The well-established Penn brand is synonymous with quality fishing tackle, so I jumped at the opportunity to give their mid-range Fathom II jig set a hoon.

It was early spring – not the easiest time to find worthy kingfish quarry in the Hauraki Gulf, but fortunately, the stars aligned and I fielded an invite to head over to the top of Coromandel for an overnighter. This opened the door for some jigging and livebaiting around the pinnacles off Cuvier Island for kings and hopefully a tasty hāpuku or two.

Our test combo consisted of the Fathom II 40NLD reel spooled with 80lb braid, and the 5’ 1” overhead 250-400g Ocean Assassin rod. Line capacity is impressive – 500m of 80lb braid – and my first impressions were that the set looked classy, appeared solidly constructed (especially the reel’s one-piece machined aluminium frame and sideplate), and felt nicely balanced.

The first stop was for some jigging in about 60m of water. After adjusting the pull-to-turn preset drag knob – for kings I like to run a heavy drag at strike – I noted that the freespool wasn’t quite as freely moving as it could have been. This slowed down the drop a touch, even when using 300g jigs. However, this wasn’t an issue at lesser strike drag settings and maybe I just need to take it a bit easier on those poor kings! Nevertheless, I’m confident that with a bit more use, the grease would bed in, and this stiffness would ease up.

The narrow spool of the 40NLD and instantaneous anti-reverse made for simple line management and the 4.8:1 gear ratio, coupled with the huge line capacity, offered an excellent recovery rate of around a metre of line per turn of the handle –perfect for attracting the interest of a few kings.

The 250-400g Ocean Assassin rod worked the 300g jigs easily and was nice to hold with its big trigger grip. I’m sure its lighter sibling – the 150-300g model – would be handy for running smaller jigs. Despite this writer’s aggressive jigging, the machined aluminium and carbon-lock nut ensured the reel wasn’t budging on the heavy-duty Fuji reel seat.

Although ‘Let the Battle Begin’ is the catchcry for Penn, we struggled to initiate any battles on the jigs. This wasn’t surprising given the sign on the sounder appeared to be sitting close to the bottom. Not to worry, as we were afforded the luxury of an excellent Plan B for lethargic kingfish – a livie tank loaded with jack and slimy mackerel.

This change of tack sprouted instant success, and I found myself hooked up to the target species. The set performed admirably, with a smooth drag, comfortable eggshaped handle, and ample lifting power. The reasonable king was no match for the Penn Fathom, and although we nabbed a couple more vigorous yellow-tailed specimens, we didn’t come across anything capable of a tougher challenge.

With the morning wearing on, we shot off to some deeper foul and rigged up for some bottom bashing in 120m of water. After grappling with a few disagreeable, toothy critters and a bit of moving around, we got onto a pair of modest but tasty ‘puka late in the morning. Even after multiple drops, the lightness of the combo and the high retrieval rate made for an enjoyable session.

The Penn Fathom II 40NLD reel and 250-400g Ocean Assassin rod make a combo that’s wellequipped for jigging, livebaiting, and bottom bashing. With a maximum drag output of 18.2kg, this versatile and competitively priced outfit would hold its own whether targeting kingfish inshore or fishing for monsters beyond the sight of land.

• One-piece machined aluminum frame and sideplate

• Dura-Drag system

• Stainless steel main and pinion gear

• Forged and machined aluminum spool

• Double-dog ratchet anti-reverse

• Gear ratio: 4.8:1

• Bearing count: 5

• Braid capacity(yd/lb): 785/50 655/65 565/80

• Max drag: 18.2kg

• Recovery rate: 102cm

• Line rating: 50-80lb; PE 5-8

• Jig weight: 250 - 400gm

• No. of pieces: 1

• Length: 5’ 1”

• Fuji alconite K guides

• Heavy-duty Fuji PSS reel seat

• SLS3 spiral-wrap construction