bapabear Loc: Blaine, Washington

Attached is a recent string of text between my friend and a Penn representative.

(Personal statement from me)
Be Aware!!! Penn reels have changed.

(Initial question to Penn from john doe)
Quesiton:
Product Information
Body:
I recently bought a Battle III 5000 and the first time out discovered that it does not have a free spool / reverse level. Since I frequently bottom fish or jig (lingcod for example) over uneven bottoms, this is a MUST HAVE for me. I am very disappointed. Any recommendations?


PENN Consumer Service <penn@purefishing.com> wrote:
Many reel companies are going away from the on/off system for the anti-reverse; having the anti-reverse active all of the time. This alleviates the issue some anglers were experiencing in bumping it into the off position in the middle of the fight with fish on causing them to loose the fish. You can simply open the bail wire if you wish to go into free spool for a bit or pull line out by hand if you wish to give some slack in the line.

Sincerely,
Jane Doe (name changed for this post)
Service Experience Coordinator
Pure Fishing Inc


from (john doe,)
Thanks for the reply. I understand what you are saying but it is unacceptable for me. I know I should have checked harder before I bought, but since ALL my other spinning reels have this lever it never occurred to me that the Penn wouldn't.
Lacking the lever, I have to open and close the bail or loosen and tighten the drag at least once a minute when bottom fishing and drifting over an uneven bottom. I simply won't continue to do that. Too bad. My nice new Penn goes in the Goodwill box and I'll buy another reel.

But thanks again for your response.


(to john doe from me Me)
May I send your message and reply to "Fishing Stage"? I will eliminate all personal info for your protection. That response is totally unexpectable. After 50 years as a faithful customer, I will never buy or recommend a Penn again, including to my fellow circle of guides.. I am so sorry I recommended Penn to you. What a bunch of crap and lack of knowledge on Penn's part. Apparently they have turned the business over to the bean counters.

(Personal statement from me to all fishermen)
AGAIN: Be cautious of buying a Penn battle III, or any other spinning reel according to Jane Doe, if you want to reverse spool.. So far, I have not found another brand reel without a reverse switch, but there must be lots of them out there as the Penn lady said, "many reel companies are going that way".

Jeremy Loc: America

I got a brand new Rod from my best buddy several years ago now. My son wanted to buy a reel for it. Its a large Ugly stick spinning rod and reel. I found the perfect reel for it. It is an Okuma. It is the same no switch just open bail or closed. I think several companaies just decided to save money and don't really care what the fisherman think. I think its silly they blamed the possibility that you can lose fish on it with the switch.

HenryG Loc: Falmouth Cape Cod Massachusetts

Thanks for the heads up bababear I still use an old Penn power stick combo for saltwater I've had for years has been a work horse for sure never have any problems with it 🇺🇸🎣😀👍

agatemaggot Loc: iowa

I wouldn't own a reel that had a permanent anti reverse !

Passingbye Loc: Reidsville NC

I keep all my older reels as they are easy to maintain, clean and find at yard sales, even if just to scavenger part's. Going to keep doing so for a long time in the future. Keep their New junk!

johnlmac Loc: Salem OR

I had a battle III's 5000 and don't recommend Penn to anyone either. I lost the drag on mine and had it fixed by a reel repairman. He couldn't fix it. It still didn't work after he repaired it. I can't quite remember if I bought another one and it did the same thing but I also bought an Okuma that I lost the drags on.

HenryG Loc: Falmouth Cape Cod Massachusetts

Amen Passingbye I do have some new rods and reels but still like using old not broken good fishing gear I'll stash some of the old lures and take them out on father's day that my dad use to use and a couple of his rods and.reels and his Spirit takes me fishing looking forwards to Sunday . I still have lots of NOS. Still in the box old stuff brings back old memories Here's.to those good memories as few and grand as they may be. They make us who we are and how we conduct ourselves. 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍻🍻😂👍 God Bless All of Us 🙏

Big dog Loc: Bayshore, Long Island, New York

👍👍👍

Kerry Hansen Loc: Bremerton, WA

I suspect someone at the company said, "hey we can save a little manufacturing cost if we delete that feature", so they did and still charge the same price. We see that all the time in food we buy. For years the standard size of for example Ice Cream was 1/2 gal, then they decreased the size by a pint and still charged same price.

FishermanLeeSonoma

Thanks for the heads up! Will keep my eyes on that!

FishermanLeeSonoma

Yeah, I noticed that immediately and was not pleased!!! LOL

bottomcoon Loc: Tahlequah, oklahoma

From personal experience I know exactly how you feel. A few years ago I decided I needed a new spinning reel for a trip to Ontario. I ordered a new quantum reel priced well over $100. At first I thought the reel was defective. Who ever heard of no anti reverse on a spinning reel. I'm not an avid spinning reel user but that pos reel stays in my reel cabinet & I haven't bought another quantum product. Whatever happened to making products by fishermen for fishermen? Whoever designed that reel is no fisherman.

forrest r Loc: NE ohio

WOW!!!

The only spinning reel I own that doesn't have a anti-reverse lever is the cheap spinning reel that came with the uglystick II combo.

All my pflueger, diawa & even a cheap Kastking centerion 500 all have the anti-reverse lever.

TexasBassMan Loc: Spring, TX (Houston)

Yes, many reel manufacturers are eliminating the anti-reverse switch.

Ex: Shimano Stradic FL, one of the most popular finesse spinning reels, no longer has the AR switch. And the price did not go down, if that was your next question.

Bob Err Loc: Gulf Breeze FL

Exactly what he said.
I also am done with penn, for exactly the same reasons

Remember when they took the highbeam switch off the floor in the car?!
Why? Stupidest thing ever and to this day you risk an accident by having to take a hand off the wheel and hit the stick on your steering wheel to turn off your highbeams on the corner instead of just hitting the button on the floor with your left foot that wasn’t doing anything anyway.