Okuma drags

[Missdemeanor]

I had a couple of coldwater reels and i was completely disappointed. The drag was sticky and never worked right. I contacted Okuma and they upgraded me to the catalinas ( I paid the difference ). So here i am with 200 dollar top of the line Okumas and guess what? They suck....same sticky drag. Not what you would expect out of a "top of the line"reel. In the end i sent them to Tuna Toms. Just got them back today and they dont even feel like the same reels. Extremely smooth...Tuna Toms did an outstanding job. I very well may send all of my reels to him next fall for an overhaul. Tight lines and keep thinking spring!

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[zackblain]

Just curious what they charged you for the work? I have a few cold waters that I already had "replaced" that still suffer from the same issue(sticky initial drag)

[Missdemeanor]

Roughly 30 each.... He disabled the auto engage when you wind the reel....now i have to manually engage the reel....big deal... The drags are awesome now

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[GAMBLER]

Should got the Saltists!  No need to send them in for new drags!

[Missdemeanor]

Brian!.....I have a bunch of Saltist reels, in fact Ive had them since they first came out!.

For the last 30 years , Ive used just about every great lakes fishing reel. Saltist (besides the counter location) is the best. The older Catalinas are very nice too, but the drags on these new models have issues. I'm pretty sure they know about the issue. If it was just a one time thing with the bad drags with the coldwaters, then I might buy just getting a bad batch of reels. But to have some catalinas have the exact same issue? Something is up...

 

My post is not to bash Okuma.....In fact I will still use the 55L and I will probably buy a Solterra for a XXL cooper. This is more of an "Atta Boy" for Tuna Toms.

Edited February 14, 2015 by Missdemeanor

[chinook35]

Okuma has always had issues with their drags . I bought Convectors ( CV ) when they first came out and the drags were terrible . Okuma took them back and upgraded the drags . They are great now ,but it took a lot of time and effort to get them that way .I have 12 convectors (all upgraded by Okuma for free ) and will go with another brand as they die .

[Silver Fox]

From what I understand is they are now realizing they have an expensive issue with having to possibly redesign them.

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[JakeyBaby]

Where is Tuna Tom's located? I have some reels that could use some work.

[Sk8man]

Tuna Tom's is definitely THE place to go for reel repair and Andy Copenhaver there is great to deal with.....they are a class operation.

[finsntins]

www.tunasreeltroubles.com located in luddington,mi.i sent him a takota that had a screwed up drag and the clicker didnt work,sent it to him had it back in a week,cost 38 bucks with shipping both ways.i am going to send him all my reels next year for a going through.

[brucehookedup]

Shimano charters specials still kick butt. Replace a clicker every couple years and you are good to go. I am glad tuna tom worked for you matt.

[Rookie Fisherman]

I had a couple of coldwater reels and i was completely disappointed. The drag was sticky and never worked right. I contacted Okuma and they upgraded me to the catalinas ( I paid the difference ). So here i am with 200 dollar top of the line Okumas and guess what? They suck....same sticky drag. Not what you would expect out of a "top of the line"reel. In the end i sent them to Tuna Toms. Just got them back today and they dont even feel like the same reels. Extremely smooth...Tuna Toms did an outstanding job. I very well may send all of my reels to him next fall for an overhaul. Tight lines and keep thinking spring!

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I have some Okuma's both Convectors and Magdas. The Magdas I use primarily for BT in the spring. Recently I was looking to upgrade these, 4 total.

So I started doing some research on the Coldwaters. Read a bunch of poor reviews and the general problem was "sticky drag" as mentioned above.

Most said when you adjusted the drag you had to pull several feet of line for the drag to adjust to the new setting.

Okuma is aware of this problem and has supposedly corrected the issue. The ones being shipped now should be good to go.  

So with that in mind I ordered 4 of these (203's). Received them last week, so the first thing I did was play with the drags.

They seem just fine.....the real test will come this spring.

All that being said I do like the overall look & feel of this reel. If the drags hold up its a nice piece of equipment for the money.

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

I had a couple of coldwater reels and i was completely disappointed. The drag was sticky and never worked right. I contacted Okuma and they upgraded me to the catalinas ( I paid the difference ). So here i am with 200 dollar top of the line Okumas and guess what? They suck....same sticky drag. Not what you would expect out of a "top of the line"reel. In the end i sent them to Tuna Toms. Just got them back today and they dont even feel like the same reels. Extremely smooth...Tuna Toms did an outstanding job. I very well may send all of my reels to him next fall for an overhaul. Tight lines and keep thinking spring!

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Matt I'm going to dig around on this. The ONLY reel I've heard having drag issues when new was the first run Coldwaters. I can assure you, I have Catalinas that have landed THOUSANDS of fish and I often ask myself if they will ever need a set of drag washers. Mine are all 2 yrs old plus, so I'm going to look into this. That Catalina 30da is built like a watch. This said, I have heard that Tuna dude has bailed out reel owners of all manufacturers.

