Penn Fathom 500 Low Profile Reels

The new Penn Fathom 500 is a great option for a ton of different casting applications. These reels are larger and more capable than the smaller sizes, tailor made for the yellowtail and tuna fishing we have here in California. These reels hold 300 yards of 60lb braid giving them enough line capacity and drag to bring in 100lb tuna hooked on topwater lures like poppers and stickbaits. The gears in these are stainless steel so you won't have to worry about durability or corrosion, it's a nice feature we don't see often on baitcasters only matched by the Lexa HD and Komodo reels. These reels came out in right hand only for now, but we have hopes Penn will have an option for lefties as well down the road. At first glance, seeing only specs and nothing else we were a bit disappointed that this reel wasn't larger and didn't quote a higher drag output but in practice it seems like Penn went very conservative on their specs this time which they haven't done in a looong time. These reels hold more braid than they quote, even with a typical braided line that doesn't quote being thin. And the 25lbs of drag is accurate among other low profiles that quote way more without delivering that drag output long term, plenty for anything you would ever want to use a reel like this for. We appreciated the fact that Penn made the base reel with a 4.5 gear ratio, giving it the perfect retrieve for surface iron fishing and popping. The high speed is better suited to fishing lipped diving lures, swimbaits and sinking stickbaits but the higher gear ratio is not as ideal for landing bigger species. Model Bearings Gear Ratio Line Retrieve Weight Mono Capacity Drag FTH500LP 6+1 4.5:1 29.0" 18.9oz MONO 25/195 30/160 BRAID 65/270 80/205 25lbs FTH500LPHS 6+1 6.7:1 43.0" 19.2oz MONO 25/195 30/160 BRAID 65/270 80/205 25lbs