I purchased a Penn Slammer 460 (the 560 was not available in the store at the time) and have used it on all my trips ever since. Pls have a look at the review on this link:
http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/ ... p?t=459612
I find the Slammer far more solidly built than the Penn SS reels - its got a real nice compact feel - unfortunately the line capacity is not enough - and assuming you want minimum 300 yards you can achieve that by using fireline - though I feel that instead of using only fireline, one should combine mono with the fireline (125 yards) and that way you'll be able to load 225 yards or so - which is pretty good for the Golden up north. These capacities are for the 460, so the 560 will hold some more and that should be great. Maybe Penn will build a 660 and that would be fantastic. The best part about this reel is that its easy to work all day - the bail arm of the 460 is also solid, but does not lock in easy - so I lock manually.
Does anyone have some feedback on the following reels? They are mighty expensive, the first one is $750 and the Shimano Stella is in the $600 rangeand
The Penn Slammer is Highly Recommended, have a look
http://www.pennreels.com/01_products/re ... er/560.htm