i have a question, im in need of a new reel unfortunatley. i have a mitchell 4000 on a 6ft medium light ugly stick. i went out fishing and my drag didnt work, i loosened it all the way and the line wouldnt retrieve either. i’ve been needing to replace that one anyways but now i have to. im trying to start fly fishing so i dont have that much money. i could wait until my birthday in may to get the penn battle 4000 or the fierce or i could buy the sienna right away. i noticed that captain geoff bennett fishes the sienna and it seems good. i know most of you guys would say get the battle but i just dont have that type of money. the fierce is still pretty expensive though especially to put that 20lb braid on it also. i know most of you guys would say get the penn battle and i know its better but i dont have that money. does anybody fish the shimano sienna 4000 and what are the pros and cons of it? thank you guys in advance
There is no greater fan of fly fishing than the mud minnow.
The Sienna is a decent reel for what it costs, but for what you pay for it you have to realize that eventually your not going to get the service life of a more expensive reel. Its excellent if you can live with knowing you might only get 1 to 2 years out of it. Now, if I was going to drop the dough for a Penn, my personal preference is Shimano. I would get the equivalent Shimano. I fish Shimano Sahara’s, Stradic’s, and Stradic Ci4’s and have never had a problem. Love, love, love my Ci4’s by the way.
I have fished both Shimanos and Penns and like them both very much. My only negative about the Penn is that it seems to get some corrosion on the body whereas my Shimano, which I go at the same time, has no corrosion. My Battle is new so I guess only time will tell but, I wash my rods/reels after every use.
yeah i do looovve the penn battles my cousin has 2 and whenever i fish with him i use them and their great. i just do not have the money to spned on one reel. for that much i could get a whole new pretty good combo. the penn fierce is still $60 at the charleston angler and the sienna is gonna be like 40 with 20lb braid on it. im still trying to fly fish so i cant just spend all this money, buying a new reel is really gonna set me back. but if i can get a year or 2 out of a sienna im more than happy. most of my reels aren’t good brands, mine are mitchells and shakesperes and dont last long like 4 to 6 months depending on how many fishing tripes i put em on. i fihs ugly sticks because they are a good rod in their price range. sure it would be nice to have a penn battle with 30lb power pro on a star rod or st croix but i just cant afford and dont really need that. i’ll get the shimano it sounds like a good quality reel. but another i noticed is that captains fish shimano diawa or okuma stuff not penn? is theri a certain reason for that?
There is no greater fan of fly fishing than the mud minnow.
I know plenty of captains that use nothing but Penn products. A lot of charter captains will have anywhere from 2-10 rods specifically for their clients to use. When they’re buying them all, price is a factor and most get their gear at a discounted rate so it varies from captain to captain as to A- where they get their gear, B- how much they’re willing to pay, C- any brand loyalties they may have, D- how long they want the combos to last before they inevitably have to replace them.
The Fierces seem to be nice reels. We just got a mess of the Fierce 6000s and I’ve played with them and have nothing bad to say. I have 3 Battles and like them just fine. They’ve handled everything I’ve thrown at them and I’ve caught plenty of big barracuda, 7-8 ft nurse sharks, tarpon, grouper, etc on my Battle 5000 so I know it’s been put through the ringer. That being said, I’m not a huge fan of the Shimano Sienna, as i just didn’t like the feel of it when I played with one. It felt cheap and not terribly strong, however i have not fished with one so I can’t say anything to druability or any of the fish catching espects of the reel.
one of the best tips I got was from Big Mike at haddrells mt p.
rinse reels gently with gentle straigt out of the hose-pipe pressure, not the jet stream from a jet nozzle. prevents ‘shooting’ salt & stuff into reel.
spray with penn reel spray, wipe, store.
i’ve had several low end shimanos make it 3+ yrs fishing salt 1x /wk.
