penn delmar 285 question

How are they as a cat reel? My neighbor gave me one with a 6 foot rod with a sheave for the tip that is about as stiff as a shovel handle that he used for shark fishing once years ago and was wondering how they are for a flathead setup. It has line on it that looks like #9 nylon twine and I cant cast even a 3 ounce sinker for than 10 yards but also wanted to know how they cast if they have heavy mono instead of kite string. I would be getting a new rod for it if would be a decent reel. Thanks

I use Penn reels on all my cat setups but i have never used the delmar before. Penns are very durable and are made to withstand the harsh elements such as saltwater so for freshwater i think they are perfect. Im sure it will be fine but from what i have read that reel is pretty old.

Whats the gear ratio and what not on it? Im guessing pretty low. Im guessing your going to be using for one of your flathead set ups?

Is there a levelwind? Maybe it’s not necessary, but not having one would annoy me.

Yeah it will be for flathead. I’m not sure on gear ratio. I am new to flathead and baitcasters, I have a abu 6500 and a 5600 that I got used for a good price I think at a local bait shop. I will be using the 6500 for flathead but figured I would ask about this one since I already had it I would have 2 flathead setups. There is no levelwind and I agree that it might be a pain but I will probably deal with it for this summer at least. Thanks for your help, I’m going to put it on a different rod tonight after work and see if it will cast with the kite sting line it has on it before I put new stuff on.

Jordan wrote:

I use Penn reels on all my cat setups but i have never used the delmar before. Penns are very durable and are made to withstand the harsh elements such as saltwater so for freshwater i think they are perfect. Im sure it will be fine but from what i have read that reel is pretty old.

Whats the gear ratio and what not on it? Im guessing pretty low. Im guessing your going to be using for one of your flathead set ups?

Which Penn reels? I’ve got the opposite opinion of Penn with the exception of reels over $200

Penn 320GT2’s, i plan on buying a few Squall’s also. I have beat them up pretty bad and they are still holding up just fine. They have always performed well for me I guess. I was thinking about the Abu 7000’s but im not sure I want to spend that much money. To each their own i guess.

Just curious what dont you like about them so I can look for something that I might not like that I havent noticed?

Bought a penn209 this winter. Granted it was below freezing and the first fish it reeled in was over 50# but I thought for such a big arbor and low gear ratio it would have some torque.
That fish was very hard to net by myself because the drag and gears weren’t up to par.

But, the Abu 7000 reel doesn’t have the torque I want either. That’s going to go on a channel cat rod or a musky trolling rod.

Maybe I’m just too used to the performances of my revo Toro winches.

So my experience with Penn’s is limited. I figured it’d be a good since the expensive Penn market saltwater is so good. But apparently the cheaper end isn’t a bargain.

Picked up two more revos for 40% off two weeks ago. Can’t beat em