don't know if you can cast them in a river setting. Or if anyone whould want to! They look beefy to the extreme with a $ tag to match.

Haven't fished them myself, but I have a buddy that has used them in Mexico for some lighter offshore fishing and he was pretty impressed. Be a tough reel to cast with, but would be a good backtrolling reel for heavy line situations from what I see.

I run an similar reel for second-run Kasilof king fishing with 40 lb. main ... it's the Ambassadeur Big Game 7000 CL.

It's stats:

Line Capacity: 270 yds/ 20 lbs.

Gear Ratio: 5.3-1

Bearings:3BB

Weight:20.8 oz

'Bout a $100 less, and I've had great luck with mine!

I know of a charter boat operation in Sitka and all that he runs are Internationals. 5 boats time atleast 4 reels per boat and thats a ton of reels. He has had minimal problems with them as well.

They are pricey but the durabilty is top-notch plus they are cool looking.

[ 01-05-2002: Message edited by: RPetzold ]

The Penn 955 weighs 11.6 ounces.
The Shimano Calcutta CT400 weighs 11.3 ounces.

You must be thinking of those big marlin getters that look like meat grinders.

I'm seriously considering the 955 for using for steelhead and saltwater ( salmon, not halibut ). If I'm going to spend that much, why not get something that does double duty?

diana :p

You GO girl! I,d like to know how that Penn works out for you. After fishing in mexico a few times I'm just getting to know the warm water gear. THe drags have to good because those fish pull unbelievabley hard! One quick story were at Cabo just heading out 7 a.m. captain sez grab your ultra-lite gear I've got a lamiglas 9' heavy and a curado filled with 15 test. He cuts off my 4/0 hook and puts on a tiny stainless forged hook about the size I use for trout. Hooks a small sardina on and tells me to drop down 30-40 feet. About 10 seconds later my lami is bent to the cork, line spitting off like I'm hooked into a hot 20 lb. king, I'm thinking school yellowfin tuna and nice one too, get it in and its a skipjack about 2 1/2 lbs.!! Cap. sez lets get a few more baits boys and I'll take you fishing.........wow

Hey Chrome,

I've got a 965, I bought it at the Sportman's show four, maybe five years ago, it was the first year they were available, and I got one of the first ones out, cost me $160 then, at the show.
I use ONLY this reel on the rivers. It casts like a dream. It's got adjustable counterweights and the whole shebang, it's got a super smooth drag, and it's damn durable. The only thing I've worn out in five years is the pawl, cost me $1.20 to replace it at R&R Marine in Port Angeles.

I've also used this reel on my boat in the saltwater, mostly for mootching and jigging, but I've used it in a pinch for trolling, too. Spool it up with 30lb PowerPro, and you've got one hell of a great mootching reel... instant response.

I don't have much experience with the Abus and Shimanos, I've only used them on guided trips and such, and I'd pick my Penn over them every time. The Abus and some of the others I've used seem very clunky and rough, and not as ergonomic as the Penn... but then again, it's apples and oranges, a $75 Abu vs. a $175 Penn. I like the width of the spool on my 965, and like I said, it casts just fine, I don't understand why you'd want a narrower spool.

My only complaint would be the weight of the 965, sometimes it seems heavy, but it sounds like the Curados are just about as heavy.

If you want a reel you'll have for a lifetime, buy American, buy a Penn.

-N.

I might consider buying a Penn Internation baitcaster if they made a lefthand model...
that goes for a lotta reels I like... damn damn damn

Sniggler-
Change hands. I'm a lefty, too. When I realized that 80% of what I wanted was unattainable in left hand models, I made the switch. You only feel dopey for about a week.

When I was in Cabo, I told the captain that I was "an experienced fisherman" and wanted to use light gear. They set me up with a Penn 309, old and crusty, which should have been my first clue. I hooked into my first ( of three ) marlin. It was 147 pounds and smoked the reel so bad I used up half my beer supply, pouring it over the reel to cool the drag so it would slip. The hell with light gear after that.....I'd be out of beer .

Thanks for some reassurance regarding the International series. Nobody has said anything about having one. I do believe that's what I'll get.
diana

Ane hey....the Penn 965 weighs in at an even 12 ounces. A bit heavier than the 955.
diana

Hi: I looked at a 955 prior to buying a Calcutta 400 and a Calcutta 250 .I found that the line capacity of the 955 was exadurated and the reel was fully loaded with about 195 yards of 14lb .About the same capacity as the 250 but much less than the 400.
I found the casting and drifting qualities of the Calcuttas unequaled. I believe there has been some question of drag burn out and Shimano offers a replacement drag package.However if you set the drag light as you should and apply additional thumb drag there doesent seem to be a problem. No star drag will ever replace an educated thumb for steelhead or salmon fishing.
As someone mentioned its hard to beat the Abu 7000 as either a saltwater trolling reel or a plunking reel . It casts well with 1 1/2oz and greater and has an excellent line capacity.
What impresses me is the overall improvement in baitcaster reels regardless of maker.
coot

