[fishologist II]

I was brought up using nothing but Penn reels.Never had any problems with them as long as I took care of them.
The gold reels are very expensive to a working stiff like me.
The last couple of years ,I have been seeing ads for Okuma reels,noticably cheaper.
Does anyone have experience with this brand.
I want some opinions about reliability,strength,and parts availability.
Thanks in advance.
Pete

 

[621652]

i owned two first firh i caught locked up never used them again stick with pen shimino

 

[Fishbust]

gold substitute..

I have also used only Penn reels. I hear nothing but bad things about the early okumas but I think they are getting better.

I think a better alternative to okuma if you can't afford the Penn's is Everol. They cost less than Penns', more than Okuma but you will know you are getting a great reel.

Hope this helps.

 

[619627]

OKUMA REELS>>>

It seems the consensus from the west coast crowd, is that all the Okuma reels, including the 2spds, are prone to corrosion problems, blaky shifting and noisy gears. Corrosion due to thin anodized plating, and electrolosis issues due to all the dissimilar metals used on the reels, were the biggest complaints. The few good points, were that the reels have large gears, double dogs, and half decent freespool. Price was also found to be favorable when compared to similar sized reels from Shimano and Penn. Again, parts and service would not be close to what both, Shimano and Penn can offer.

With a number of fine lever drags reels being offered by Accurate with their boss series, Avet, Penns KG series, and Shimanos TLD series, Okuma may be a low priced option. But these are reels, that seem to be unable to be pushed pass their line ratings, and need extra care due to corrosion issues.

EC NEWELL MAN>>>>

 

[scuppymaster]

Okuma Reel

I bought an okuma when they first came out, say over 7 years ago. Paid around $100 for a TA90, the reel was used a few times, after eash use it was washed down with fresh water and soap, rinsed with fresh water and then dried off, well the spool corrided very quickly. I notified okuma regarding this and they were not very helpful, I stll kept the reel, about 2 years ago I wanted to get another spool, well okuma wanted to charge over $50. Well I did not buy the spool, now the reel is one of my wire line outfits.

 

[623159]

Hi,

The Okuma reels are very unreliable..Especially if you're looking into the Titus gold/silver edition..They are much cheaper than the internationals, but the quality is not there. Good luck.

 

[B.Attitude]

Okumas...

Okumas were the first lever drags we used because of the price.We used them for about 5 years,TA 100's and TA 90's.We had tons of bluesharks to 300 lbs,a bunch of smaller makos and bluefin tuna to 40 bs on them.The only problem we had with them was sticky drags.I bought a product by Shimano called "Drag lube" put it on the fiber drag washers and it felt like new again.The reels didn't have a speck of corrosion on them,I later sold them to buy Everols and my Shimano 50's.
paulie

 

[614050]

i also have a pair of the t90 and 100's (about same size as a penn 50t and tw) and they're graphite framed. used them about a dozen times and best fish was a 90# yft. just simple maintenance; spray after each use and relube all bb's and shaft at the end of each year. the spool slipping problem went away when okuma switched to a wet drag. if you go out only every once in a while they're a good value.