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Slammer vs. Spinfisher VI


BrianBM

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Un-confuse me. The Torque II is the top of Penn's spinning line, but for my fishing, it's far more than I need.  Dropping down to the $200 - $300 price bracket for surf casting, which is currently considered Penn's primo reel?  Scoobydoo's review of the VI is favorable.  If he's done a Slammer III, I've missed it .... what separates these product lines? 

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I believe the Slammer 3 is the "Top Dog" in that situation. That being said I had the 4500 and 5500. 5500 was pretty smooth, but started sounding geary after one season the 4500 was nice until it got wet. The AR clutch took a crap after a couple splashes with saltwater. I do clean all my reels after every trip, but somehow saltwater got past the hydrophobic coating at the AR clutch and made a mess of things. Additionally the gears on the 4500 felt VERY geary early on. At that price point I'd rather just get a Gosa. 

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17 hours ago, BrianBM said:

Un-confuse me. The Torque II is the top of Penn's spinning line, but for my fishing, it's far more than I need.  Dropping down to the $200 - $300 price bracket for surf casting, which is currently considered Penn's primo reel?  Scoobydoo's review of the VI is favorable.  If he's done a Slammer III, I've missed it .... what separates these product lines? 

Mechanical AR backup starts at the 5500 size and up in Slammer III, in Spinfisher VI it starts at 7500 size and up. 

Slammer III is IPX6 sealing, Spinfisher VI is IPX5.

All sizes of Slammer III have "double drag" design, with drag elements on top, and also an oversize element on the bottom made of the "Dura Drag" material [same as used in Internationals].

Spinfisher VI has a more traditional drag design, with all elements on top of the spool, using the HT-100 material. 

 

Penn Pro Staffer
"The best kind of fish in the world is the one on the end of a kid's line"
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On 12/3/2019 at 9:05 PM, BrianBM said:

Un-confuse me. The Torque II is the top of Penn's spinning line, but for my fishing, it's far more than I need.  Dropping down to the $200 - $300 price bracket for surf casting, which is currently considered Penn's primo reel?  Scoobydoo's review of the VI is favorable.  If he's done a Slammer III, I've missed it .... what separates these product lines? 

For strictly fishing plugs from the surf I would highly recommend looking at the Spinfisher series over Slammer3. IMHO the Slammer3 sizes 5500 and up is a heavy/clunky overbuilt boat reel. 5500 are 22.5oz & 6500 are over 24oz. 
So your left with only 2 models the 3500&4500 and IMHO the 3500 is too small. 
The Spinfisher6 series was produced with the surfcasters in mind. You have more options with the Spinfishers and the price point can’t be beat for what you are getting. 
Only thing I DO NOT like ( more like hate) are the paddle style handles.  

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I'm not fussy on handles. The banana on my Nautil 7500 annoys a lot of people, but it doesn't bother me.

 

If i were buying a midsize reel for the surf/shore right now, the long cast Spinfisher VI would be it. Scooby likes it for salt. 'S fine, then.  I note no LC versions of the Slammer III, and distance does matter.

 

I may make one concession to the current era of mostly-small fish. I forget the reel below the VI series, it's got an all-graphite or plastic body and a modest max drag.  However, it DOES have an LC model down at the bottom of the size chart, and for casting 1/2 - 5/8 to 1 1/2 oz., that might add a few yards to the best possible cast on a cutting-edge rod. I'll bet it would be fine for the largest shore little tunny I'll ever see on Long Island (@TunaNorth)?  Small bass, sure, bluefish  ..... if the inshore waters fill up with 20+ lb. fluke, well, I'll take my chances.  :)

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On 12/3/2019 at 9:05 PM, BrianBM said:

Un-confuse me. The Torque II is the top of Penn's spinning line, but for my fishing, it's far more than I need.  Dropping down to the $200 - $300 price bracket for surf casting, which is currently considered Penn's primo reel?  Scoobydoo's review of the VI is favorable.  If he's done a Slammer III, I've missed it .... what separates these product lines? 

I always get a kick when I go back to an older vid and see em get 100k + views......always boggles my mind.

 

I think the simpled breakdown in differences is.

 

Spinfisher under 6500 have aluminum main gears over have brass

Spinfisher is a top only drag stack...that also has a lower minimum drag setting....slammer 3 is about 2lbs at minimum

Spinfisher rotor under 6500 is graphite.  Slammer metal.....its' a wash on smaller sizes.....the lighter rotor may be a benefit to some.

There is a cosmetic bumper on the slammer that i belive is riveted on...where on the spinfisher vi, it's a screw  (no clue of the purposes)

Spinfisher has stainless shaft.....Slammer i believe is TI or a coated alu.

The spinfisher is a smoother overall cranker at least the 3 4500's i've fished

 

Amazon has slammers priced under 150$ often...and spinfisher combos for under 130 from time to time.

"Panacheless is no way to go through life"

Tims

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12 hours ago, jsbergen said:

IMHO the Slammer3 sizes 5500 and up is a heavy/clunky overbuilt boat reel. 5500 are 22.5oz & 6500 are over 24oz. 

 

Thats a big load of BS.

 

The Slammer is a GREAT surf reel. It also competes with the $1000.00 Stella’s on the boat.

 

Lets see, my VS/VSX 200/250 are in the the 22oz range.  My ZB zx22  is in the 22oz range. My 704/706 are in the 22oz range. My Saltiga Z4500 is in the 22oz. range.....I have a longer list....high end and under $200.00 range reels. These reels are all in the same weight range as the Slammer 3 5500.

 

Millions of guys have been fishing the reels I listed above in the SURF for years. Are you saying all these reels are clunkers? BTW, the Slammer 4500 at around 14.5 oz, will outperform most bigger reels with pretty much any fish from the surf.

Edited by Tagman
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