AVET SX Mini vs Penn 525 mag

[BigJeff823]

If you were a newcomer to non levelwinds what would you choose for HARD CORE Redfishing.

[BigJeff823]

Im talking about strong headwinds,currents,and crowds.Like Little Island Pier VA was last year.:D

[Newsjeff]

When you were on LIP, did you look at what everyone was using?

The reel that I see most out there is a Daiwa 30. Either the slosh, shv or sha. Lots of sha reels out there this year.

A couple of 525mags, a couple of Abu 7500s, one Abu 6500 (Hi, Rolland), a few Shimano 700s and a couple of Daiwa 20s.

Saw a nice 48" drum put on the planks with a 525mag one night at closing this year. That reel screamed louder than my Daiwa that fish hit so hard. I still wonder if that guy modified his clicker. That's how loud that reel went off. :eek:

[BigJeff823]

I saw alot of Diawa reels Satieaga,Sloshes,and so on but I love the Penn 525 mag.With my lack using a thumb as a levelwind I thought Avet would be the way to go.

[Newsjeff]

I saw alot of Diawa reels Satieaga,Sloshes,and so on but I love the Penn 525 mag.With my lack using a thumb as a levelwind I thought Avet would be the way to go.
The 525mag will be much easier to control than an Avet.

For someone new to conventionals, that little Penn is hard to beat. Really, it's a great reel to learn on.

[BigJeff823]

I saw Michman use a Red Mini Avet on Opening day of Striper saeason in the Spring up in MD an I DId notice the spool size is the size of a golfball like they say it is and thats a smaller pool size.What about the othere componets ingaging the cliker,casting brakes and so on?:rolleyes:

[dsurf]

If you go with Avet, you'll need it magged....for sure!

[Pendulauncher]

If you were a newcomer to non levelwinds what would you choose for HARD CORE Redfishing.

Penn Mag Power 980.....discontinued by Penn in 1994 or 1996. Magged, trouble free casting (it'll reach out there) out of the box. About the size of an Abu 9000 or 10000, but greater line capacity.....approx 400yds/20lb. Has a 4/0 drag....same as a Penn 113 Senator.

Most are used, but often in very good condition. They're regularly (in fact, currently) available on that big ole auction site. If you search, you can find one that's new or like new. I'm not sure if the gentleman who sold me my 980 and 990 has more available. Heck, he's actually out of the country for a while, anyway.

Regards,

Bill

[Shooter]

Yup, it's true if ya get a Avet *which I own 2* you will have to mag it but my wonderment is why do so many folks that buy the Penn 525 mag have the HO upgrade to them if they are so great right out of the box? I ain't down grading the Penns, lord knows there are tons of them out there fishn and landing big fish and yea I do wish the Avets had a factory adjusment on them but still wondering what the HO upgrade is about and the one thing I have always heard from the Penn owners is "Always check the mag setting before ya throw or Poof" they been known to get knocked to 0 quick. Yea I will own one soon enough being the Tackle Hoe I am. :cool:

[BigJeff823]

I would rather go whith an Avet cause the spool is so small but it can hold alot of line.I would think the smaller the spool the easier the line can be contoled by your line giding thumb.

[Newsjeff]

Yup, it's true if ya get a Avet *which I own 2* you will have to mag it but my wonderment is why do so many folks that buy the Penn 525 mag have the HO upgrade to them if they are so great right out of the box? I ain't down grading the Penns, lord knows there are tons of them out there fishn and landing big fish and yea I do wish the Avets had a factory adjusment on them but still wondering what the HO upgrade is about and the one thing I have always heard from the Penn owners is "Always check the mag setting before ya throw or Poof" they been known to get knocked to 0 quick. Yea I will own one soon enough being the Tackle Hoe I am. :cool:
Shooter, you can throw a 525mag out of the box without a mag upgrade or extra magnets. However, the reel is pretty quick right from the factory. The slide that controls the magnetic resistance goes from 8-0 - with eight being the slowest. Adding a couple magnets to the underside of the stock mags or installing a mag upgrade gives you more control over the reel.

Out of the box, most people can't throw that reel under six on the slide. With a strong headwind and/or with a full spool, even eight can be too fast for some.

By placing extra mags in the reel, you can back that slide down to - say - four and still throw it. You can really slow it down when needed by pushing it all the way to eight with those extra mags.

I throw my 525mags with two extra rare earth mags under the stock holder. Very seldom do I push the slide control lower than six.

Yes, it's a good idea to check the mag control before each cast. The slide has a tendency to slip to zero sometimes. And casting on zero is a surefire blowup. I check the slide before each cast without thinking about it. It's automatic.

If you need more info about adding extra mags, there's a lot of info in the pierandsurf archives.

[CrawFish]

If you can't lay the line down on the 525mag, you can't lay the line down on any open face reel. Besides, it only takes about 1fishing day to learn how to wind and lay the line down evenly.

[Sea Level]

My pick is the Penn 525 mag over the Avet SX. I have owned several 525's for several years and one Avet that I bought a year ago.

The Avet has a fixed rare earth magnet installed; otherwise, it was uncontrollable for me. Each of the 525's have an additional magnet placed under the right sideplate, as a matter of experimenting, which turned preference. This additional magnet gives me use of the full range of settings on the slidy.

I love the size & weight of both reels. I bought the Avet to see if I might prefer them to the Penn. It is a solid and mighty fine fishing reel, but I don't prefer it because of the drag system. Without looking at the reel, I find it easier to adjust the star drag over the lever drag. Also, at times when putting the rod with the Avet into a sandspike, the lever gets bumped to near full drag. If unnoticed, that could cost you a lost rod and reel.

Don't get concerned about leveling the line with one reel versus the other -- they are basically the same. The narrower spool of the Avet may be a little easier, but line leveling comes to you with practice. Keeping the line tight and level is important with any reel.

Either of these reels are a good choice.