Thread: Manual Pick up's on Penn Z's

Not to hi-jack, but my 712Z and the Shakespeare Intrepid rod its on is 25 years old, bought it as a combo. One of the best fishing purchases I ever made, wish I had bought 3 when I got that one!

Now, to get back on track:
What is the trick to putting the line on the roller when a king picks up your snobbled cig & heads for Cozumel??
Someone asked me that the other weekend and since I have never used a manual pickup, I could not answer.

Originally Posted by midwestexile

Manual pickup means there is no bail on the reel, just the roller. You put the line over the roller by finger action after cast lands. A bail takes the line over manually to the roller. Bails are either manual (must be flipped by hand) or automatic (flips when you start to reel). Automatic bails have a spring which can activate at the worst times.

The serious reason for the plug angler to use the bail-less reel is that casting plugs to striped bass or bluefish often involves a major heave that can cause a bail to flip and break off an expensive plug. A striper plug or tin may weigh 2 to 5 ounces and run $10-30 in today's dollars. Worse yet, retying wastes fishing time and the plug broken off is always (via Murphy's law) the only one the fish want that day.

Thank you, Mid...now I understand it. I have only ever fished with Mitchell reels, 3-6oz weights, soaker bait and I 'knock on wood' have never had a premature bail flip.

Originally Posted by CarlF

Not to hi-jack, but my 712Z and the Shakespeare Intrepid rod its on is 25 years old, bought it as a combo. One of the best fishing purchases I ever made, wish I had bought 3 when I got that one!

Now, to get back on track:
What is the trick to putting the line on the roller when a king picks up your snobbled cig & heads for Cozumel??
Someone asked me that the other weekend and since I have never used a manual pickup, I could not answer.

CarF - now is the time to buy! The last 712z I got was $20...

#r covered the snobblin question in his first post to this thread. That was my exact question - can the manual pick up be used for snob bling and free line live baits..I was concerned about getting the line on the roller if a fish is running with the bait. He defined a rod lift and drop to get slack to pick the line up on the roller.

I had a tough decision early on in this quest to throw back....Mitchell or Penn. The Mitchell's are generally less expensive, more available and the 400 series have a faster retrieve ratio. The early Mitchell's that were made in France are also very well built, and have stood the test of time. Ultimately, it came down to simplicity, and availability of repair parts - and just a bit of "Murican Loyalty".
Made in USA still means something to me.