Best Offshore Trolling Reels of 2024 (Penn vs Shimano Comparison!)

[@adventuresonthewater1822]

Jimmy is the best! Super knowledgeable and extremely helpful! A great asset to Oceans East!

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

Amazing guy for sure. 👍

[@czoubek]

The clicker on the Shimano's is the clincher. Those TLD 50LRS's are a hell of a deal. They are all you need if you are a recreational tuna, mahi, wahoo fisherman. Also much lighter and easier to move around a center console

[@guywilson3233]

I deal with oceans east in VA Beach and the eastern shore store. And let me tell you not only do they have everything you need for saltwater. The guys in those stores are true professionals and very knowledgeable. Not to mention reasonably priced

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

Well said. 👍

[@mulletoutdooradventures6286]

Most of these just depend on how you are using it. I have been using mostly Okuma. When I started the Solterra price was unbeatable. Then I just liked Okuma. I grew up with everything Penn. I live in Philly and back in the day you could go directly to the factory for parts. I still love Penn and have a few. I have a couple Shimanos as well. I like the speed master for chunking yellowfin

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

Great perspective, appreciate you sharing bud.

[@chuckhoward3626]

Money wise I was a TLD buyer, but what a pleasant surprise. I can't enough about them - I'm hooked. One other thing of note; buy from your local tackle shops where ever you go fishing - their knowledge is priceless!

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

Good stuff bud!

[@sab35263]

Penns and Makairas are kings on the west coast. It’s interesting to see the difference between east and west coast fisherman.

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

Very fascinating for sure. Hopefully we will look at Makara’s as well. 👍

[@sab35263]

@@saltwaterfishinguniversity i have 3 internationals, 4 maks and a talica. I think the internationals and the maks are way beefier and stronger heavier frame. A comparison between all three would be nice.

[@tunanorth]

@@saltwaterfishinguniversity 90-percent of west coast tuna fishing is "standup" style. The video does mention standup anglers tend to prefer Penns.

[@bobbarnhill8557]

Accurate? not in the mix!

[@MadLudwig]

I was a die hard Penn customer for decades, partly because I grew up in the Philadelphia area. Up until the original owners sold the company off, their reels dominated salt water fishing. I troll a set of Penn 30VSWs loaded with 65 lb braid and Momoi Diamond Blue 65lb mono, and they are fantastic for pelagics up to a couple hundred pounds. Above that they're over matched (unless you don't mind fighting a fish for hours on end). I also use Talica 12 reels for inshore trolling, but as Captain Ron pointed out, the line capacity is not the best. But they're perfect for Kingfish, Mahi and Spanish Mackerel. I also keep a pair of Shimano Stella 6000s aboard for casting into fish busting on top. They're incredibly smooth and their drag can handle blistering runs.

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

Wonderful comment and additional info here. Thanks!

[@skullhart]

My Tyrnos reels have caught plenty of Marlin and Tuna and last for many years. Some are now 10 years old and still run fine.

[@gungadinn]

Guys, open a International 50 and a Tiagra 50, and look at the width of the gears. The International reels have wider gears sets that are machined on shaft verses Shimano gears being narrower and pinned to the main shaft..The Tiagra has a slight advantage in the drag system, however if you get the Penn blue printed, the Penn is right up there with Shimano. The Tiagra has a piss pot of small parts inside verses the International. Pull the schematics and compare for yourself. I fish both Shimano and Penn. Penn IMO is much easier to service. For a small outfit like Speechless, "the Captain" needs to be able to service the reel. I wouldn't want to attempt servicing a Tiagra out on the ocean. For jigging, Daiwa 35 SJ Saltiga (also available in left hand version). Small width, large line capacity and 23+ pounds of drag. It's a good tuna rig.

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

Great recommendations and thoughts here, appreciate you sharing 👍👍

[@seanhartnett9753]

I haven't heard of a shimano saltiga.

[@gungadinn]

@@seanhartnett9753 Manufactured as both a spinning and "casting/jigging" model. Google Saltiga 35n-SJ which is a slow jigging model. They're pricey, but what isn't these days.

[@tunanorth]

Saltiga is a Daiwa product.

[@gungadinn]

@@tunanorth You're correct, my bad.

[@Pitoling186]

Shimamo saragossa for the spinning reels.. Penn internationals for the big boy stuff...cant go wrong

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

We will be taking a hard look at spinning reels this year for sure.

[@whatspopin100]

Yall ever think of giving away a sub giveaway fishing charter?

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

I suspect we will be in a position to do that by next year, and we look forward to a lot more opportunities to do more with the community in the future. 👍

[@oshkey437]

What about Italian reels like Alutecnous, Everol, Gladiator etc? I have a feeling these reels are much better quality and performance than the reels in this video

[@xtremevlogz1301]

Can you use the tyrnos for tuna fishing. Could it be used as an all round rod for different species? Thanks! I was thinking of picking up 6 50w that I found online for a good deal! Thanks

[@shahiduddinchowdhury3380]

Can u recommend a good model of PENN Conventional right hand operation Reel for Angling in Lake and River .

[@AaronC928]

That funny im a Matching type guy as well. I like all my rod and reels for my spread the same, size can be diff. 30w and 50w but want everything else Matching. Look good feel good play good lol plus easier for everyone knowing each reel is the same, nothing special from one to the other

[@robertadams2062]

Hi, lm looking for a reel to use for drone beach fishing, ill be using a 10'6" rod and want to spool it with 65lb Daiwa J 8 Braid, the bait would be carried out approximately 370yards max, lm looking at the Shimano 23 Talica 16A 2 speed and the Talica 20 2 speed , what reel would you suggest and why? thanks

[@sentient8146]

I'm looking for a couple of Left Handed conventional reels for offshore footballs and sharks and I tell you i buying things that don't seem to suit my needs. Avet, Accurate makes a lefty but Penn's options are pretty slim. I can get a 5.0 in a squall II but what are my options for 5.0 leftys or am i barking up the wrong tree. I'm afraid I'm becoming a bit confesed and grabbing slow pitch jigging reels like the accurate valient 500N and a cheaper but not bad squall II. I've always used Right handed conventional reels but the left hand feels more natural and no one can tell me why spinning reels are lefty and conventional reels are right handed. No one can give me a good explanation.

[@joeyaguilera8382]

What about the Penn Torque and Fathoms? They compare to some of the other Shimano easily.

[@thomaswoelfel4162]

Also, the Penn Squall series, which would be comparable to the Shimano TLD series

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

Appreciate the suggestions. We'll see if we can bring more selection to the next one.

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

Thanks for the additional input, we appreciate the perspective of others that are using them for sure.

[@livinglegend3182]

Both brands are good, i have one penn 50VSX in my spread the others are tiagras and a talica, as much as i like shimano I have a soft spot for that penn. not really a fan of the VI models

[@jjjk7895]

Just penn vs shimano ?? It’s 2024 more players in the game can’t not mention the makairas by okuma or the acurates or the alutecnos which is by far the best

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

Feel free to explain why you believe that. I’m sure there are other options out there, and we’d love your input. 👍

[@marcopugliese5946]

Good ole avet has never failed me. Alutecnos are def the best reels out there. Super smooth, incredibly overbuilt, drag is insane

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

@@marcopugliese5946 We will need to review those as well. 👍

[@bjkgaffmaster]

Man I thought it was going to be a true comparison of Shimano and Penn but after watching am somewhat disappointed with your “comparison” of the 2 manufacturers. I guess I am somewhat prejudice since I live very close to where the Penn International factory was in PA and was lucky to have a couple of friends worked there and actually bought a few of my International reels from them over the years. I will start out by telling you that I own over 150+ Penn reels (from 80’s down to UL 430 spinning reels) and around 30 Shimano reels ( baitcasting, spinning and trolling). I have a few Penn reels that are probably older then you guys. A TRUE COMPARISON is almost impossible to really do because Penn has been in business many more years then Shimano. Penn tackle was started in the 1930’s and Shimano in the 1970’s so the history line of these companies is quite different. For offshore Penn and Fin Nor were the only go to tackle for offshore species for many many years until numerous other tackle companies spread out into the offshore tackle scene. Having fished offshore since the late 1970’s all along the east coast and other international destinations I can tell you that the MOST RELIABLE will undoubtably be the Penn International reels seconded by the Penn Senator series. If anyone thinks this is not true please show me a couple of things. 1st would be a reel that was or did not need “improvements and design upgrades” almost every year of manufacturing. 2nd : a reel that you can actually repair with minimal mechanical knowledge yourself. A lot of my Shimano s required “factory service” for even simple repairs. Having to send to California for even simple repairs. I took apart a few and was shocked at how many small and numerous parts they have and how most are castings or plastic parts. Poor design, engineering and quality parts leads to inferior products. I will say that the Service Dept was EXTREMELY helpful and good at helping me even ordering some parts that I could fix on their reels myself. I personally still have a few Penn reels that my father purchased in the 1960’s and you can still put them to use for bottom fishing. If they broke you can still find replacement parts (although getting more and more difficult but some still available) order and repair the reels YOURSELF. Try doing this with ANY other reel manufacturer in the world….can’t. Simple design, manufacturing and quality components equal longevity even in saltwater environment. Any other manufacturer does not design or engineer their reels the way Penn did. Other Mfg. did not engineer them to be repairable either. Penn for years made a majority of their parts from machined steel, aluminum billet, brass parts and quality components. The reels had no were near the amount of parts to operate the reel for the use they were designed for. Most older reels have under 100 parts. They have caught the most world records of any other reel manufacturer ever. Everyone I guess can have their own opinions on “best” reels but how many people, charter captains or boat owners can go down to their basement and grab a 43 year old offshore big game reel from any manufacturer bring it on a boat catch a 100-300+ fish and not worry about it breaking apart, drag not working correctly, handle breaking, parts busting??? I can honestly say I can do that by grabbing one of the first International 50’s that I bought in the late 1970’s and they have caught hundreds of tunas, marlins, sharks, wahoos with. I have done repairs and extensive maintenance on all of them over the years but never had internals come apart (exception a couple with a graphite spool on a penn GLS type reel) even under heavy drag and long battles. Some corrosion on chromed parts and aluminum not properly cared for but even with those small problems reels are all still usable and reliable. If in 30-40 years the Shimanos that you are describing and talking about in this video are still around, operable or used on private boats or charters let me know and we can review and change my opinion on “best reels for offshore fishing”. Will say thank you for at least presenting this video for our enjoyment.

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

Great comment here. Appreciate your additions to the post. We will push to have a more detailed analysis as we produce more of these.

[@fnyack]

People, I’ve seen Penn Reel used by many, I recently went to Walmart and purchased a Penn Reel, just opened the Hard to Open package and proceeded to install it to my rod, and found that the reel handle not screwing properly to the reel for retracting the line. Totally Disappointed! Always thought that Penn was one of the best, now I’m not so sure and probably not buy another one, it wasn’t cheap.

[@wilk7958]

Average Penn

[@jamiehoward4980]

Bro, you went to Walmart

[@warlordop713]

You went to Walmart. 💀

[@fnyack]

@@warlordop713 It had the Penn stamped on it as a Penn Brand, now that you have questioned my shopping savviness I’m thinking that it could have been just a Chinese knockoff. Thanks for responding. Hey, catch a big one!

[@elijahbl5745]

See tho, no hate, but Ill fish the random 80w international I got for 200$

[@generalrambo1516]

Shimano, enough said.

[@jorgeposadas1192]

Without having my time wasted by this video, penn is at rear of any line of reels hahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahaha

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

Thanks for being so articulate and thoughtful here. 😑

[@Oo7Hola]

I say makira. Can’t believe you guys didn’t have one there. With 5 year warranty on them which none of the other competitors provide. I would say oakum makira Beats them all

[@GrumpysGarageDave]

Could this be any more of a Shimano sales pitch .. come on guys dont be clowns .. to sit here and say that Penn only has 1 real that will do the job is absolutely absurd and just plain BS .. i own both Penn and Shimano along with other brands and i will tell you for fact thatt ill take my internationals over tiagras all day long .. maybe try doing an intelligent and informative comparrison and getting back to us that already know what this one was .. a shimano infomercial lol

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

This information is based on what sells the most and what the charter captains use out of Oregon Inlet. There is no angle here nor preference. No reason to get upset. Simply explain your position like a reasonable person, share your experience, and be professional. Is that too hard?

[@GrumpysGarageDave]

@saltwaterfishinguniversity ... How professional is it to put Penn vs. Shimano in the title and then tell us all about 40 different models of shimano and 1 Penn like there is only 1 Penn reel worth going fishing with .. why not compare comparable models and sizes from each instead of a whole Shimano biased video .. Other than the snarky infomercial reference, I don't think my comment was too far off base there, bud, and I'm surprised that you do

[@GrumpysGarageDave]

@saltwaterfishinguniversity ... I do understand there are differences in our fisheries South Florida to North Caarolina, but I don't think it's enough to say it's all a Shimano world in NC .. or has it changed that drastically in NC over the last 10 years, which is the last time I fished there

[@saltwaterfishinguniversity]

@@GrumpysGarageDave Agree that we need more depth, and certainly plan to do a lot more in the future. The frustration came in the sales pitch comment. We honestly have no dog in the fight with the two brands with our channel. Also, this video was focused on the 50 class size, that's why we weren't able to show more Penns, as they just weren't offered in the store due to a lack of product demand. The goal here is to really help folks learn some of the most popular these offshore folks are looking for, from a Carolina perspective. Bottom line-- we'll do better more and more as we do these, and learn what the market (like you) wants to hear.

[@danmadgett1513]

What does Penn and Shitmano have to do with Best 😂 How about Okuma, Avet and Alutecnos 😊 Looks like they are only marketing the Crapy brands they sell 😮

[@treasurehuntfishing]

Buy American, buy Penn

[@843Landbased]

“Penn has less the selection”. Penn Squall 50vsw Penn 50vsx Penn 50visx Penn 50 viw *single speed* Penn fathom 80ld (All 50 size reels by the way)