Consumer Reports

The Penn Pursuit III is a price-pointed saltwater reel that proved more capable than expected. It might be smaller than other saltwater-specific reels, but it's strong and has plenty of fighting power. We learned this first-hand when successfully hauling in a fish that was seemingly too big for this reel. This reel also has one of our favorite features—a line capacity marker on the spool lets you know exactly how much line you have out. Very cool. While this model is marketed as a saltwater model, we found it to be up-to-snuff in freshwater angling environments, too. Our testers were big fans of the versatility that the Penn Pursuit offers. 
Although the pros are many, there are still a couple of downsides to consider in regards to this model. One of the most obvious is that there's no reverse. This means that instead of backreeling when fighting a big fish, you have to rely on the reel's drag system. Luckily, the drag system on this reel was wholly sufficient for the fish we caught. While the reverse feature might go unused by many anyway, it's still generally expected on a reel, and some might miss it. We do have an issue with the bail. It had the habit of closing prematurely while casting. While this could have just been an issue with the unit we tested, it's unfortunate to have this as a possibility. Overall, this reel surprised us with its strength and quality at a good price. If you don't need a high-end saltwater reel but still want a good one, the Penn Pursuit III is our price-pointed recommendation.

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