Penn International 30/sw

Anyone that knows a little about angling history realises just how important Penn Internationals have been in continually rewriting the angling record books. They've been around for the best part of 70 years now and you don't stay on top of the reel game that long without a quality product. That's what I look for in a reel, a proven track record of both performance and reliability.

The 30SW offers two-speed gearing. To change gears you have a press button on the crank bar of the handle. The low gear option is quickly appreciated when a big, heavy fish goes down deep and you need maximum cranking power to lift them. But if that fish suddenly decides to come up fast creating yards of slack line, then it's a quick press of the shift button and you're back on fast retrieve to get that line back on the spool double quick. The gears are manufactured out of tempered stainless steel to give total strength. High gear ratio is 3.8-1 and the low gear retrieve a powerful 1.8-1.

Four stainless steel ball-bearings ensure smooth operation under the toughest retrieve, each bearing being shielded from possible water contamination and dirt.

The drag has a lever arc of 120 degrees allowing a wide variation in drag pressure. "Free spool" and "Strike" positions give you instant reference as required. The drag can be pre-set by turning the circular knob adjacent to the handle. You turn clockwise to increase pressure and anti-clockwise to reduce pressure. The drag plate itself is HT100 material which gives super smooth operation even when the reel is soaked by saltwater when backing down on big fish and you're taking water over the stern.

The main strength of the reel is in the cage. This is a one-piece made from aluminium with the trademark gold anodized finish. No way this frame is going to twist under extreme pressure. The spool and side-plates are also from forged aluminium and gold anodized for durability and corrosion resistance. The right-hand side-plate is one-piece combining both bridge and side-plate assembly to minimise the chance of corrosion and improve strength.

The reel seat is cast stainless steel screwed directly to the main cage by heavy screws. The reel also comes with a rod clamp for secure fixing to the rod. The other obvious features are the "click" button to warn when line is being taken from the spool, and the harness lugs for harness attachment when fighting big fish.

The handle knob is counter balanced to allow it to automatically fall to the vertical position for instant gripping. The knob is large, barrel shaped, and fits comfortably in the hand.

The 30SW weighs in at 63ozs and has a line capacity of 900-yards of 30lb line or 825-metres of 15-kilo line.

VERDICT
A tough reel capable of landing massive fish in the right hands. It's proven track record and reliability always swings it with me. I need to be confident when hooked up to something that won't give in and these reels give that confidence.