[Sk8man]

At the risk of some serious ball busting by friends  I must admit to a failed attempt at do it yourself carbon fiber drag installation where I even took pics of each step of disassembly along the way  thinking I had it mastered and then when I pulled off a plate a whole bunch of springs and unrecognizable parts exploded and I had no clue where they went back together even after looking at an exploded view diagram  I sent one complete reel and another in a zip lock bag with all the parts to the folk at Tuna (I think it is basically a 3 person operation) and they had the reels back to me with the new drags installed all cleaned up looking like brand new reels that had just come out of the box in just a few days and with inexpensive shipping. I was shocked at how quickly and competently they handled it. They have my vote (and future business) hands down.

Edited February 14, 2015 by Sk8man

[Missdemeanor]

Vince....another captain from the oak had an identical issue i did....we sent our reels to tuna tom at same time. Hes an Okuma guy as well. Like i previously posted, after the drag fix, i really like them. If okuma fixed the issue, i wouldnt hesitate to buy some more Catalinas.

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[Silver Fox]

Their IS an issue cause tuna tom and okuma can't come to a mutual agreement to fix it

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[BrokeOff]

my 55s and clarions have the same drag issue.  adjust drag, pull line out by hand before the adjust does anything

[choked-up]

I have four convector 30's purchased within the last two years and all the drags are sticky. 2 spooled with mono,2 with wire. Its the only thing I don't like about them. I deal with it because they are reasonably priced and I don't believe it has ever cost me a fish. Yet!

[Big Water]

My two most recently purchased Convectors have terrible drags. Don't know why they are different than older ones.

[baitrigger]

Makes me glad I gave up on them five years ago. Get what you pay for.

[Missdemeanor]

Like i said previously.....im not bashing Okuma at all.... I love the leadcore/copper rods...the high speed copper reels are nice also ( i dont have drag issues with the 3 i own). If anyone has worn out reels or is in need of any reel repair, i wouldnt hesitate to call the Tuna Guy.

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[Sk8man]

I have roughly 20 or more Daiwa's of different types and a handful of Okuma's and Penn's and I have never had even one issue with the Daiwa's drags or otherwise. I basically don't give a rats butt about brand names or having the most expensive or popular equipment....I just want something that performs well day after day and is reliable and lasts. Most  sport fisherman give their equipment moderate use and they don't have constantly changing people operating the stuff so some of the requirements are different than that of charters. For the novices on here with a tight budget looking for advice in getting into the "game" I'd say don't get discouraged by comments that suggest that less expensive equipment is total crap. Many of the reels out there work fine for the type of sport fishing we do (e.g. Daiwa 47H's and Okuma Magda Pro 45's). Ocean fishing for marlin or bluefin tuna require expensive reels with exceptional drags but I've seen people land king salmon on medium duty spinning rods plenty of times so knowing what you are doing at the end of the rod can be more important than cost of equipment.  Most of us get "fussy" and "particular" and some can get into the habit easily of always wanting or getting the latest and greatest new thing and we justify it in various ways (especially to wives)   and we may become "Daiwa guys", "Okuma guys" or "Shimano guys" so for the person new to this sport get a reel that is functional and does the job for the specific fishing you are going to do. One of the best ways to get a sense of this is to go to a sporting goods store where they have various reels and actually handle to reel and listen to the clicker. feel the smoothness when reeling, manipulate the drag wheel and see if is seems smooth or "clunky." and scope out the over all appearance of "quality".It may increase your chances of getting something durable over just reading reviews online etc.

[dick black]

I bought all new Okumas a couple years back because I couldn't find a reliable place to have my Diawas repaired. I had all sorts of issues with the Okumas right off the bat. Called the factory, and recieved absolutly no help, so I called the man I bought the reels from and he suggested I call Tuna Toms. I did just that, needless to say I was pretty upset, I talked to a gentleman named Paul, he got me calmed down, I explained the problems and also told him that I had called the factory and got no where. Paul said box them up and send them- all 18 of them! They did most of the work free of charge, I gladly paid the balance and they were returned the reels in 7 working days. Great service and quality work, have used these folks many times since, but it still bothers me that I had to send brand new reels to a independent repair shop to get them to work properly, I guess I'm not fully sold on  Okuma Products  Tight Lines

[Gator]

Our Catalina reels are a bit older but work flawlessly...particularly after we sent them to Tuna Tom's! Every three years the whole lot (Saltists, Catalinas and Tekotas mainly) gets sent out there for cleaning and repair (if necessary). We've had clickers, drags, levelwinds, all replaced like new with nary an issue. I try to send them just following the season, since things get busy at Tuna's as the new season approaches.

 

I strongly believe that ~25 per reel is cheap to keep expensive pieces of equipment in top-notch shape for years. Other than backing off the drags during the off season, that's all the maintenance that we do. 

[chinook35]

The problem I encountered with the Convectors was line leakage when the rods were loaded in the riggers  . Unless the drag was reefed down to lock ,the line would creep out a click or 2 at a time . Okuma replaced the drag washers with the Catalina washers and they have been great since .