Okuma Reels

going to delve into lead-core trolling on the ‘Croix. anybody ever use the Okuma brand of line counting reels?

Hey SteveO, I been doing a lil research on line counter reels too. And what I’ve found is one of the most important things in a reel of this type is the drag. After talking to some and I repeat some guides they like the Diawa reel for it’s drag system. I know this doesn’t answer your guestion but maybe I could re-direct your question as to How good is the drag on the Okuma Line Counter Reels

well ec,
I bought one so I guess I’ll find out. gonna try her on the’Croix today. Hope I stick a few to find out how the drag is. Joe’s in St Paul was out of Daiwa’s and recommended Okuma. seems nice. spooled it up with some lead core and away I go.
wonder how many cranks I’m gonna lose before I get it right

Keep us posted

the reel seems to work fine. smooth and the drag performed well. I happened to to lose all the leader and my lure in the Kinni narrows. broke the leadcore. how do I retie? I tried to do a knot btween the leadcore and fireline, but the knot is almost too big to go through my top eyelet on the rod. the swivels I had were too big also. help.

I just tie a overhand knot in the leadcore, then tie any knot you like in front of it. Pull it down to the knot in the lead and you got it. By the way I prefer the uni-knot. Hope this helps.

SteveO,
Glad to hear you like the reel, as it’s always great to hear first hand information. I’ve run into the same problem with the size of the knot when tying leaders to lead core. The method I use is to separate the lead from the outer material (fabric) of the lead core by pushing the fabric back while holding the lead with a needle nose pliers. Once you have approximately 2″ of lead showing, cut the lead and feed the leader material inside the fabric and tie a standard knot using the outer material and leader. This will lock the two lines together with a low profile knot that easily passes through eyelets and reel guides. I’ve been using this method for a long time with great results.

thanks for all the advice. I tried Zim’s method and It worked for me. now if I can only figure out how do get that dang clicker off. apparently there is a bait clicker on that thing and i tripped it somehow. can’t find where the switch is to shut it off.
can you tell I’m new to lead core?

more info.
I bought the 20D model. they make a 30D that has more line capacity. I really like the reel and good value for around 60 dollars. I figured out the bait clicker and retied and am good to go. I’m using 27 lb Cortland Ker-plunk leadcore. I married it up to a 7′ graphite med/hvy rod. sweet combo. See ya on the ‘Croix this weekend
I have a black/tan 1750 Fishawk. wave if you see me.

Hey SteveO
Glad to hear you like your Okumas I have been running them for some time now and love them they are the best line counter on the market in my opinion.
Now if Bill Mitchell read this there could be another war!!!!

lol Nate.
I fish with Turk up here and him and Billy are buds. Turk recommended the the Daiwas. Joe’s in St Paul were out of the them and I needed to get one fast. I wish I would have bought the 30DX because of greater line capacity, but the 20DX seems fine. You ever try their spinning reels? They look pretty good too.

Hey SteveO
No I have never tried there spinning reels but I have a couple of buddys who have and they say they love them so I am going to have to this next year. you just make sure you let Turk and Billy know how much you love your Okuma.
I’ll let you know how I like the spinning reels when I get some.

I’m…. struggling…. to…. stay….. quiet….. okumas bad….. broke another…. horrible drags.

Seriously, I couldn’t help myself.

that’s not good news James!?
what model have you had trouble with? just bad Okuma karma all the way around?

James you are one of the only guys I know who have had trouble with there Okumas hell mine have been dropped out of the boat in the water stepped on kicked around dropped on the concrete. and everything still works!!!!!
Stick with the Okumas

I respect your opinion immensely Nate, but when I have a product fail me, I’m very quick to pass judgement and move on. I fish so much, so many days a year, equipment failure is an aggravation I avoid at all costs. After 5+ years, my diawas just keep doing the job.

Of the 4 Okumas I bought, I’m down to 1 now after light use of all of them. And the drag on the remaining one just “free-spools” on a big fish. I’m quite confident I’m not the only one to have issues with these reels.

Here’s what I like about the Okumas….

They’re lighter and fit well in the hand due to their slightly smaller size. The read-out is easy to see. They cost less.

What I don’t like….

Mine broke. In short-order. I have 4 model 20’s. Only 1 remains functional after some relatively light duty use. 2 died immediately when the spools wouldn’t free-spool out line after the reel’s action was opened. Ironically, another one WILL free-spool smoothly, but that’s with the reel’s action closed and the drag set fairly tightly…lol A good fish hits and the drap releases almost all tension for the duration of the initial hit. Then it begins to operate relatively normally. The one reel that does still remain relatively operational needs to have the spool rotated backwards manually (by the user’s thumb) approximately a 1/4 rotation to get the spool to come free from the gears, after the action has been opened all the way, before line will play out.

