I was playing with a penn 10500 today seemed a great reel for the price had plenty of drag too but certainly   no stella that's for sure but your talking less than quarter the prize as well
good luck
sappercatcher

copy that, I'm told its the topwater, and looking at the website they only have 2-3 models and 1 at 8ft. not sure how 8 ft will go in a boat, can but try.

I agree that the 10500 is an enormous reel and will tire you out very quickly, If you are a fan of the penns I would recommend moving down in size to a 7500 reel. If you are using braid it will still have plenty of capacity and save your arms back and shoulders a lot of strain. There are other options that wallopit has mentioned, In the $200-300 range, fin nor offshore, okuma salina II, pfluger salt, Fin nor Lethal 100T, its a case of seeing what ones you like best. For the rod an 8ft of the boat should be fine for casting, another option is the Fin nor troppo 8ft. In the sub $200 range its great bang for buck.  

Hey Ambo
Welcome to top water addiction
Couple of things to think about.

Retrieve speed. High speed only!..
look at retrieve per crank not gear ratio. I would recommend at least 1m per crank preferably more ( I'm pulling 1.25m per crank)

A stickbait rod and a popper rod are not the same
Stickbait rods should be supple to swim a bait smooth with low down power for fighting fish
Popper rod should be stiffer to drag the lure through the water
Obviously for starting out you will run 1 rod so try pick something that is more suited to what you prefer stick or popper

Drag... you want good stopping power but be realistic. Are you going to be hauling on 20 km kings every week? If not around 15kg is plenty

Quality....kings will find fault with the best gear. My first reel I used for stickbait in was a Shimano bait runner 6500. One day of 12 - 15 kg kings and the bail arm was twisted. I don't know about the Penn gear but Shimano spheros is a great priced starter reel. WS LAURIES do it with the backbone rod for $500 good entry level set

Just my very long 2 cents worth

I agree with jonocoogee about the smaller 7500 penn, great reel for the price.
Finnor Lethal 100 for a larger reel has an enormously good write up from Alan Hawk, has to be very very hard to go past I must say.
Jono, how is yours going?