Penn 700's

After nearly destroying my daiwa advantage reel in the surf this past fall, I came to the conclusion that I need a reel to use those days I need to get dirty. The old Penn Spinfishers seem to be a well made reel that can take a dunking or two without requiring immediate attention. I have read that most surfcasters use the 704 model but I'm a bit concerned about the size so I think I'm leaning toward a 710.

Long story short, I'm looking for input/criticism/advice from anyone who has something to say about these as I have no way of putting one in my hands until I buy it on ebay.

Thanks,
Z

I use a modified drilled and upgraded drag 704 and 704z. Great reels both of em and they do take a lickin and keep on tickin. A bit on the heavy side but after drilling the spool and rotor it does bring the weight down significantly and throw new HT-100s in and you're good to go. I've never fished a 710z only held one before but could see it becoming a plugging reel if I can get my hands on one.

well i depends on what type of fishing ya do.......if ya hop the bar alot and get hit by waves and your reel is constantly getting dunked go with a sealed reel.......i like the 704z i like a big spool.....i have a few of them...........tell ya what though...i fished most of the season with a shimano saragosa 8000 with a bailless kitit took a couple of dunks and worked fine......if ya happen to drive on the beach carry a couple of gals of water so ya can rinse your reel out i know a couple of guys who do this......i wish i could aford a VS or ZB.....but i dont hop on the rocks...but i will hop the bar at times........good luck ther Z

im fishing a "rat" drilled out 704spinfisher. It was my grand fathers, i did the drill work on it. Left it green and drilled out, diddent repaint or anyhtiing..........It looks like hell. Paul up at grumpy's serviced it for me and packed it with grease, and i abused the **** out of it this past fall...............I was really shocked that the balance of it on my rod was great...........Not as heavy as i thought..............Like i said, i abused the fuck out of this reel and it diddent let me down once.............Gonna put a new power knob on it in the next week or so......................When i took it off the rod last week, it was locked up, but once it was un-stuck, it was a good as the day i put it away in november.....................This reel will hold a ****-ton of 40lb power pro.

I'm up on the bar whenever possible. I don't have VS or ZB $, I barely have Penn $ with my 6 week old now. Are there any differences in the Z models other than color and a metal spool on the 710Z? Thanks for all the info so far

im telling ya, a 704greanie spinfisher will serve you fine.................You can even find them for dirt cheap sometines on e-bay.................Then do a search on here and see how they are customized............

Them older reels will take a licking and keep on tickin..................like i said, mine was my gran-pops, and im sure the reek is older than i am, and now im working ti to its capasity.................Old skool made in the uSA. Cant go wrong.

i have 6 of them they work great for everything .. if you use Power pro put 40# or even 50 .. 30 gets to many wind knots .. Open a 704 and you dont need a phd to take it apart .. I use them on 9 foot and higher length rods

Zmat wrote:After nearly destroying my daiwa advantage reel in the surf this past fall, I came to the conclusion that I need a reel to use those days I need to get dirty. The old Penn Spinfishers seem to be a well made reel that can take a dunking or two without requiring immediate attention. I have read that most surfcasters use the 704 model but I'm a bit concerned about the size so I think I'm leaning toward a 710.

Long story short, I'm looking for input/criticism/advice from anyone who has something to say about these as I have no way of putting one in my hands until I buy it on ebay.

Thanks,
Z

Hey Zmat, I have a penn 650 ss for sale for $40 if your interested I'll post up some pics.

Bluesfish

Bluesfish wrote:

Zmat wrote:After nearly destroying my daiwa advantage reel in the surf this past fall, I came to the conclusion that I need a reel to use those days I need to get dirty. The old Penn Spinfishers seem to be a well made reel that can take a dunking or two without requiring immediate attention. I have read that most surfcasters use the 704 model but I'm a bit concerned about the size so I think I'm leaning toward a 710.

Long story short, I'm looking for input/criticism/advice from anyone who has something to say about these as I have no way of putting one in my hands until I buy it on ebay.

Thanks,
Z

Hey Zmat, I have a penn 650 ss for sale for $40 if your interested I'll post up some pics.

Bluesfish

Thanks for the offer but I'm going with either 704 or 710 depending on what I can find