Total Sea Magazine

The first thing you notice about this reel is its smart black and gold livery and when you pick it up you can feel that it’s been made lighter.

The features that caught my eye are the knurled strip in the centre of the spool to give the knot a better grip; this stops the line slipping under pressure. The side of the spool has three scribed lines, primarily to let you know how much line is left, or an indication of how far you’ve cast. The forged aluminium spool is on a ‘live’ spindle, allowing it to ‘free-float’ during a cast; this causes less drag and increased performance. It is better balanced for longer casts and has a capacity of 280 yards of 15lb or 240 yards of 17lb mono.

The star drag has a click adjustment to give precise settings and is fitted with HT-100 versa drag washers that can be changed around to give more or less drag. The dial-in mag brake also clicks as you adjust it so your settings are more precise and with the mags full on it’s difficult to get an overrun.

The true test is to get it clamped to a rod, on the beach and wound up to the max and tested in a fishing situation. Also packed in the box with the reel is a bottle of Penn’s synthetic reel oil and a tube of Penn precision reel grease plus a rod clamp and screws and a screwdriver/spanner.

I loaded the spool with 15lb mono and filled it just shy of the outer scribed line topped with a 60lb shockleader. It was now time for action and six sessions on different beaches in different conditions provided me with very good feedback on its performance.

One day I had a light tailwind so I set the mags near minimum and let fly, with no line lift at all. Another day with a stiff headwind I had to dial up more mag braking to tame the spool revs and once I’d found the best setting I could cast very hard into the wind without any problem.

The only niggle I could find was after I’d cast and got the lead settled in, I backed the drag a little so a large fish could take line instead of pulling the rod in. I had to back the drag off quite a bit before it gave line then I had to tighten it up a little to achieve the correct tension. This is probably because everything is brand new and stiff but it should loosen up with constant use.

I was a fan of the original 525 and now, after several sessions with the new version, I’m impressed. The whole reel has been engineered to be lighter and stronger than the original model.

The new features I like are the knurled strip in the centre of the spool, plus the ‘clicks’ on the star drag and mag adjustment as this means you can make precise settings. This reel is definitely worth checking out!

INFORMATION
Bearings: Six plus one anti-reverse bearing
Gear ratio: 6:1
Spool capacity: 280 yards of 15lb or 240 yards 17lb mono
RRP: £199.99

TSF RATINGS
Appearance: ★★★★★★★★★★
Fishing: ★★★★★★★★★★
Value for money: ★★★★★★★★★★

Contact: Contact Pure Fishing (UK) Ltd on 01527 405410
Website: www.penn-fishing.co.uk