DL,
I do a lot of halibut out of Neah Bay and La Push, I have had Penn 330s in the past and have now switched over to the 340s for two reasons, the important one is the spool gear goes out on the 330s, it was a yearly occurance for me. I have found the 340 to be a much stronger reel. I also use 50# McCoy superbraid, I know a lot of guys use 80# or better but I prefer the 50# because it is smaller diameter and goes down straighter when wind and current are a factor, which is most of the time and you need to remember that everything you let out you have to reel back in, if you don't want the expense of putting 600 yards of line on a reel use some backing. You will be happy at some point that you have the extra line capacity on your reel because sooner or later fishing for halibut you are going to snag and lose some line and the extra that's on your reel will make a big difference at that time.