The budget price point Penn Wrath reel introduced during the recent ICAST 2019 is pitted against the fast and powerful sailfish in Kuala Rompin!
How will this affordable $50 reel fare?
Click to watch video…
Many thanks to Pure Fishing Malaysia for letting us put this reel on the water and find out how it will perform.
What We Like
After four days screaming (the reel mostly, and sometimes us) in the boat and catching numerous powerful fish, I surmise that the Penn Wrath could well be the perfect entry saltwater reel for anyone who’s going saltwater fishing for the first time.
In other words, the perfect beginner and budget reel for all.
The reel is built tough, like what you’d expect from a Penn reel and the drag was smooth (watch the video of a long run from a sailfish on the first day).
After four solid days of fishing, the Wrath still performed exactly like the first day.
What’s Not To Like?
Do not expect shiny polished components and a flashy-looking reel from the Wrath, it’s not pretty but it’ll get the job done. It is 50 bucks after all.
The reel we had didn’t lay the line on the spool properly after the first day, but it was an easy fix of just adding a washer and it is all good again.
Compared to the other reels we had onboard (that cost at least a few times more), the Wrath felt just a little tighter when fighting big fish. A negligible difference.
Conclusion
For the amount of money this reel costs, there is really nothing to complaint about.
The only question that remains is how much more punishment it can take? Being charter operators, we tend to really abuse our gear. Perhaps that may be too much to ask from this reel, but we’ll still put it out there and let you know how it fares.
The Penn Wrath comes in sizes ranging from 2500 to 8000 and priced between US$29.99 to 49.99
