Home Forums Fishing Saltwater Reel for SE Alaska fishing

I am going to SE Alaska in August to fish with an old friend. Last time I was up there his fishing reels were looking pretty sad and I had some malfunctions (one cost me a nice fish). Anyway I'd like to get him a new reel (or 2) as a gift. What moderately priced, level wind reel would be a good choice. There are lots on sale at Bass Pro and elsewhere but they all look the same to me and I am not up on the best brands and features.

Thanks in advance!

Get him a couple Penn Warfare Levelwinds. I'd prefer the one without the line counter in the 20 size. Good all around reel that doesn't break the budget. We've been using these hard for a year and no hiccups at all. Might not be up to a supersized halibut but lings, salmon and bottom fish wouldn't be a problem.

I'd rather have an older Penn 320 GTi made in the USA with the drags replaced. They've been great for a long time and I haven't worn one out yet. Just a couple new parts and mine are going strong.

What is the intended use of the reel? Jigging for halibut or fishing for salmon. Trolling, casting, etc?

I was out walking my Springer Spaniel last night and ran into an old friend of mine that was practicing using his drone and his surf fishing rod dropping a "Bait" about 300 yards out. It worked. He had 5 oz of lead for the rig and another 5oz of lead simulating the cut bait. He had a release clip on the drone so when the reel free spool was tripped the tight line would open the clip and release the bait.

He is going to use his drone set up for beach shark fishing at Fenwick Island Delaware next weekend. I'll post a follow-up fishing report for him.

We need way more info before recommending a reel.
Trolling? mooching? jigging?
Something like the previously mentioned Penn 320 would work for all of that, but wouldn't be my first choice for some situations.
I'd want something smaller and lighter for mooching, and probably for trolling also.
Something like the Shimano Charter special, or even the TR2000, nicer would be Tekota 500,with or without line counters. Really nice would be some Avet or Accurate reels.

I'd say the Penn GTi 320 is the 30/06 of saltwater reels. Not perfect for some situations but a great all round choice.

Thanks everyone! I have been traveling for work for a few days.

We troll for whatever Salmon is running and for Halibut we put a big piece of meat on a big hook and let it sit on the bottom in about 80 to 100' of water while we drink beer (Is that mooching?) until the fish show up.

My friend uses pretty light gear all around I think. He claims his Halibut gear is what most folks in town use for King Salmon. I believe him too because I caught a 60lb Halibut with him and it double that rod over so far I thought it would snap off. It was big fun though and took a long time to get it in the boat.

I looked the Penn reels and they look pretty nice and fairly inexpensive. I will check out the others as well.

BTW - I heard the King Salmon run is so bad this year they cancelled the Salmon Derby this year and closed the Stikine king salmon subsistence fishery. I plan to go up in mid August. Hopefully the Coho run will be good this year. The last time I fish it we limited every day we fished.

I really enjoy how the different species of fish react so differently. This Cohos jump and tail walk, etc. The Kings just fight like bastards but I usually don't see them until near the end of the fight (sometimes it isn't really the end). The Halibut come up easy until they see the bottom of the boat and then the war starts. I can not wait!

we need bigger fish in Colorado. Fishing in Alaska has spoiled me...

Thanks again.

Whereabouts in SE are you headed?

Get a Zebco 202, my son caught a 20 lb carp on one...

I like the Penn Fathom #20 $150, don't have one, but I like it.

I also like my Shimano Thunnus 12000 CI4 Bait Runner, $300

For something inexpensive, and built like a tank, I like my Fin Nor Lethal LT100 $100

The last two are spinning reels, not the level wind that you're looking for. Seems I prefer a spinning set up most of the time.

I am going to Petersburg AK

When I lived in SE Alaska the penn 209 was very popular for trolling & jigging.

I have been looking at a lot of reviews of the Penn reels. They are vast majority are good but I noticed a pattern. The good reviews tend to go something like "I have Penn xxx reels that I have been using for 20 or 30 years and they are better than sex". The negative ones are mostly "I just bought a new Penn reel that is made in Japan and it fell apart/exploded in a ball of fire/sank the boat on the first cast". I suspect most of the gear that used to be made here in the USofA and are now made in Asia have the same kind of stories.

I think I'll roll the dice and get a couple of them anyway. My buddy could use a new boat... he just doen't know it yet ;^)

The guy I have fished with had Old Penn 209s they worked fine.

I can like a level wind on a low profile salmon reel, but other than that, I'd rather a conventional.

I've fished with Avets a good bit for ling, halibut, and tuna. SX is the smallest and will do it all as long as you're not fishing really deep. MX J or JX if you need more line capacity. The Penn Fathoms get lots of good reviews. Theyre also available in levelwind, unlike the Avets.

Good old Penn 320's are cheap, plentiful, and work horses. I have a couple that are at least 25 years old and work great. Just kinda big. Way big for salmon IMO.

Shimano has a whole slew of LW reels available. Never fished any of them though.

I’m partial to abu Garcia 5500 and 6500 for most salmon/salt catchin,

I'd avoid level-wind reels and get the gold standard, a Penn Jigmaster.

Someone with experience with decent reels

Avet has finally gone to dual drag washers on their single speed reels so you can get decent drag w/o going to a larger reel. The SX G2 is an awesome little reel, with 250yds of 70# braid and asside from monster halibut it's IMHO about as good as it gets for an all around saltwater reel. No need for level wind as it's just something to go wrong, use your thumb to guide the line onto the reel or just don't spool it all the way up and live with a lump of line in the middle of the reel.



Older single disc SX reel. You have to use your thumb for added drag for larger fish, but for an all around salmon, rockfish, halibut and ling reel it's my favorite. Pair it with a quality heavy rod and you're well set for mooching, trolling and jigs up to 8 oz.

Daiwa saltist
Great drag at a reasonable cost and not much maintenance
I use the 30 line counters and like them a lot
Also use the 40 size two speeds for jigging/bottom fishing
Very smooth drags on both
If you want lower price and good performance go with daiwa sg47's
I've got a bunch of those along with some sg27lc's

No experience in SE Alaska, but a Shimano "charter special" sounds like it would work good. I use mostly Penn spinning and conventional/level wind. 310,320 and 330 GTI. Daiwa slw30 is a decent level wind reel too. Shimano TLD also.

In a similar vein as the Avet, I’ve been using what are now known as Seigler reels. They’ve been previously known as RELEASE and then TRUTH. The company name was finally changed to the founder’s last name, Seigler, after receiving trademark infringement complaints about the “Release” and “Truth” names.

Either way, they make a great reel!

https://www.seigler.fish