Penn Torque Spinning Reel - Product Review

A box appeared at our door a few days ago from Penn, it seemed heavy, and it got us excited because we knew our new Penn Torque TRQS7 spinning reels had arrived!

We don’t really need Christmas here at Northeast Angling, we just need to have manufacturers keep sending us their latest and greatest creations to test out.

First some basic about the reel (direct from the manufacturer):

• Full metal body
• One piece machined aluminum frame
• Forged and machined aluminum spool, sideplates, and one piece handle arm
• Fully sealed gearbox and drag system
• Oversize HT-100 Versa-Drag system
• Integral clutch sleeve eliminates any back play during hook set
• 7 sealed stainless steel ball bearings
• Machine-cut marine grade bronze main gear
• Hardened stainless steel pinion gear
• High strength 100% stainless steel bail system
• Innovative bail trip switch allows the angler to choose between manual and auto mode
• Bailless models available

To see all the specs on the various models go to the Penn website and click on Spinning Reels –> Torque

Shopping results for the gold version of the reel show a price of around $550 (the black version is more).

Louisianna Yellowfin

Product Review

This reel is certainly the most advanced spinning reel to come from Penn in a very long time.  It is fully sealed (drag and gears) which means the surf guys are going to love this.  It is incredibly smooth, perfectly balanced and they ventilated the spool, the head, and the handle to keep the weight down.

This is a hardcore series of reels for the serious fisherman capable of handling mono up to 50lbs (though the Penn only lists capacities up to 30 lbs) and braid up to 100lbs.  Maximum drags run from 38lbs to a whopping 50lbs!  You will be hard pressed to find any fish that you can’t tackle with this reel.

This means the larger sizes of these reels are perfect for plugging and butterfly jigging big bluefin tuna in the Northeast.  They are also the perfect reel for light tackle shark fishing.  I will be using these for throwing pitch baits to monster striped marlin (up to 400lbs) this February during my annual tackle testing trip to the Galapagos .  This will also be aboard for our Louisiana yellowfin tuna oil rig trip this year and during our spring light tackle shark show.

In summary, we probably shouldn’t be that surprised at how exceptional this new series is.  Since Pure Fishing took over Penn, the folks there have returned their focus to innovation.  The price tag suggests that it is a better value than similar reels from other manufacturers.  You must go to your local tackle shop and hold this reel in your hands.!  We suspect this reel will be around long after all of us are gone…

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments.