# Penn 209 capacity



## trapman (Jan 2, 2006)

How much copper can I put on a penn 209


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## salmon_slayer06 (Mar 19, 2006)

Penn 209 holds 320 yards of 20 pound mono. 20 pound big game is .018 diameter. 45 pound copper is .038 diameter. With 220 yards of 20 pound backing you only have enough left to put on roughly 50 yards of 45 pound. If you have 120 yards of backing you have enough for 100 yards of copper. But after letting out some mono than clipping on board and sending it out you are left with very little line left not enough to fight a 30 pounder. Plus when you are at the bottom of the spool the drag is useless. The reel is more efficient when it's half or more for fighting. 30 pound copper sinks less but is thinner. If you go copper, mono fireline than mono you might be able to get away with having 200 yards of backing and 100 yards of copper. You need the mono after fireline to keep everything tight on spool and to keep it from free spinning around spool. If you do the Fred trost shuffle you will be able to gain line if you go that route.


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## salmon_slayer06 (Mar 19, 2006)

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## trapman (Jan 2, 2006)

I'm thinking about an 100 copper


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## Far Beyond Driven (Jan 23, 2006)

I run my half cores on Penn 309's and they work well. 209's I would not run more than a 2 color, so I'm thinking 50' of copper at most, maybe 75'. Loose too much backing to a planer board out ways or a fish and that slow ratio on that reel begins to suck bigly.


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## Ralph Smith (Apr 1, 2003)

Yeah, those are good old reels, but at a 2-1 retrieve, I'd look for something else. They would make decent rigger reels if you want to use them. Might be able to get some after market larger/longer handle to help with the retrieve?


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## homebrew87 (Oct 19, 2014)

I got 200 ft of 32 lb copper on one with braid backer and it works fine. Little slow but hey it is what it is


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## Ralph Smith (Apr 1, 2003)

homebrew87 said:


> I got 200 ft of 32 lb copper on one with braid backer and it works fine. Little slow but hey it is what it is


I like the 32lb....I read somewhere it goes about the same depth as the 45 due to a thinner diameter in the water creating less resistance?


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## smitty1975 (Aug 20, 2013)

I found that the only Penn reels that are worth a crap for salmon fishing is the 210 high speed. I have a box full of 309,s and 209's that I don't use because of the gear ratio on return. I'm running my lead core and copper on Okuma classis pro 452's I think, not sure of the number but they have held up well, hold a lot of line, and have a good gear ratio.


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