Need some opinions here re: surfcasting reels

[castingmaniac]

I've been debating a new aquisition in my fishing tackle arsenal. A surfcasting reel and rod to match. I've been seeing them more and more.
Looking into them I have found two that fit the bill in terms of price. Both are pretty close in price.

I am new to surfcasting reels and there will be a learning curve. The two reels are

Penn 525 Tournamag
Abu Garcia 6500C3CT-M

Need opinions on both. If anyone has an opinion on a third reel by all means fire away!
By the way does one use monofilament or some breed of braided lines with these reels?

[Lurch]

Seems like a nice reel but having a reel without a levelwind would be, I feel, a pain in the a$$ while reeling in a fish.

I personally use the Penn 940 with a 6'6'' medium action rod (PPG 4966). I will admit that I need to upgrade to a heavyer rod but my rod is light and will keep me on the water longer.

It seems that the rod that will attach to the 525 will be heavy (weight) which will get me tired very quickly.

I will be upgrading to a Penn 965 with a 7' medium heavy or heavy action rod soon. The 965 with a 7' rod will have the horsepower to pull in the biggins, the length to get whatever lures out far enough and the weight to keep me from getting too tired too quickly.


hope it helps.

[Markymark]

I prefer a Penn Squidder, or Beachmaster reel on a Lamiglas 3M blank . I've always wanted a Abu Garcia 7000 reel, ( levelwind), they are hard to come by nowadays.Over a period of time ,I managed to use my thumb for a " levelwind" now it is pretty much an automatic habit when I use that rod + reel !:D