Theymaylooksimilar,butalllever-draggamefishing
reelsarefarfromequal.Theirfunctionalityranges
fromlightweightpretenderstohighlyengineered
heavyweights.Penn’sInternationalseriesreelshave
beenoneoftheworld’smosttrustedandhighly
regarded standards for more than 50 years, but
even they were recently advanced with a significant
overhaul–asrevealedherebyEricBaisch,oneof
the engineers on Penn’s design team.THE DEVELOPMENT OF PENN’S
INTERNATIONAL VI-SERIES REELS
IMPROVING A
GOLD STANDARD
T
he new VI series of Penn International big-
game fishing reels is the sixth update of this
premium lever-drag range since it was first
introduced more than 50 years ago. Sporting
several significant improvements, it further refines a
series that has already proven itself more than capable
of withstanding the demands of fishing day after day in
challenging environments.
As a premium range in the Trolling class of reels,
Penn’s Internationals are built far stronger and perform
at a much higher level than lighter grades of lever-drag
gamefishing reels. As well as having larger handles and
handle knobs, they feature robust click components,
harness lugs and overall are stronger-built reels.
While stand-up tackle with a lightweight reel may be
fine for a fast capture with less challenging gamefish,AUTHORS: TIM SIMPSON AND ERIC BAISCH
PHOTOGRAPHY: TIM SIMPSON; COURTESY OF PENN70 facebook.com/BlueWatermagazine