@@Seastheday88 Thanks. I'll update you after my mid-July trip. Both the filed down (to 4mm) VISX handle and the after market Tiburon will be on the trip.
@@Seastheday88 Returned Friday July 15th from a 3 day trip on American Angler. Penn 40N handle mod update The filed down 16VISX handle on the Penn 40N 2 speed performed perfect. My son used it to land 3 BFT up to a PB of 112# . I emailed you the pic and you are welcome to post it. That pic was also used by AA on multiple social media platforms and website. He used it for heavy jigging and has it with 350 yrds of 100# braid to 50ft 100# mono to a 200# bite leader. He got the fish in the pic with a 300gr Nomad Scatterbot. The reel is in the picture and mounted on a Okuma XXXH 80-130 Rail Rod. Took about 10-15 mins to land with 25# drag. My 40N with the after market Tiburon handle worked perfect also. I have same line configuration but I used mine for a sinker rig outfit. Tipped with 80# floro and 3/0 Mutu Circle hook. This trip 8oz (old school with rubberband) was the weight needed. Got a 102# and 70#(estimate) BFT on it. 102# is in the pic (emailed to you. Your welcome to use it) I have a separate setup for heavy jigs. We each got 4 BFT. I veiw the 16 VISX handle a success with the modifications I did(filing to 4mm). Probably several ways to get the same good results. Boat had 85 BFT to 180#. Fished 20 miles west of Catalina Island
THATS IT! Thats the last problem I ran into with this upgrade, in my last post I was wrong about the button shifter reaching fine, it doesn't. Mine started slipping really bad in low gear. This is because of that 4mm spacer which doesnt reach into low gear all the way, after mine slipped the first time it chipped a some material off the gear which made it slip worse and worse. It was fixed with a like 2mm spacer that I made myself, which took forever since i had to keep opening it up to space it perfectly, and that fixed the problem perfectly. There is a pretty clear difference that it reached much better in high and low, when you pop out of low gear it pops all the way, without the spacer it doesnt go as far out. I have done hours more of testing and I believe this is the last issue we will run into with this upgrade. Absolutely 0 problems with it in testing.
Soul! Thanks bro. Never diagnosed a reel this thoroughly before except for basic maintenance. Your inputs made me want to look into it further, greatly appreciate it. Your last post had me curious about that spacer. If this doesn’t work, I’ll throw in the towel and buy a Tiburon kit😆. Overall feeling most confident about it as the spacing matches. Did my dead weigh lift again same as last time and it works with 20lb of weight but won’t know til I hook up to a nice grade on deck to verify. Hope this works, let’s get em 🙌🤙
@@Seastheday88 Yeah it sucks there is so many problems with this upgrade considering the price compared to other upgrades that are direct fit, hopefully this works out.
Thanks. Was curious how the shop fixed my issue. Just told me he added a spacer. I took my handle apart and didn’t see anything. Now I know where it is located.
Awesome. That’s great news that it was the same resolution from a shop. Had to field test this myself and confirmed it worked. I tried looking for an easily accessible off the shelf purchase that would work so everyone who does this mod would have it 100% working. In the meantime, you’ll have to customize it a bit for now. Thanks for confirming🙌
i hope this fixes the problem! However, i feel like this would be a more temporary fis and you can find a more suitable replacement for the spacer. definitely a lot of ingenuity tho!
Agreed that this is temporary. The factory part is a plastic spacer. I kept searching around the house for parts similar but nothing in particular stood out. If this works, I’ll try to find something more easily available and accessible for others to easily add to cart for themselves. Thanks for watching 🙌
Hi Tri! Thanks I was looking at their parts list and it's out of stock. I'm actually wanting to try it. If I have the correct part number, it's $5.50 for the spacer from factory. I still want to find a cheaper alternative for everyone as well. Thanks for the share!
I admire your determination. With all the interest in customizing handles it seems like either you're not looking in the right place or there's a wide open potential for making customized handle sets especially for all the higher end reel models. Or, a third option is you're just obsessing over this particular handle LoL.
Lol, it’s pretty much obsession on this particular handle since I’m already invested 😅. The fathom factory bent bar with tbar is perfect in hands for lighter drag on thr 15xn, but I’m concerned more drag rating and pressure on the 40n will cause it to bend during the process. So this 5mm international bar appears to be the best upgrade for it. Hope it works and all this time spent isn’t just a pipe dream lol
@@kodiphilips5944 I’ll give it a try. Only one I had in radar is the Picificsun Alijos for 99USD on Amazon. I’ll research the other known ones as well. Thanks 🙏
I really appreciate it. Your ability to show me how is the best! Catch a man a fish he will eat for a day. Get him a smooth turning reel he will be a beast. ;) I been looking at those plug and play power knobs on Amazon, maybe that could be a niche? I don't know much about it but maybe that could be a thing, "universal" plug and play handles you can swap as easy as going from left to right on a spinning reel.
@@Seastheday88 beautiful reel I would buy it if you played with it. I'm in Michigan so it's a little different than what you are doing but those musky pike and lakers need a good cranking reel that won't kill me in a 12+ hour day.
Lol I did that in a rush for a trip I had, ended up not touching that reel at all and grinding all night with the visx16 for jigging and sinker rig, no bites 😅. Im hoping this is the the correct solution for others who want the same upgrade. Hopefully the simple spacer can easily be bought vs what I did, exactly as you described, lol
@@Seastheday88 I have removed the original knob in many of my reels and put aftermarket knob , its easy to grind off back of the stud or even faster an easier press it down, if you have a press
@@Seastheday88 there was a guy on FB that had some really nice jiging handles and ball knob , believe or not he had them for $5 including all the hardware, all you had to do is removed the stock , I did that on all my Avets and a few Daiwa's too
@@Tony67032 $5?!?!? I can’t even get gas for that these days. Have to appreciate how prices were prior. I do want to still change a few more. Saw the jigging world handle on Talicas and they were nice too!
Hi Jason. Did you buy the black colored Gen 1 or silver Gen 2? Factory fathom handle is 4mm, the visx is 5mm thickness. The spacer compensates the difference internally for the 2spd. Search this in MysticParts.com “172A-1184827” It’s the factory spacer on the visx. You can add the handle assembly as well. If you get visx16, is same length as Fathom and smaller handle. If you go visx20 and larger, it’s longer handle arm and larger handle itself.
@@jasonlundell3854 it’s a factory spacer by Penn for their VISX. I believe theirs is 6mm to be exact, but will still engage the low gear. It’s an easier solution then making it like I did. 👍
