I can easily cast 20-30 feet with a small anchovy and heavy line (with a little practice). It also happens to be one of the easiest level-wind reels I have ever used to cast. Also I really like the lever drag, this makes things really easy, you can always have the drag slightly engaged or increase it on the fly with a simple touch. (not sure if that is it’s intended purpose or not). You don’t make as much progress, but it can give you a few minutes of ease, then drop it back down and continue the fight. class) The two speed allows you to get a slight break while reeling in a big fish by changing the gear ratio. I really love this reel, the two speed and lever drag combined make things extremely easy to fight a big fish. You know that these do not have levelwind and you have to guide the line manually to spool it level. Know how to cast a bait caster style reel, but keep in mind these spools are much larger and spin more freely. Now I just need to break that new reel curse and catch something on it.This reel is very smooth reeling, love the 2 speeds of it and how well it fits on my rod.I did use the back mounting plate from my Penn Rival instead of the included one, only because the one from the Rival has a hook holder built into it.Be sure that if you purchase this reel, that you 1. Love the casting and reeling with it, I wish they had level wind but oh well I’ll get adjusted to it quickly.

Put some mono backing and 65 lb Power Pro braid on, went out and tested it. So glad I took his advice, the day I received it, I removed my Penn Rival 20 from its Rival 7’ rod and put this reel on it. But I couldn’t really find a good lever drag reel that I was happy with as I prefer LH retrieves, then a buddy on the Tampa Bay Fishing Club recommended this beauty to me.

I was looking for a lever drag reel that was left hand retrieve, I have an older Penn 330Gti and a grouper I caught recently actually was peeling line off of that reel with the drag cranked all the way down. This has to be the best purchase I’ve made in a while since my purchase of my Shimano Baitrunner reel.

Penn fathom 2 speed lever drag