I'm a life-long Penn fan and still use my 1970s-era Penn Squdders all the time. I recently moved to the West Coast where bottom fishing occurs in deep water certain months of the season. Squidders only have a 3 to 1 retrieve ratio, so I began looking for a conventional style reel with a faster retrieve rate and came across the Penn Warfare Level Line 20LW with a 5 to 1 retrieve rate. Had it out on my first trip this weekend and I was impressed with its performance. It holds about 500 ft of 30 pound mono, and has a smooth action. I like that when you crank the handle the reel automatically shifts back into gear. The Level Wind feature disengages when in free spool, so this reel is a decent underhand caster when used on a party boat.

So I got it and I was having mixed feelings about it. When I first brought it out to the river and casted it (by pulling the lever to free spool) the handle swung and closed the spool leading to me losing a 20 dollar catfish rig. Aswell as the drag failing on me and causing me to lose a potential pb blue.

So no I am not a happy customer.

P.s. : please make like a counterbalanced dual power knob option because I have been searching the web for aftermarket custom handle grips, and came up with 0 to no options as it is very very rare to find a aftermarket custom handle and grip. My Abu Garcia Ambassadeur performed better and I got it for 60 dollars. Please fix your reel Penn.