Penn Peer 209M's for bunker spoon trolling?

[Walleyed]

I have a couple old Penn Peer 209M's that are at least 30 years old (inherited from my dad), in good shape, well maintained, smooth drag.....all the good stuff.

I'm thinking about loading them up with 50lb braid and using them to troll bunker spoons.

Are they up to the job?

[Walleyed]

No opinions? I'm stunned.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Not familiar with this specific reel but i don't see why not. The most important part of a good bunker spoon outfit is the pole. It should be a min of 7 feet, 8 would be better and has to have a very soft tip to give the spoon the action you want.

If I were you, I would put a 100 yard top shop of braid on the reels backed by mono this way you don't have to spend a bunch of money filling them with braid if they don't work out.

At the end of the braid you want to tie a good quality snap swivel, to this you attach a beaded chain drail weight, then another snap swivel to an 8 foot 50 pound leader with snap swivel at end which you spoon attaches to. The reason for the snaps on either side of the drail is to make it easy to switch out for heavier or lighter drail weights. Briad does not have the sinking quality of wire so you will likely need the drail weights to get the spoons far enough down in the water column. The amount of weight needed will vary by current and depth.

[Capt. Lou]

Originally Posted by Walleye Wisherman

I have a couple old Penn Peer 209M's that are at least 30 years old (inherited from my dad), in good shape, well maintained, smooth drag.....all the good stuff.

I'm thinking about loading them up with 50lb braid and using them to troll bunker spoons.

Are they up to the job?

Just barely ! U can get by but not my choice for a variety of reasons , one being leverage lost via the undersized handle alone , another the limits on drag when fighting big fish on spoons , also the spoons can really play havoc with pressure generated by the way they R designed to run , this is a lightweight in
a heavy weight bout !
This reel was not designed to drag several lbs of weight thru the water & if u have the incorrect rods more pressure reverts back on the reel .
Then again none of this matters too much if ur just gonna bunker spoon troll on a limited basis , I'm sure u can get by !

[Walleyed]

Thanks for the replies, I have a couple old eglass 8'8" trolling rods from trolling salmon on Lake Michigan that I think will be perfect. My biggest concern was the 10lbs drag max on the 209M's, but since this is on maybe a half dozen times a year, I'll give it a shot.

[Capt. Lou]

U can try me' but my guess is the spoons will swallow them up , most DR rods way too soft & exhibit a bit less backbone then required to let spoons swim properly .
Also smaller boats experance wave stutter thus the spoons with too soft rods will prevent controlled throb to swim spoons & action can be slowed or stop until wave pushes boat forward again .
Good luck I hope I'm way off in my thesis .

[Walleyed]

Well, I'll give it a try, if it doesn't, won't my b-day is in September and I'll give the better half lots of hints.