penn 220 gto

Just was looking at some reels for flatheads. I liked this one (Penn gto 220). What do you think? I have a family and there for a budget! A least that is what my wife keeps telling me.

runt…

The only things I’ve “heard” is that one side of the arbor is slightly higher…so it’s not exactly level..and that if the owner doesn’t back off the drag after using it…it will end up being either all on or all off drag. To fix, it requires new drag washers.

I don’t recall if the reel has a bait clicker or not. There’s a small school of folks that feel a clicker isn’t nessisary…I prefer them as it’s back up insurance.

I’m still a Garcia 7000 type of guy…and for the $100. if you can find them…they will give you years of great service.

Fisher Dave is trying out a new reel…he says that he really likes it… don’t recall what it is though…

There are very few of the 7000 reels around Brian is refering to. The price has gone up on them if you can find them because they are discontinued. Moores bait has one 7000 on the shelf for around $120(they cost the retailer more than $100).

I picked up a Shimano Tekota 600 recently from Moores Bait. I cant say enough good things about the reel this far. The 500 series s about the same as a garcia 7000 in size, the 600 series is slightly larger than the 7000, but the spool elevation is similar so its still a very castable reel.

The 7000 reels(c3?) are around $120 if you can still find one for sale. The 500 Tekota is $130 at Moores, the 600 a little more than that. I feel the shimano reels are much smoother, cast better, more comfortable, and the power to reel in a whale with little fatigue. The drag is perfectly smooth, and can go much tighter than I need with 80# power pro.

The replacement Abu 7000 is the *Big Game* 7000 reel which carries a price tag of somewhere around $150 or a little more… so the prices are comparable, or its even cheaper to go with the 500 series reel.

to Shimano Tekota reels.

I just saw the 7000c3 for sale at bass pro shop for 99$. I was wondering if that is a good deal and if I should pick one up? I have a Abu 6500 which I can cast a mile but is probabaly not ideal for Flats. Is it completly nessesary to have a reel that can cast a “mile”? Do you usually do a lot of long casting when flathead fishing?

Quote:

---

Do you usually do a lot of long casting when flathead fishing?

---

Yes…

FisherDave and a lot of us Catters do quite a bit of shorefishing for Flatheads/Channels and sometimes that requires a long accurate cast, a cast of 30 or 40 yards is not that uncommon in some of the places we fish.

That price sounds reasonable for a 7000 all things considered, your 6500 will work good also a lot of nice Cats have been caught on 6500’s, but the 7000’s are better for bigger fish.

Good Luck!

Casting a mile?? The only person I’ve seen that could..would be Fisher Dave.

But to answer your question…IMO, it depends if you’re bank fishing or boat fishing.

There is a definite advantage to distance casting while on shore…(although the bullhead will take a beating if it doesn’t get ripped off the hook in the cast).

My favorite BOAT rods are 7.5 foot Custom St Croix rods with a 7000 attached…these are not distance casting rods! But don’t need to be. I used them once for bank fishing and have never brought them along again.

As far as the 6500…again IMO…I don’t care for the clicker mechanism. It’s just too light for a bullhead in any type of currant. Many…many people have 6500’s and love them…I have two and use them excusivly for cutbait fishing for channels in the spring.

PS I was talking with Bob at Moores bait…he has two 7000’s in stock.

What is the phone number to Moores I wonder if they are leftys?

Look at the top right side of this page…

thanks… not to bright is he?

Ya got me again…their closed!!!

Wake ’em up at 5 am!

Give Moores a call tomorrow. If he doesnt answer he is busy with customers and is pretty good about returning calls if he is not getting slammed.

I know Moores has several different reels on hand for catfishermen. To name a few(baitcasters)…

ABU 6500 & 6501? (Left handed)
ABU 7000
Shimano Corsair 300, 301, 400 models.. seem nice, small clicker button, never used them yet
Shimano Tekota 500, 600, and the 700 if you really need a monster.

Spinning reels he has all the different Okuma reels with the baitfeeder option. Sherry used one of these reels since the beginning of last season and its performing flawlessly.. landed lots of nice sturgeon last fall too!