Surfmaster 850

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 9:36 pm

Just come back from doing a spot of fishing with bro and old man on the mersey first time in over a year ( 3lb codling and 2 whiting). Looking to start fishing again on the Thames and wondered if any one has used these reels and if so what `s the verdict? confused

Member Joined: Oct 23, 2008 Posts: 55 Location: essex

don't bother mate i brought 2 and meathead brought 2,meathead replaced his twice,and i've replaced both mine twice and now just exchanged one for the penn 70 hopefully that'll last a bit longer than the 850 and the 750
meathead(paul) has just exchanged one of his for the okuma sonic which he loves

Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 3:53 pm

The 850 was penns worst reel. keith

Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 4:50 pm

Penn 750 - prefer my £12 reels - this is probably the worst £50 I have ever spent, prone to getting line tangled inside rotor and bail arm springing shut just as 6oz of lead goes hurtling skywards.

Occasional Joined: Aug 17, 2008 Posts: 193

Don't, just don't.

I'm stuck with one of these as my main reel until it inevitably and prematurely dies.
By stripping,rebuilding, tweaking and fiddling I have one that is useable but not pleaseantly so. This on a 3 month old reel.
They could / should ,have been good but they aren't.
People are still buying them though ,from 49 dollars to 90 quid.

" |The worst reel that Penn ever .........."

Probabally only academic now, but :-

http://store.scottsbt.com/product1.aspx?Product_ID=23364

Still, on the bright side, I Know something more of what to lookout for next. !

Member Joined: Dec 07, 2008 Posts: 7

I got warned off the 750/850 the other day at gerry's of Morecambe. The guy there told me they have been the worst reels they've ever sold in terms of returns.
I had the money in my hand to buy so their reasons for putting me off must be genuine. Especially as I ended up spending over £20 less on another reel they recommended. A Mitchell Avocet 6500. Out with it yesterday and it casted liked a dream. Very surprised to be honest!
My only warning for the reel is note the spools are quite shallow. One is a concave angled lipped (casting) spool suited to 20lb ish braid....should get plenty on at that. The other spool is the standard pit spool just a touch shallower. Like I say, ideally I think they are best with braid because of the lower diameter of the line. But great to cast with. I emptied the casting spool first cast (admittedly with 50lb braid!). But I think the reel perfomed similarly with the regular spool on and helped me get the lead out at a more than respectable distance. So if you don't wanna chance forking out an arm and a leg on a fixed spool sweatysock, I think you could chuck £39 at a lot lot worse than one of these.[/b]

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 7:47 pm

Cheers boys.

Been slow in sorting out tackle, just as well by the sound of things as i was thinking of getting a couple of 850`s

Sounds like i have saved myself a lot of trouble and messing around crying

.

Will have a look at other 2 reels suggested instead.

Will post on tackle part of site and see if any one has any recomendations on rod and reel combo for 100-150

thanks for your input.

Catch a FAT One.

Joined: Jan 15, 2009 Posts: 3

has anyone else noticed that these reels are available from other companies? i've got a leeda pirana, and a witchwood, i've also seen them branded as mitchell and ron thomson. they are identical to a surfmaster bar for livery and brand name. i'm more than happy with the two i've got. also worth adding, my two were both cheaper that the pen branded ones, £35 and £40 if memory serves me correctly.

Regular Joined: Jul 29, 2008 Posts: 403 Location: Jedburgh

i was thinking of buying the 750 or 850 Penn but Eccles told me of a reel he had which was a Daiwa BF5500 which got of flea bay for £25 and i like it so after reading all the bad reports about the Penn ones i think it was a top bit of advice....cheers Eccles big grin

Member Joined: Nov 20, 2008 Posts: 21

sweatysock wrote:

Just come back from doing a spot of fishing with bro and old man on the mersey first time in over a year ( 3lb codling and 2 whiting). Looking to start fishing again on the Thames and wondered if any one has used these reels and if so what `s the verdict? confused

I BOUGHT ONE THIS YEAR AND AS AN ALL ROUND REEL IT TAKES SOME BEATING EPECIALLY ON PRICE I CAN CAST 150+ METRES FROM THE BEACH I CAN CHANGE SPOOLS AND USE IT ON THE BOAT I WOULD GIVE A 9.5/10

Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 10:02 am

dunno if you got a rod/reel yet but heres 2 to think about.
the shimano nexave 130 f from spottydogtackle, lovely rod and reduced to only £47.99
the Penn Surfmaster 70, available on ebay for about £50
the combo should work out at about £110 after P&P and i dont think youll get anything better for less that about £150-£170.

Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 10:33 am

I am a bit of a fan of Okuma's as the better ones seem to take a fair bit of punishment. Can't say I too keen on the Sonic though, it looks a bit of a monster and I think the spool skirt is too shallow which could mean line getting trapped underneath. I mean, why have a reel which holds 400 yds of 20lb line when you will only ever use 150 yds of it. Right at the moment I fancy the Okuma Zeon in this sort of price range but haven't seen one up close yet so can't really comment. PS - Blimey, just noticed that some guy is selling them on ebay for £20 + p&p, amazing, can't go wrong at that price I shouldn't think. Very tempting but HID will only let me have me new rod this month so will have to leave it out.

Occasional Joined: Aug 17, 2008 Posts: 193

Today the Drag knob died.
I have the phone No. for Pure fFshing ....
They don't answer on a Saturday.

Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:44 am

Ive heard nothing but bad reports from these reels, a friends packed up after 2 months from new..which seems strange as penn usually have a good reputation for sea reels. Personally ive a shimano in the fixed spool dept..cant grumble at all fine reel

Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 8:14 pm

I have just bought a Penn 850 today, as my Mitchell 499 got itself a bit sick yesterday.I wish I had read this artical, I know this reel was a panic purchase, but I already have 5 Penns, admittly multi's, I will give the reel a good working out and if its not for me I will sell on fleabay. crying