Penn Torque

[Gunsmoke]

I don't believe it, I just got an electronic invoice from Charkbait. The Torque's shipped out today. The nice thing about Charkbait, is if you don't order any line on the reel, and you have the Captain's card, you get 40 bucks off each Torque. That 10% off really adds up. Problem is I have to give Mrbill one for losing a bet. In a couple of days, I'll see if they live up the icast award "Best of Show."

[123abc]

I like the torque and i like penn products but two things have stopped me from buying one. first i think they are too heavy for their line capacity. and second is line capacity. i wish they made a size in between the 300 and 200.
for what i want, the 300 is too large and the 200 is too small.

[Tunanorth]

123Abc,
I agree that there would be a good use for a "250" size Torque, but the TRQ200 holds a surprising amount of line.
You can set it up with 350 yards of 40-pound braid and a 100-yard topshot of 30-pound mono=450 yards total,
or 250 yards of 50-pound braid and a 100-yard topshot of 40-pound mono=350 yards total.
You could go without a topshot and it holds 450 yards of 50-pound braid or 400 yards of 65-pound braid **all figures wound on by machine**.
Haven't tried figuring out how much straight 40-pound braid it would hold, but I'm sure its' over 500 yards.
As for the weight, it is purposeful, since everything is well overbuilt.
They are not supposed to be "lightweight" reels.


Disclaimer-affiliated

[TLore]

I used a few torque 300s and could hardly crank the drag tight enough to get any serious drag. The torsa is a much better heavy drag reel. If you're just going to put 20 or 30 on it, the penn is fine.

[Tunanorth]

TLore,
On my Torque 300's, I fish mostly 50-pound mono topshots over 80-pound spectra for tuna, wahoo and yellowtail, but in some situations I fish straight 80-pound spectra with only a very short 80 or 100-pound mono/fluoro leader.
In either case I get more than enough drag.
How much drag were you able to get vs. how much were you trying to get?

BTW- just got my hands on a "field-test" model of the little TRQ100.
Currently have only wound on some straight 20-pound Big Game for "practice casting", but will probably set it up with 30-pound spectra and a 20 or 25-pound mono topshot when I head out onboard the Searcher in San Diego for a 7-day long range trip on June 9.
The first few bluefin tuna are being caught this weekend, so things are looking good!



Disclaimer-affiliated

[TLore]

I was trying to put around 25-30 lbs on it, with 80s to 80m. Using them for grouper. I just remember tightening down the wheel until it got difficult, pulling on the drag, and being shocked how loose it still was. It was probably pulling 15 lbs. I have since gotten rid of these reels. My old shimano speedmasters had better pressure.

[Tunanorth]

Bill,
I'm not sure I know exactly what you are describing?
Do you mean that with the star loosened up all the way, your freespool lever is frozen?
Or do you mean that there is always some "drag" on the spool, ie: not totally free with the drag backed off?
The first could indicate some problem, the second would not.
Lore,
The "adjustment thread" is very long on these reels, so using the standards from your old reels doesn't necessarily apply.
Just going until it feels difficult is not enough, you do have to "push it" fairly hard, but only getting 15 pounds would indicate you didn't get up into the reels' capabilities.

[ksong]

Originally Posted by TLore

I was trying to put around 25-30 lbs on it, with 80s to 80m. Using them for grouper. I just remember tightening down the wheel until it got difficult, pulling on the drag, and being shocked how loose it still was. It was probably pulling 15 lbs. I have since gotten rid of these reels. My old shimano speedmasters had better pressure.

I had a similar problem with my Torque 200. I couldn't get more than 20 -22 lbs max drag. However when I checked again after fishing several days and fought fish upto 80 lbs on the reel, it seems the max drag was increased though I didn't check with a scale.

I went porgy fishing yeserday in MA and the guy next to me brought Torgue 200 and 300. Considering the average sizes of porgy is one or two pound, I think the reels are a little heavy for them.

[Tunanorth]

In response to numerous requests, I just put a 20 yard topshot of 130-pound spectra on my TRQ100 to give it the "max drag" test.
You do have to really crank down on the star.
I'm 53 years old and am no steroid monster, so I gave it all I was worth tightening it up, and was able to get a consistent 24.3 pounds of drag, close enough to the 25 pound "spec" in the catalogue.
I still have to work out the line capacities with all the various possible combinations.

[ksong]

Tunanorth,
Max drag has to have corelationship with line capacity and line class you use.
If they use only 40 - 50 lbs line on those reel, max drag of 15-17 lbs is good enough. Everybody has different purposes of using small powerful reels.
Without enough line capacity, 30 lbs max drag is meaningless.

[MrBill]

Originally Posted by Tunanorth

Bill,
Or do you mean that there is always some "drag" on the spool, ie: not totally free with the drag backed off?
.

Correct. There is always a little drag with the star backed off all the way. This is only on the 200, not the 300. Like I stated before, it's no big deal.

I'll check out the max drag on the Torque 200 for myself when I get time. I have to fill it with line.

I know for a fact, that I got 25 pounds out of the 300. I don't think I had it locked down either. I'll test it again also.

I'd like to add that I believe the Torque reels are well built and I am very happy with them. I think Penn did a nice job designing them. I look forward to putting them to the test with fish on the end of the line. After all, isn't that why we buy reels.

My wife was telling me that I've know her for 18 years. This was the first Memorial Weekend since we've know each other that we weren't at the coast kicking off fishing season. These health issues with family members are starting to get to me. I'm glad I didn't go to the coast this weekend as many issues came up this weekend. I can only hope that when it's my time, I go quickly.