Okuma Gold Titus?

Gregotis98 · 02-17-2003, 09:41 PM

I'm looking to buy some shinny new gear this year for tuna and halibut. Has anyone had any experience with these reels? They're in my price range, around $300 for a 30# and $380 for 30#2spd. I'm looking to stay under $350 for a nice offshore lever drag reel. The new Diawa SL-D looks like it could be the one when it comes out, but how long will I have to wait. I'm actually looking for a 20# class reel and would love to get some suggestions about 2spd's vs single spd. and reels under $350.

bait boy · 02-17-2003, 10:55 PM

Penn's Kg series reels are a good option and you can buy them for under 300$ 2 speed and enough line cap. for any of the fishing that we do here.

Sensei-san · 02-18-2003, 08:25 AM

Two speeds are definitely the way to go on tuna. For halibut they can be problematical. I have lost some big halibut trying to gear down or gear up. The main issue with halibut is having a reel with enough gear and drag strength to deal with the constant pressure. A lot of reels look like they will handle halibut with braided lines but the gears and drags are way too small.

Okuma are good reels. They are a great value for the money. But they require a bit more maintenance than Penn or Shimano. But the good thing is that they have an excellent parts department and fill parts orders promptly.

Shimano makes a great reel but have lousy customer service and will not discount their reels anywhere. They will bust dealers that discount even in far away places like Australia. I hope that with Daiwa finally bringing out a line of tuna reels, Shimano will see the light.

Myles · 02-18-2003, 08:32 AM

You can save quite a bit of cash buying those reels on e-bay. Do a search for "okuma titus". I bought the Titus 2, 2 speed lever drag but havn't had a chance to use it yet so I can't give any recomendations. I'll bring it to the next tunaholics meeting.

myles

Threemuch · 02-18-2003, 03:36 PM

TLD20II is a great reel. Bulletproof. Sensei, just because you have gears, doesn't mean you have to shift!

That said, I am a penn man. I don't own one, but would not hesitate to buy a 10KG if I could afford it.
KB

Sensei-san · 02-18-2003, 07:59 PM

Threemuch... Easy for you to say, you young whippersnapper.

I get tired reeling up from 800'. Somehow when you gear down for more power, the halibut seem to sense it and spit the hook.

I went back to giant 6/0 reels to get the gear size that I wanted. 6/0's have giant gears and a larger mesh area. The downside is I lost the lightweight outfit that I was using. Back to using a cod plate and the rail.