Coot, did you cast the Penn 955 in comparison to the calcutta 400 or just talk yourself out of buying it when it did'nt hold enough line for you? I have found Penn to be right-on with thier line cap. some mono's are thicker than others in the same line weights maybe thats what you ran into. StorminN, a curado 200 weighs in @ 8.5 oz. Diana, you just crack me up!! Thats the way it seems to go the biggest fish is always hooked-up on the worst crap-incrusted reel on the boat while those bright gold Penn's just sit thier looking good. You did well to get that big striper or was it a small blue, in on that 309

Hi Chrome: Dident cast the 955 I took the word of my supplier I figure he knows.I did do a light weight drop test on free spool and found the Calcutta 250 with a comparable or little better capacity had a much freer line feed. Most of my fishing is float fishing so free drift is critical.
coot

Noticed a Penn 955 and a 965 on ebay as we speak. The 955 is from the seattle area and was at $ 78.00 last time I checked, reels are rated as new or near to it. Thank's for the reply Coot glad you gave the Penn a fair shake, have fun with those calcutta's!

[ 01-07-2002: Message edited by: chrome/22 ]

I've been away...

Diana's story reminds me of one of my own... I was in Mexico, but on the other side, in Tulum, on the Carribean. I had hired this gringo to take me fishing, but he rented his boat to a German TV crew and they ran it up on the reef and put a hole in it... so I end up hooking up with this other guy, a Mexican, let's call him Pedro, and he agrees to take me out the next day... he has all the right tackle, I'm told.

I meet Pedro early the next morning, he introduces me to this short Mayan guy, turns out the Mayan guy's the skipper, not Pedro. The Mayan guy speaks a little Spanish, so do I, but he speaks no English, and I speak no Mayan.

So Pedro hands me the rod and reel... and old, old red Penn reel (maybe a 309?) that's just green with corrosion. The line is sun-baked and cloudy, and the rod is a Diawa rod with the tip broken off... but not fixed, just broken off, and 6 inches of rod still there, with the line coming out of the second guide. So the Mayan skipper gets two baits, they're small rockfish-looking things. I try to ask him if that is enough, and he seems to understand and tell me that it is... well, he's the skipper, right?

So we set off, push off the beach, through the swells, out to the outside of one of the coral reefs there. The skipper fillets the baitfish, and cuts each fillet so it has two sort of "legs" to it, and a tapered shape. He then hooks up the steel leader and hook to my line and baits the hook. Off we go, trolling faster than I've ever trolled before. I hold the rod & reel, there's no rod holder, so I don't have a choice.

So I try to ask the Mayan skipper, "when the fish bites, do I set the hook, or do I give him line?" He pretends to understand and it seems he tries to tell me to just set the hook as fast as I can. O.K. He's the skipper. So the first fish hits, and BAM!! I set the hook. I try to start reeling, and I realize that this reel is so corroded that the handle will turn, but the actual little plastic end of the handle, the part you hold, will not turn... so it's a bit hard to reel. Needless to say, no fish, no bait. I bang the reel on the side of the boat a little bit, work the handle back and forth, and get it to free up a little bit. We troll around for another 15 minutes, second fish, BAM!! set the hook, nothing. I check the hook I'm using, it's none too sharp. Neither was I, or I would have checked that to begin with. I should have stayed in my hammock this morning.

I ask the skipper for the stone he's used to sharpen his knife with, and I sharpen the hook with it. He looks at me as if I'm from Mars... I don't think they ever sharpen their hooks.

We troll around for another 20 minutes, and BAM!! Another fish on, again I set the hook, it seems like he's on there for a couple of shakes, but then again, I get a bare hook back with no bait.

O.K., I'm on my last bait now, I attempt to ask the skipper again, to make sure there was no confusion... "Do I set the hook right away, or do I give the fish some line?" He seems to understand, and seems to tell me, GIVE HIM LINE!! WHY HAVE YOU BEEN SETTING THE HOOK?

O.K. We've got that settled. It's getting really light out now. We troll around for about 45 minutes, and BAM!! fourth fish hits the bait. I give it line, I count to ten, tighten the drag (did I mention it was like ON or OFF drag?) then reel down slow, and boom, I feel the fish, and looking off the back of the boat, I see this maybe 3 foot barracuda jump from the right to the left... about 60 feet, it swear, in what seemed like less than a second... he just jumped, was travelling horizontal to the sea, about 3 feet off the waves, and was back in the water 60 feet later, all in the blink of an eye... and then I felt him get off. I reel the rig in, and the steel leader, which was almost as corroded as the reel, had broken right where it was folded over and crimped to hold the hook.

Long story, sorry. Lesson learned? Bring your own gear. I wish I had brought my 965 that time. Last time I went, I left a rod down there, so I don't have to carry it on the plane again.

-N.

Stormin'N-
I emailed you but haven't heard a reply yet so I'm going to see if you read this.
I'm leaving for the Tulum area in 3 weeks. Would you email me any cool things to do/see/eat/etcetera while there?
Last year I spent 2 weeks there, but you never know what someone else found!
I got the drift re: fishing. I'll stick to eyeballing them through a snorkel mask. ( My secret - buy a can of peas. Brings them in by the hundreds! )
Gracias
diana