Yak man, I have a sienna 2500 that I have had for four plus years. Two in the salt. Like pea pod, I rinse with light water pressure but I have never used the reel spray. I am going to get some of it for my new stradic ci4 and will probably use it on my other reels from now on as well. I fish one or two times a week every week and I use the sienna on almost every trip. I would say that it has another two years or so in it. One thing I always do after every trip (with all my reels) is to rinse and spin(while rinsing) the nob on the handle to be sure no salt or debris is in there. It sucks when even the smallest amount of corrosion gets in there because they wont spin well when you turn the handle and it makes fishin with it nearly impossible. The sienna does feel cheaper than reels such as the battle, stradic or qunatum energy metal. After putting it through a 4 to 5 year test, I will say that is is far more durable than it feels/looks. Someone stepped on it and it was shut in the truck door and all I had to do was bend the bail back into shape a bit. Absolutely no corrosion or drag problems what so ever. Be sure to oil/clean your reels regularly and do a good job and it should last long enough to get your 25 bucks out of it. Lord knows, I have gotten my moneys worth out of mine. I have never used a penn fierce so i cant speak about them. I know that you are on a budget so if you want some good and inexpensive braid try that Zebco omniflex braid. I think 110 yards is like 5 bucks. I put it on my guest rod and reels and nobody on my boat has ever had any problem with it. The few times I have used the guest rods I have been pretty satisfied with it as well. Especially for the price. You live on JI right? I do, so If you want to come check out my sienna you are more than welcome. Then you can get an idea of how it holds up with proper maintenance. Just let me know if you want to do that.
Yakman, I have been reading your post on the site for some time now and I see that you are 13 years old and seem to be very interested in fishing. I also see that you are wanting to learn to fly fish. I love fly fishing and cant wait to get my first red OTF. Anyway, I was just wondering if you have ever used a baitcaster. For someone that is as interested in fishing as you are, it would be a great skill to learn and would someday be a great tool in your arsenal. Some of my buddies want to learn bad but dont want to spend the little bit of time they have on the water learning how to cast. If you learn while you are young you will be glad that you did it one day. Might as well learn to fly fish and baitcast. That is if you cant already. Just a thought.
I’d rather be a free man in my grave than living as a puppet or a slave.
The Battle/Fierce is going to hold up better in the long term versus a Shimano Sienna simply because it is a metal body frame and will sustain more physical abuse. The downside is that it’s a little heavier than the Sienna. I personally love Shimano products but think Penn has really stepped up their stuff on the inshore spinning reels. We have sold a ton of the Battle series reels and have had no problems! Let me know if you have any quetions or PM me…
Also, sounds like a Penn battle/fierce 3000 might be a better match to that rod or the Sienna 2500
Capt Mike Able Jr
HADDRELL’S POINT TACKLE & SUPPLY
Your Complete Sportfishing Center www.haddrellspoint.com
Yakman, I have been reading your post on the site for some time now and I see that you are 13 years old and seem to be very interested in fishing. I also see that you are wanting to learn to fly fish. I love fly fishing and cant wait to get my first red OTF. Anyway, I was just wondering if you have ever used a baitcaster. For someone that is as interested in fishing as you are, it would be a great skill to learn and would someday be a great tool in your arsenal. Some of my buddies want to learn bad but dont want to spend the little bit of time they have on the water learning how to cast. If you learn while you are young you will be glad that you did it one day. Might as well learn to fly fish and baitcast. That is if you cant already. Just a thought.
I’d rather be a free man in my grave than living as a puppet or a slave.
Yakman, as always I’m not trying to start any arguments only here to help but I would also take a look at the PENN Pursuit. The Sienna is defiantly a good choice for an inexpensive reel but if you want another choice the Pursuit at $39.99 is hard to beat. It shares a lot of the same internal parts as the Fierce which are proven and easy to get parts for if needed. Accessibility to parts is always something to think about on any reel you want to purchase and Haddrell’s keeps plenty of PENN parts.
jimmyaadams thanks for the advice i think i am going with the sienna because every penny counts. i have to buy alot of fishing gear for fly fishing and sunglasses buff hat shorts and LS columbia shirt for summer fishing. and i cant cast a baitcaster but my dad has one and i will try it out sometime this year when im comfortable catching fish in a spot on spinning gear. i wish i could get a penn battle or shimano Ci4 and im looking into that for birthday or something but i dont have the money right now. and thank all you guys for the great advice!
There is no greater fan of fly fishing than the mud minnow.