I did a search on okuma products/reels and most say they are not that good...
Any improvements on the quality and reliability of the reels... they are smooth and seem well built, but I do put a lot of hours on my equipment.
I have a Aveon ae45 and I appreciate any info...
Thanks!!

I did a search on okuma products/reels and most say they are not that good...
Any improvements on the quality and reliability of the reels... they are smooth and seem well built, but I do put a lot of hours on my equipment.
I have a Aveon ae45 and I appreciate any info...
Thanks!!

I've used 3 different ones. For LIGHT use, no dunking/sand. There fine. For any serious use, a complete waste of time and money.

MRStriper- We do alot of field testing for Okuma and they have made better strides in there products but have a ways to go. I have an older Metaloid that was one of the 1st reels they made that has never had to be serviced and is still smooth as butter.
We beat these reels up alot fishing everyday. It is a decent product for what you are paying for it. If you take care of the reel you should have it for a while. We have been recommending alot of changes to Okuma over the years and so far they are listening, which is a good thing. Right now they need to get rid of the plastic parts which do not seem to hold up as well as other reels. I don't think you will be totally disapointed as we are fishing several different types of Okuma right now and have not had any problems yet!!!

Just my opinion!!! Hope it helps
Jules

I hear ya.....
Every reel has serious drawbacks - the affordable, dunkable, reasonably priced, low maintenance, surfcasting reel - has not been built yet.
Two Choices:
Get a Penn and do the considerable and frequent maintenance to make it hum, or bite the bullet and buy a VS.
I'm biting the bullet.

I hear ya.....
Every reel has serious drawbacks - the affordable, dunkable, reasonably priced, low maintenance, surfcasting reel - has not been built yet.
Two Choices:
Get a Penn and do the considerable and frequent maintenance to make it hum, or bite the bullet and buy a VS.
I'm biting the bullet.

You won't regret it.

Penn to VS....there are lots of oprtions for the average fisher. I would suggest that Shimano makes the best line of reels across the board in all price ranges. Okuma are good for inexpensive or "cheap" reels, just as some have said here, expect what you pay for and you will be happy with one.

I fish "wicked haad" and own a lafrge vbariety of reels. 1 VS, 2 Okuma, 4 or 5 Penn and over a dozen Shimanos.

Van Staal has a following among the best surfcasters that is hard to argue with.

The guys who fish Penn and can break them down and fix what needs fixing with their eyes closed (like Paul I, and several other regulars here) for them its a good reel.

But the guys who fish them because they are all they can afford without those maintainance skills, they are usually fishing a reel that is in a bad state. Penns are known as tanks; but they are also known for grinding, siezing, uneven drag, terrible anti-reverse, bail slamming on the cast, bailsprings breaking, etc.

Sooner or later, those problems come back to haunt people who can't circumvent them on the tool bench.

I spent 30+ years fishing Penn 704/706s. As Joe said, if you take care of Penns they will last you forever. Clean the washers. Convert the 704s to manual pickup so you don't have bail spring problems and asways have spare dog spring on hand.
My wife and kids bought me a VS 250 2 years ago and I wouldn't trade it for anything. The Penns are now backups.

My first surf fishing reel was an Okuma Epixor. It lasted about 2 months of fishing (wading) 2-4 days a week. After that I switched to Shimano and never had another failure.

Before if failed completely, I had problems with the bail closing and the baitrunner feature not working properly.

I had fished all my life but never in saltwater, and the B&T owner really pushed the Okuma. I don't know if they have a high margin, or if he really thought it was a good reel. Most of his other recommendations turned out to be sound.