This has been my experiences with this product. Someone else’s may vary considerably. But my judgement, based on the 4 that I’ve purchased and the resulting performance…. I would not, could not, buy another or suggest this product to anyone else.

I know there’s a ton of people that have used these reels. I’d love to hear from them. Share with us your experiences. Maybe I just got 4 complete lemons. If thats’ the case, I’d like to know.

Hey James I would have to agree with you when a product fails me I don’t waste time getting it fixed it goes straight in the garbage in fact last year my partner and I bought some Pinnacle baitcasters and had problems with them the first time out they both went straight in the trash can. but with our Okumas we have been very happy the only problem we have ever had was the counter fogged up on us a couple of times after it fell in the water. and no I am not sponsored by Okuma but in the Tournament atmosphere we can’t afford to have products breaking on us which the Okumas never have but on the other side we have had problems with the Diawas!!! the Line counters have gotten stuck on us many times and just quit working all together. the Zero button is way to easy to bump so then you don’t have any clue how much line you have out. we were constanly tighting screws in those reels after a long run just wouldn’t stay tight. and have had many problems with the drags sticking. and the Diawas are HEAVY those are things we can not afford to happen to us during a tourney. Like I have said before tourney Fisherman are hard on Equipement we don’t have time to put every thing where it belongs it just gets banged around in the boat. and the Diawas have Dissapointed us way to many times. would I reccomend a Diawa sure to the competition LOL but in mine and many others opinion OKUMA is the way to go.

James and Nate,
I respect both of your opinions. God knows you both spend tons more time on the water than myself. To tell you the truth the biggest fish I’ve caught on the Okuma is a 13″ walleye. Not a thorough test by any means. I simply don’t have enough data to give an informed opinion. early indications is that it’s a good reel.
thanks for the feedback

Nate and I are going to have us a “cage match” and settle this one like men! (Stop laughing Nate!) Actually, no… and I hope you never have reason to find yourself wishing you had bought a different reel.

I just had to chime in here.
Nate I know what your saying about the Diawa reset, but it’s still a higher quality reel. As for the Okuma’s that i’ve got, one took a crap on me here this fall, only used it 10-15 days this summer and you can hardly reel it in, something in it hanging up. Took it apart (do you believe that) to try and figure it out and no luck, couldn’t figure out where it was binding. The other problem i’ve encountered with the okuma’s is that its easy to hit the clicker button while reeling in fish and the drag wheel as on the diawa’s is way to easy to loosen or over tighten by bumping while reeling. You get what you pay for!
Just my 2 cents worth!

Just an FYI, the Daiwa’s have come down considerably in price in the last two weeks. Check you local sporting goods stores. You should be able to find them for $79.99 for the 27 and 47lc models. At that price it’s hard to justify not going with them…. If the budget is a major concern the Shakespeare tidewater models list for half the Daiwas. I’m a firm believer you get what you pay for though. I personally love my Daiwas. I have never run the Okumas so I can’t comment on quality or longevity. It’s likely most of us could run any of these products for many happy years compared to the wear and tear guys like James and Nate use the reels in one summer.

Two of my core reels are daiwa and they have been treated like nate treats his rods, kicked around dropped in the drink rained on stepped on you name it and the only thing wrong I can figure is the button on the line counter well it only takes 2 seconds to reel in and reset. They have been very trusty!

But the first core line counter reel I ever purchased I still have Its a cabalas reel it just says cabalas on it Ive had to take it apart twice to put a sping back on but very trusty also.

Ive had very good luck with my reels and would definatly buy the same brands again ecspecally the daiwas They are a little bit heavier but heavier duty also the lead core is heavy line Ive seen a few reels strip out not reel anymore but not a daiwa They would be my first choice.

I use those reels 3-4 times a week they are plenty wore and still keep going, when people used to come in my store looking for reels they would see the price and put the daiwas right back down and look for a cheaper version Bad idea, You get what you pay for!

Just wondering if anybody has tried the Bass Pro Shops linecounters? I think they call them Gold Series.

I have used both Okumas and Cabelas linecounter reels in the past and I have found that they do not read as accurate as the daiwa’s do. I have measured out 100 feet on pavement and then compared the reels to the measurements and both the Okumas and the cabelas brand measured short….by over10 feet! The Daiwa’s…Right on the money. This is with XT 10lb. Mono….don’t know about leadcore. I wanted to know that my reels were reading accurate so i now fish Daiwas. Just my two cents worth.