Penn GT levelwind series being discontinued

[Tawn]

I was at Jerry Norton's (Holy Mackerel Tackle) yesterday and he told me that Penn was discontinuing the Penn GT series reels. He said he was told that they were coming out with a level wind, star drag version of the Squall line of reels which would replace the GT series.

I have a matching set of 17 330GTs. I think I'm going to pick up 1-2 extras in case one of mine goes over the side or completely blows up...I'm too OCD to have mismatched reels on the boat.

[Spot77]

Originally Posted by Tawn

I was at Jerry Norton's (Holy Mackerel Tackle) yesterday and he told me that Penn was discontinuing the Penn GT series reels. He said he was told that they were coming out with a level wind, star drag version of the Squall line of reels which would replace the GT series.

I have a matching set of 17 330GTs. I think I'm going to pick up 1-2 extras in case one of mine goes over the side or completely blows up...I'm too OCD to have mismatched reels on the boat.

You're not alone.

Although my fishing gear is quite mismatched, my ammo stacks are all as neat, concise and grouped by manufacturer and caliber as can be.

I hope it's an improvenment in the reel; seems like a lot of manufacturers fix things that aren't really broken and end up regretting it.

Geez....who remembers "New Coke"?????

[Chessie27]

I have been buying up the 330Lever drags like they are going out of style for the same reason. Over the last year, I have bought 23 of them, 21 matching Judge Yacht rods with 330LDs and 2 spare reels. I have already needed to use a spare because the drag is shot on one of them. The tackle shop guy told me they can't really handle pulling big umbrellas w/ lots of weight. He recommended the Okuma 55s. I wish he said that earlier since they are a lot less bread than the 330's. I may switch the 5 boat rods over and save the Penns for board rod spares but damn it just won't look right not have everything the same!!

[Tawn]

I use 330LDs on my 12 board rods and WWB and I almost always use all umbrellas and I haven't had an issue yet...I even used them last spring on the charter boat and they have held up perfectly. I also use them (330LDs)this time of year when pulling big umbrellas with inline weights and Storm baits as boat rods. Once again the have held up fine.

For the deep, boat rods with a lot of inline weight I use 113's.

Joe Cox, of "The Reel Thing" reel repair business told me that 99% of the parts for a 330LD are the same as a 330GT and that there are enough of those parts out there in inventories to last for the foreseeable future. Having said that, I still plan to pick up a couple of NIB 330LDs just in case...I can't stand mismatched gear.

[Chessie27]

That's great to hear and I am with you on mismatched gear.

I did have a buddy bring his rods out yesterday and they were the okuma 55's and they were pretty nice. I might pick up some just to be safe, beside, if all the boat rods are the same and the board rods are the same it's almost like you meant it to be that way

[Tawn]

FYI...Jerry Norton has plenty of Penn 330GT2's in stock in case anybody wants to lay in a few spares before they go away. He can be reached at 301-855-5945 or 301-908-8361. Not sure of his price but I know it's usually well below most others.

[Seahunter]

You could not give me an Okuma trolling reel. Just try getting parts for the "popular" TL20 sometime. Okuma NA's "factory" customer service is non-existent and I say that as a wholesaler.

Anyone that says a 330 cannot pull an umbrella doesn’t know their way around a drag stack. I have no experience with a 330LD, (not a fan) but the 330 and 320 star drags (#25 drag) will pull one with no problem once modified.

I wouldn’t buy the GT2. Go on E-bay and buy used Made in USA for a third to half the cost of new reels built in Asia. It typically doesn’t take more than a couple of dollars in parts to put them back into working condition. Bought 4 last year for $30 apiece. The guy took them part and put the gear “dogs” in backwards so the reel wouldn’t lock. Took me five minutes to fix.

[shoreboy6]

Have you tried the Convector series? I have several CV55 reels and absolutely love them. No problems pulling big weights, umbrellas, big planers, etc. without being modified. My local tackle shop has never had an issue with Okuma customer service, infact they highly praise it as some of the best in the industry.