Penn 209's

[ron1337]

Hi everyone.  I have a question and probably a not so good one but I'm new to striper fishing and mostly fished for catfish in the past.  I had a lot of setups for blue cats in the tidal James river.  So my question is does anyone use the Penn 209 reels to striper fish? I have 8-9 of them and just wanted to make use of them.  I know there is no line counter on them like the okuma reel but I could use one that clips on the rod if they are suitable.  

[fly]

You can get line that changes color at different lengths ....

[BentRod]

Those reels should work fine - you don't need line counters.

[johnr]

You don't need a line counter if you have a decent sonar. Mostly I drop all my lines near the transducer to set the depth properly then move them to their respective holders around my boat. Using the 83khz setting helps with this.

Additionally, I have marked 1 and 2 foot increments on my rod, as measured from my reel. So when I'm pulling out line, I pull it from the reel to one of the increment lines and I know exactly how much line is out. It works well and doesn't need calibrated like a line counter

[bp]

I use 4 of them myself. I like them alot I just count pulls and get bait out just fine.

[mwardncsu]

moved to the rod & reel section

[hotdog]

Like Johnr and bp says. Mark your rod 2ft from the reel and count your line as you pull it off the reel. No line counter needed. I use Penn 320's for my u-rigs and count the level wind passes.
Good luck.

[ron1337]

Thanks everyone. That makes it easier on my wallet. Plus I think the gears in my 209's are better than some of the current plastic gear models on the market.

[flathead1802]

I collect and use Penn Reels. The 209s are good reels. I also use A Squidder and a couple of JigMasters.