Penn Slammer IV – The Conqueror
By: Phil Foo
There are reels that can be used for saltwater fishing, and there are reels that are made for saltwater fishing. Penn Slammer spinning reels are a range of reels made for saltwater fishing. The latest reels in the Penn Slammer family are the Slammer IV spinning reels. These reels, like their older brethren, are tough and will give saltwater predators a hard time.
[ Monster trucks are built tough not just on the outside but on the inside too. The Penn Slammer IV is the same… ]
Just pick one of these beast slayers up and you will feel its toughness. The Penn Slammer IV is a full metal bodied reel. It has a rigid reel stem and foot that will not flex, a tough rotor, tough main shaft that is made to handle heavy pressure, tough bail arm and bail wire, and a tough spool. It is like a monster truck made to create havoc.
The tough Penn Slammer IV and its superline ready spool.
Monster trucks are built tough not just on the outside but on the inside too. The Penn Slammer IV is the same. Outside it has its full metal body. On the inside it has some of the toughest gears around the fishing world. It comes with Penn’s well known CNC Gear Technology; brass main gear. Brass main gears are made to handle the heavy pressure of a hard fighting fish, and the corrosive qualities of saltwater.
The Penn Slammer IV not only has a tough body. It’s full metal body is also IPX6 sealed, which means that water is kept out. This means that its 8+1 stainless steel bearings, rings, metal washers, etc. are all protected from the corrosive qualities of saltwater. The spool of the Slammer IV is also IPX6 sealed keeping its drag system away from water when fishing.
IPX6 Sealed waterproof rating.
Larger handle knob for better grip.
With such an awesome reel in hand, I just had to take it into battle to see how well it performs. Before I go on I must declare that I have fished with Penn Slammer reels since the first generation Slammer hit our shores. They have so far been awesome. Now, with the latest Slammer, the Penn Slammer IV spinning reel; I am expecting good things.
Battling one of the hard fighting groupers at Afprow 2 Fishing Pond.
Afprow 2 Fishing Pond
With a fishing day out planned at the Afprow 2 Fishing Pond in Bagan Pasir nearing, the Penn Slammer IV spinning reel was paired with the new Abu Garcia Conolon rod. Afprow 2 Fishing Pond is made up of a few ponds. The one we will be fishing in is what is known as a “jackpot” pond. This pond is filled mainly hard fighting groupers with some as big as 30kg in size. These hard fighting fishes will certainly offer us a good test.
[ While watching a friend fight a hard fighting grouper, the Abu Garcia Conolon rod that I held in my hands started loading up into a bent. I set the hook and a tug-o-war ensued… ]
The thing about fishing in a “jackpot” pond is that we have got no room to play the fish or to tire out the fish. This means that we will be engaging in an all-out tug-o-war every time a fish takes the bait. With that in mind we decided to use a Penn Slammer IV 5500 and spooled it up with 65lb Spiderwire Stealth superlines.
The Penn Slammer IV 5500 comes with Sealed Slammer® drag system with Dura-Drag™ providing the reel with a maximum drag of 40lb or 18.1kg (as claimed by Penn). The 65lb lines spooled into its spooled may be more that what the reel can handle, but hey, this is a field test, and we do not want broken lines in a “jackpot” pond.
The super tough Penn Slammer IV.
The Penn Slammer IV come with Penn’s long proven powerful Dura-Drag drag system.
Here’s a disclaimer. While we were fishing in a “jackpot” pond we did not take part in the “jackpot” game as we were invited to test out the pond. Since we did not pay to fish, we forfeited ourselves of any rewards. This is fair to other anglers and also to the pond owner. One of the fishes we landed would came in fourth biggest of the day and was eligible to a handsome prize of which we declined to accept.
Anyway, back to field testing the Penn Slammer IV… At Afpro 2, we headed to a shaded corner of the pond where the owner recommended us to fish at, claiming it to be a good place to fish at. A whole mullet fish was used as bait to entice the angry groupers that are awaiting to do battle with any daring angler lucky enough to entice one. Looking around at the baits used by other anglers, I was quite in awe. Arm length blue pincers prawns were used. More on this in another article.
Super tough body, rotor, bailarm, etc.
While watching a friend fight a hard fighting grouper, the Abu Garcia Conolon rod that I held in my hands started loading up into a bent. I set the hook and a tug-o-war ensued. I had the drag of the Penn Slammer IV all the way up. The pressure put on the rod and reel was intense. I pumped the rod as best I could and it a short time up came an angry grouper. The fish was hurriedly placed in the “jackpot” fish holding tank.
I put on another mullet and cast it out into the water and proceeded to watch other anglers fight their fish, curse words that I don’t want to add into this article, and one even broke his rod mid fight. Not surprising as the method of play here is to lock the drag and go muscle to muscle with the fish. The only absorption managing the tension between angler and fish is the rod (and maybe the leader used), and to a certain extend; the angler’s arms.
Our friend in battle with a hard fighting grouper.
After a while of playing the spectator, I was onto another fish. The rod started to load up and took another bow. I set the hook and proceeded with another tug-o-war. This round was a little more exciting as the fish managed to swim into a snag. I pumped the rod but we were at a stalemate. I asked my friend about snags and he said that there are a few. I was in fact sitting in front of one.
I reduced the pressure on the line with hopes that by doing so the fish would come out of its hiding spot. Good news is that it did. This brought the tug-o-war into round two. This time I piled on the pressure and pumped the fish all the way back to the side of the pond; putting absolute faith into the 65lb Spiderwire Stealth line, the Penn Slammer IV spinning reel, the Abu Garcia Conolon rod, and the hooks by Berkley.
One of the hard fighting groupers landed.
Within a short time the big, hard fighting grouper was pulled to the side. A staff member of the pond helped bring the fish up, removed the hook, and rushed it to the “jackpot” fish holding tank. I proceeded to check the line and remove the areas of the line that was damaged due to the snag. I also gave the Penn Slammer IV a check. It remained smooth and ready for action. With that settled, I baited the hook with another mullet and cast it into the pond.
The rest of our time here remained quite the same. We did lose fish due to bad hookup up. Other than that we had a good time working out with the hard fighting fishes in the pond. The Penn Slammer IV spinning reel performed absolutely well. While these hard fighting groupers fought really hard, the Slammer IV is made for much more.
The powerful Penn Slammer IV, a monster truck of spinning reels.
Stay tuned for more field test of the Penn Slammer IV. We will certainly push the Penn Slammer IV into larger, tougher, and more challenging battles. After all of the madness at Afprow 2 Fishing Pond, I don’t think the Slammer IV even broke a sweat. At most, it was a stroll in the park. As expected, the Slammer IV fought well, remained smooth, and has proven itself to be one heck of a tough spinning reel.
