Penn spinfisher V SSV6500LL reviews?

[PA Angler Matt]

I recently had a old model penn LL spinning reel destruct on a trip. Sent the reel to penn expecting to pay 50-60$ for repair. 4 days after sending penn emails me that they no longer make or repair my reel but offered me the spinfisher 6500 live liner reel at 45% off. It's $179 new so out the door with shipping it came to just over $100. Got the reel and seems the bait runner is not as "loose" as what I am used to. Seems like it has too much resistance but I was just playing with it out the box. May need time to break in and may feel different once I spool it up with braid. Was wondering if anyone else has this reel or the 4500 model and thoughts? Good reel? I'm happy with penn's customer service for sure. And the reel otherwise looks and feels like a nice built reel.

[Gerry Zagorski]

I was down in Florida recently fishing for Tarpon. We chartered a few days and rented a boat for some others.... I needed one more set up for fishing on our rental boat so I picked one up based upon the suggestion of one of the Tarpon charter guys down there who fishes these reels exclusively.

The reel is capable of 30 pounds of drag, which is a lot for a spinning reel of it's size and price. Some people are using them for jigging and popping Tuna. It also has a sealed drag and bearing system that is great for protecting the internals from salt water. We jumped a 125 plus pound Tarpon on it and the drag was very strong and smooth.

This reel is probably overkill for most inshore fishing here in NJ so if I were buying one for inshore, I'd probably go with one of the smaller and lighter models.

Not sure what the issue is with the live lining drag being set so tight. You might want to question Penn support about that. If your are dead sticking on a boat or in a surf spike, that feature comes in very handy so I would get it checked out.

Overall seems like a great reel for the price since most other higher end spinners in it's drag class are double the price