Penn 209?

[Headhunter]

A neighbour of mine dropped off two reels for me on the weekend. She was helping her building operations person clean out an old storage compartment in her building and spotted two rods leaning up against a wall. She has been trained to keep an eye out for any and all things fishing related and came through for me this day. I received two steel line trolling rods, both five footers and a Compac reel as well as a Penn 209!

Now, I'm thinkin of spooling the 209 with lead core and was wondering if anyone has done this with this reel and if so, how many colors of core will the reel take and how much backing do you have on the reel?

Yah, I know I'm being lazy and could figure it out on my own, but I would much rather use my time as wisely as possible!

Thanks for lookin!

HH

[danbo]

Get some flyline backing & put it on first.

[silveradosheriff]

Haven't used that reel - so don't know the number of colours (my guess would be 5).

Use a braid for backing.

If chasing Kings, I would use 50lb PP or Stealth for backing.

If Bows/walleyes, I would use 30 lb braid backing.

 

:-)

[Headhunter]

Thanks for the responses folks! I was figuring on 5 colours as well, but since the reel looks a bit bigger than my Okuma, (holds 5 colours and backing) I was hoping to put more lead on that reel.

Keep 'em coming, especially if you have used this reel for this application in the past.

Thanks,

HH

[addy79]

i scored my 209 in similar fashion...

took it apart, cleaned her up and it works perfectly now.

i spooled five colours with 50lb powerpro as backing

[Uncle Buck]

in all honesty... it's not a great reel for leadcore...

 

the gear ratio is too slow...

 

the reel itself is bulletproof though...

[SlowPoke]

I have a couple 5-colour 209's with lots of mono backing and they work fine. I thought I had the backing information recorded but I can't find it. Braid backing is great and might allow for another colour or two.

As UB said, the gear ratio is low but not overwhelming with 5 colours... 10 colours on a 309 is a real (reel) workout.

Keep in mind, these setups will catch a lot of fish but be prepared to keep what you catch. The weight of the core and distance back really exhaust the fish.

-Brian

[Headhunter]

Thanks Slowpoke... if you do by chance find that backing info, it sure would be helpful. I've done the "lets figure out" how much backing/core thing before and after you have spooled, unspooled re-spooled etc.. etc... a few times, you find yourself wondering if you need to re-invent the wheel again or not!

Thanks again..

HH

 

BTW - I have been using a 309 with ten colours and your right, it is a work out! But, it sure does help to keep you warm in those late fal, early winter jaunts to the mighty Q!

Edited August 5, 2008 by Headhunter

[SlowPoke]

Thanks Slowpoke... if you do by chance find that backing info, it sure would be helpful. I've done the "lets figure out" how much backing/core thing before and after you have spooled, unspooled re-spooled etc.. etc... a few times, you find yourself wondering if you need to re-invent the wheel again or not!

Thanks again..

HH

 

I'll keep looking for the numbers, I know I have them somewhere. You are of course welcome to drop by and go for a walk with the leader in your hand.

You might also consider segmenting the colours for p-board applications... a mono or fluoro lead in between colours to tuck into the p-board release.

Ideally, 20yd fluoro leader, 3-colours, 1yd fluoro, 2-colours, 1yd fluoro, 1-colour, braid backing. This will give you 15', 25', 30' flexibility off the boards without destroying the lead and the fluoro will release easier for the light bite.

-Brian

[Dabluz]

Buy 17 lb test lead core. You can buy stronger lead core but the amount of lead is the same as the 17 lb test lead core. When you buy the stronger lead core, you end up with a larger diameter line and you will have to let out more lead core line in order to get to the same depth as the 17 lb test lead core.

 

Yes, by all means, put some good braided line under the lead core.

 

To make sure that you put on enough backing, load your reel with the lead core first then fill the reel to the desired level with the backing.

 

Then, take an electric drill and fix an old empty spool on the drill in order to quickly remove the backing. Do the same with the lead core on another spool. Use a pencil covered with tape or something like that to hold the empty spool on your electric drill.

 

When the reel is empty, reload with the backing and then the lead core.

[Headhunter]

Hey Dabluz, that's a great idea re the drill! I had not thought of that! Gonna giver a go tonight, i hope as I did find a spool of 5 colours in my line box! Thanks again to all, especially U.B for the Pm!

HH

[Uncle Buck]

DaBluz... depth curves for 18lb leadcore and 27lb leadcore are relatively close within 2 or 3 feet...

 

this is taken from the trolling bible at 2mph...

 

18lb core

 

5 colors 36 feet down

10 colors 58 feet down

 

27lb core

 

5 colors 33 feet down

10 colors 59 feet down

 

it honestly makes no difference and if your salmon fishing, i'd definitely go with the 27lb...

[Dabluz]

I don't believe anyone's bible. I make my own bible by trolling at different speeds, with a GPS and sonar and different lures and different lengths of line and then putting the data in a notebook. I definately get more depth with the finer 17 lb test lead core than the larger diameter lead core. The size of the lead core is the same in both lines.

 

I do the same with wire and other lines I use for trolling.

 

Now that I live in Northern Quebec, I don't use lead core or wire anymore. Mostly it's due to the fact that there are not many touladi (lake trout) in my area.

 

In any event, it only takes a few minutes to find out what you have to do to get to a certain depth and still have good action on your lure.

 

To get even deeper, I use monel line (steel).

Edited August 7, 2008 by Dabluz