I have the reel and use it for general sea fishing in the uk and when i travel abroad. you may wanna think about the shimano saragosa - cheapier than the stella, but very good reliable and adequate for Gts.
From what i have seen/heard, Brandon is right re the penn drag - its not gonna be able to put the brakes on a decent gt. The Penn will take the amount of line needed and is really built like a tank - dont get the liveliner (allows gears to be disengaged when livebaiting) version as it is a more delicate reel and prone to issues.
Think about the weight as well as if your chuking it out all day its gonna weigh some and may not make the rod and reel combo balanced.
I am new to gt fishing - but dont see why for smaller fish that it wouldnt work - but as i say Brandon is very experineced and will know far more than i. I fish all over the world and use the reel - even using the smaller versions in the florida keys.
