Hello everyone, first post here, I have recently rebuilt a penn senator 12/0. I figured id share some pictures. I plan on using it for land-based shark fishing, i replaced and upgraded all the drags. My thinking is this thing can handle the abuse of beach fishing.
It has the 3 piece spool, so this means its pre-1954? Based on the old manuals it seems the single-piece spool was introduced in 1954? Thanks and any info is appreciated.
I have heard issues about the 3 piece spool and mono line, i plan on spooling braid with 300 yards of mono on top. Thanks.
Welcome, Mr Reef! Glad to see you are rescuing that reel and putting it back to work. It’s a workhorse reel that should serve you well and isn’t one you have to worry about getting a bit of sand on it.
AI found verbage to indicate Penn went to one-piece spools in the ‘80s. Penn maven and author, Mike Cacioppo might ve along to refine that answer and further comment on the 12/0.
ORCA member since 1999 Honorary Life Member
Specializing in saltwater reels...and fly reels...and oh, yeah, kentucky style reels.....and those tiny little RP reels.....oh, heck...i collect fishing reels!...and fly rods....and lures
john elder wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2024 2:39 pm
Welcome, Mr Reef! Glad to see you are rescuing that reel and putting it back to work. It’s a workhorse reel that should serve you well and isn’t one you have to worry about getting a bit of sand on it.
AI found verbage to indicate Penn went to one-piece spools in the ‘80s. Penn maven and author, Mike Cacioppo might ve along to refine that answer and further comment on the 12/0.
Thanks! Glad to save it, so it has 8 new HT100 drag washers, thinking around 30/35lbs of drag. I love old penn reels, have rebuilt plenty, got this for $30 and couldn't pass it up.
Ha! I was too lazy to pull out Mike’s Penn book and asked Perplexity to find the answer for me… seems she did about the same amount of homework that I did! We have had a running dialogue about the utility of AI-driven searches… this is one more nail in that coffin! Sorry to mislead!
That was certainly a steal at 30 bucks, regardless of all the salt burn… nice score!
ORCA member since 1999 Honorary Life Member
Specializing in saltwater reels...and fly reels...and oh, yeah, kentucky style reels.....and those tiny little RP reels.....oh, heck...i collect fishing reels!...and fly rods....and lures
john elder wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2024 4:27 pm
Ha! I was too lazy to pull out Mike’s Penn book and asked Perplexity to find the answer for me… seems she did about the same amount of homework that I did! We have had a running dialogue about the utility of AI-driven searches… this is one more nail in that coffin! Sorry to mislead!
That was certainly a steal at 30 bucks, regardless of all the salt burn… nice score!
no worries, ive been down several rabbit holes with the history of this reel, seems to be a piece of fishing history. I plan on spooling it later tonight, Ill make sure to post more pictures, I cant wait to fish it.
Are you talking about using Spectra braid? It would take miles of it. The appropriate line from that period would be 100# or 150# Ashaway-style green braided nylon or 130# Gudebrod green spot or blue spot Dacron. Braided nylon will give you the best abrasion resistance for land-based fishing. Dacron will give you the least amount of stretch for offshore fishing.
So i was thinking 80lb dacron, or 150 braid, I wasn't sure if there was much of a difference between them. Then finish off with 300yards of 80lb mono. I usually run baits 150yards/200yards from the beach, should have plenty of mono to soak, and plenty of braid to back for the fight. The 150 braid has larger diameter but better abrasion, but still can pack on 1200yards.
I know its said do not spool the 3 piece spool with full mono because the tension when fighting a fish can warp the spool when the line decompresses from the stretch.
Yes you are correct that the 12/0 and 10/0 both switched to one piece spools and ball bearings in 1954.
There is a page in Catalog 18 (1954-55) showing Penn General Manager John Egly with a 12/0 equipped with a one piece spool.
Page 17 of this catalog mentions the details in a small paragraph
Seems like this question has been answered. It is 1954 that the one-piece spool with ball bearings was installed into the 12/0 Senator. I do not believe the three-piece spools are interchangeable with the one-piece spools. They were in the 9/0, but not the larger reels. I have found old large Penn Senators with defective three-piece spools. Keep a close eye on the condition of your spool. They were prone to expansion stresses causing the side flanges to loosen up. Hard to notice with the line on the reel. When they loosen, the spool will not run true and may even bind. One piece spool was much stronger. Building the drag up to be able to stand higher weights may cause the spool to fail. It was not designed for the drag pressures that can be built into a modern reel.
You reels looks to be a late 1940's or very early 1950's.
mike cass,,, if you can't collect it, it must be food
m3040c wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 2:29 am
Seems like this question has been answered. It is 1954 that the one-piece spool with ball bearings was installed into the 12/0 Senator. I do not believe the three-piece spools are interchangeable with the one-piece spools. They were in the 9/0, but not the larger reels. I have found old large Penn Senators with defective three-piece spools. Keep a close eye on the condition of your spool. They were prone to expansion stresses causing the side flanges to loosen up. Hard to notice with the line on the reel. When they loosen, the spool will not run true and may even bind. One piece spool was much stronger. Building the drag up to be able to stand higher weights may cause the spool to fail. It was not designed for the drag pressures that can be built into a modern reel.
You reels looks to be a late 1940's or very early 1950's.
thanks for the info, I saw something similar about the inability to convert the spool. It seems that if you run braid/dacron, the spool will have less chance of failure, and most failure can come from mono tension, but agreed, I checked the spool and all seems to be ok.
Hi Ruckus. The problem with the 3 piece pressed spools and the plastic ones as well had to do with the monofilament. It would stretch while fishing especially if they were larger fish pulling on the bend of your line. The line would go back on to the spool stretched and then it would relax on the spool. The only way the tension could release was sideways. This would cause the spool to expand and, in some cases, even blow the spool apart. Just some info from experience.
Ross
