New Pole and Reel

I am looking for very huge sharks iits not my first time fishing I fished my whole life, I fish for sharks all the time where I live, just not the whole paddle out thing.. I have 4 6/0 senators but i feel like theyre waaayy to small for what i wanna catch... SOo a 9/0 would do it for the big ones?

the old old 9/0's have issues with the drag that's the 9/0's with the square nut on the side by the handle, the drag can stick and have other problems also, my friend just recently blew out his brand brand new 9/0's clicker cause of a screaming run... but all around the 9/0 is great for the adventuring shark fishermen, very light and durable, i have taken mine on the metro bus before

if u don't want a 12/0 but want bigger then a 9/0, there is the 10/0 they have the most drag out of all the senators since they were intended for wire line...

and for a 1st reel im sure that 80w u found couldn't be that bad for the price, u should definitely take a look at it cause big reels are hard to find now-a-days and the rod he had it on had some nice guides and im sure could get you some trading value, good luck in your search, u do live in west palm beach area and have a very good chance since all the kids on the piers have 12/0's and stuff.

don't forget x-gen rods and fishermen's consignment store, im sure there u can find something very nice for very cheap there

Im gonna take a look at the Penn International tommorow morning.. hopefully its in as good of shape as he claims and if its not then ill go ith the 9/0. Thanks for the help everyone much appreciated!

a 9/0 spooled with 80lb braid would be good i got a 7ft tiger on a 9/0 with 80lb mono and he was no prob almost skipped it across the water.

OK, it sounds like you would prefer a smaller/baseline reel for shore bound shark fishing, that's OK - you need to go thru your own research & development no one can do it for you.
- A 9/0 size reel: after you take your bait out you have little "play" line left.
- A lever drag - great drag, a lot more maintenance (remember aluminum corrodes much faster) sure the outside looks great after you wash it with fresh water after every use, what about the inside ( I know I service them all the time...) if you get sand inside them (unless you are not going to fish from the beach) they can seize up. Also much heavier than a comparable size Senator. BTW - a two speed on a lever drag is a great advantage.
- A 10/0 - BTW the genttelman who said "it has the most drag 'cause is made for wire" he never opened one up and compared to anothe big Senator or he was misinformed, the 10/0 is no more than a narrowed-out 12/0, just like the 14/0 is a norrowed-out 16/0.
- a 12/0 - great choice IMO, lighter and easier to handle than a 14/0, problem - you can only go as high as 100 pound test, sure that's enough to fight most larger sharks, but as per William Fundora himself " 130 lb. is much more forgiving to fraid than 100 lb." so you are fighting a large shark and either you can not turn him around on 100 or the line goes "ding" for no apparent reason... a fraid
- Braid , not for me that's all I can say, it frais very easy, it has no stretch , I hate the stuff, old school mono will never be replaced.
- About getting a 14/0 and that way you will not have to upgrade in a couple of months? With a capacity of 800 yrds. of 130 mono and the largest drag system of any Senator, the double spacer bars around the circumference of the reel for prevention of side-torque distortion.
- the 16/0 - the Ultimate? - not according to many "old school" experts, sure now we all want one because they are the most pricey, the most difficult to get ( out of production for 20 years) and the largest. But back when you could go to the retailer and get either a 14/0 or a 16/0 many many fisherman choose the 14/0 because being narrower made quite a diference when you have to wind line back and forth on a reel with a big shark at the other end. You can buy a 14/0 for HALF the price of a 16/0.
Hope this helps . Here a link to Will's 16/0 reel maintenance:

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=2255

Get a 12 or 14. the 14 is better. As far as the drag, I promiss I can hold the sides of the spool and get all the pressure I need, actualy more than any 80w has got. I always use my fingers to grip the spool on the bottom of the reel to ad more presure as needed. (do not put ya hand on top of the line because it will pull ya fingers between the line and the cross bar kinda like an old manual washing machine) The same way ya do on surf reels. Any way if ya hammer the drag on a big fish ya may loose ya pole. First shark reel needs to be a 12. Pack it with 600yds of braid on the bottom and put whatever ya want on top of that. The new allumnum reels are like an m16 and the old senators are like an AK47. Alluminum will corode. If sand gets between the spool and the frame it grinds the paint off and starts coroding. 50 years and the senator it still good and the allumnum reel looks like a batery post. That is given that both is used on the beach. Any one doughts me just take ya reel off ya rod with an allumnum seat and look at the corosion between the reel seat and the reel.