Looking for opinions. Would like a decent reel I can get 10 of and not break the bank. I drift fish a lot.

Penn make a good reel!

Would work good on a boat they don't cast at all.

You can get them cheap too.

But if you don't need them right now. Would just try to slowly start to build a collection of Abu's.

Most Penn's are durable and serviceable. Like Mike said they generally don't cast that well but if you are fishing from a boat that's not a big deal. I like Penn reels and have used many over the years from little 209's to 500 Jigmasters to big Penn Internationals. I'm sure you would be happy with them.

I was looking at the Penn reels online, the 209m and 309m seem to be well made reels. Do they cast 40 yards or less. I have heard people say they don't cast before so I was curious how far they will go.

I am sticking with my Abu's for sure though. Turbo Fred is putting one together for me right now. That is my reel of choice.

Chuck, I have a 209 and a 309 that I use off the piers at Galveston I can cast both of them just fine and further than 40 yards. Granted they are on 10' rods, but I've also cast it on a 6' rod well enough to use out of my boat on anchor. If fact the 209 on a stiff 6' rod was one of the first rods I used when starting out for blues.

I will add this as well. The line retrieve ratio of 3:1(I believe), works ok when you have a large fish on, but can get tiring when bringing empty hooks in. Get USA made also if you decide to get penns.
I like the penns, but at the same time, for catfish, I personally would stick with at least the abu 5500's.

Thanks Trent.

They are bullet proof! Well build USA. Some ppl maybe able to cast them but I can not get my 209 to.

Got a N9 and that thing cast a mile! As good as any abu. But with no brakes to slow the spool down it will backlash on you fast. Am thinking of using it for a few trips to see what it can do. Not a fan or the 3.2-1 or what ever it is with the N9.

And to add you will love the reel you get from Fred!!!! Does good work.

The #9 or 109 isn't too shabby for casting. IMHO, properly adjusted and with an educated thumb, they'll hold their own beside an ambassadeur 6600 for distance. 209's cast well also, but are difficult to master. I will say they are a lot tougher to put back together after a thorough cleaning than an ambassadeur though.

Watch pawn shops, as they commonly will have some of the older ones for a good price.

The 209 and 309. Did you mod them?

Took me a week to get the 1st one back together! But now can get them apart and together EZ!

Saw a 12/0 at a pawn shop today.

All of my reels except 1 came from Fred. To the OP, I really like Abu's and if you are interested PM Fred and he is a wealth on knowledge on all reels.

i just bought some of cabelas bait caister drift reels for 29 bucks on sale. I have used them several times this winter drift fishing and caught some nice fish over 40 pounds on them. The drag system is great/and huge line capacity. They are a bit bigger than the average reel....but i like them. They have a line counter on them as well. I will use them only for drift fishing but they have served the purpose well-and can handle a huge fish very well.

the other reel that is awesome if the shimano corvalis- can get on e-bay