OK, I think I may have to eat some crow. I have said earlier that the Okuma reels (have 2, a small spinning and a very large bait runner spinning) were pretty nice and a great value. Well this evening I had my first very negative experience with the big one. First off I have to say the reel is nearly brand new and I still think it is one of the smoothest reels I own. Handle is outstanding. To me it feels like I am cranking a 6/0 Finor.really nice. The drag is also excellent. (Better then any penn spin reel I own) BUT the ******* bail sucks. I have the reel mounted on my heaviest surf stick. The rod you take out on days like today...when it is blowing 35 in your face and you are throwing 3.5oz plugs with all you got. In 50 casts (or so) the bail flipped (during the cast) about 10 times. I have to say once you hook up with the fish it is a great experience but my big stick has to be able to handle big plugs and be thrown very hard. The bail can't flip...ever. I lost 2 plugs (THANK GOD not my new Tattoos) but it made me gun shy to fish hard and I had to walk back to my truck and re-load equipment.
Tomorrow I am taking the reel back to the B&T shop and asking for him to either:
A) Fix it on the spot
B) Take it back towards a big Penn or Shimanno.

I don't think it is a "tuning adjustment" It looks to me that the bail needs to rotate further then it does. It is not as stable in the open position as my penn or shimanno. I still think it is a great value reel and the small one works great (I have used that a lot) and caught many bonito, albies and blues with it and never had a problem with the bail...but you are not whaling on a 12# test rig. IMO a big reel with 25-30# test line should be able to take the hardest cast you can muster. I can’t have failures at in the middle of the night in some remote place miles from my truck.
Again I love some of the features but the bail has to function perfectly or it is not useable for the big stick.

That can be a problem with smooth reels. Make sure that the reel handle is at the bottom every time you cast and you should be ok.

Sandman....

I too have been using my Okuma more and more lately because it is the smoothest reel I own. However, I've had a few snap offs lately, and I first thought it was just me, but you made me realize that it's probably not just me. The bail flips quite frequently. I even cranked down the bail screws before I went out last time, and still had problems. After I saw my favorite needle go sailing off, I put it down for the season. Thankfully, I see Christmas around the corner, and the Okuma being relegated to an adventure in custom bailless technology.

Even still, it's really a joy to fight fish on that thing.

Sometimes it will solve the problem if you always turn the bail to the bottom of the spool after opening before casting

I'll try the bail position and handle position today (with a 4 oz sinker attached, not a plug) and give it a heave and report back.

Again, the small reel is just fine but I use a lot less body english when I toss that one.

I agree with Don, otherwise this reel works exceptionally well but this is a rather serious problem. I feel handicapped when I use it now.

The bail on the 6 o'clock position makes some sense since the centrifugal force generated when casting will act in a direction to keep it open, while at the 12'oclock position will act in a direction to close the bail. I wonder if they make a stiffer spring? I think that is all it would take.

IHAVE READ SEVERAL TIMES ABOUT ABOUT ADJUSTMENT TO MAKE TO DIFFERENT REELS SO U CAN CAST WITHOUT BAIL CLOSING.MOST OF THE REELS ARE THE HIGH # BEARING REELS THAT ARE LOOSE.MY $.02 I DON'T WANT TO FISH THIS WAY,I WOULD GET RID OF THE REEL.I WANT TO CRANK IN,OPEN BAIL AND CAST WITHOUT IT CLOSING.THINK HOW MANY CAST YOU MAKE OVER A PERIOD OF TIME FISHING FROM SHORE AT ONE PARTICULAR PLACE.ONE LACK OF ADJUSTMENT OR IF A BLITZ OCCURS GOOD BYE PLUG.POSSIBLE FIX IS TO MAKE REEL TIGHTER BY TAKE DOWN AND PACKING WITH LUBE.

I hated my Penn 750's for the very same reason, the bail would close during the cast, releasing a number of plugs to fend for themseleves. If the big Okuma has a protruding external bail trip such as the Nautil 7500 and Penn 750+'s, open the bail and rotate the spool till it rests against the trip, and then cast. Its the handle that ends up turning during the cast not inertia put on the bail wire. I replaced bail springs in all my Penns to no avail. The I converted one of my Penns to bailess with the Penn kit thinking that would be the fix for sure. Funny thing was that although I stopped with the cut offs, I could still get the little bail wire in the conversion to flip too. The problem was me:rolleyes: :smash: