Okuma Baitfeeder Reels good for live baiting?

[ubnt]

Hello friends,

After losing some big fish due to my slowness tightening drag, I have been looking at Shimano baitrunner reels. I know I can trust them but want to find a cheaper one as beginners usually do. So I went to Amazon and found the Okuma Avenger ABF B Series Baitfeeder Reels abdf40 which is only 85 bucks. Shimano OC 4000 is 149, don't you think Okuma is a bargain here. Not to mention it has 7 berrings instead of 3. Reviews are pretty good on Amazon as well. What do you think?

Here is the link:

https://www.amazon.com.au/Okuma-Avenger-Baitfeeder-Reels-Unisex-Adult/dp/B00LDYL4PC/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?crid=3K5274Z6BJIUL&keywords=okuma%2Breel&qid=1645665394&sprefix=okuma%2Caps%2C708&sr=8-5&th=1&psc=1

 

[ellicat]

Looks pretty good for the price. I'd give it a whirl.

Line capacity is relatively small compared to others.

Here's the specs page from Okuma -

https://www.okumafishing.com/en/product/Avenger-ABF-Spinning-Reel.html

 

[Sunny boy]

1 hour ago, ellicat said:

Looks pretty good for the price. I'd give it a whirl.

Line capacity is relatively small compared to others.

Here's the specs page from Okuma -

https://www.okumafishing.com/en/product/Avenger-ABF-Spinning-Reel.html

 

Thanks Kat for the find and indeed the line capacity is not impressive.  However  the weight and max drag look pretty solid.  I thought  it is a Japanese brand until the website says it come from taiwan which should produce quality reel. Will get mine in 3 days and cant wait to test it.

 

[Gad]

Howdy ubnt... I've bought Okuma reels in sizes 20-80 (2000-8000) since the mid 2000's. I have 2 of their 60 size bait feeders/runners, that I bought around 2010, that are still running great...  a rinse and clean after use, along regular 6-12 month home services the Okuma range is a bang for buck reel....
The only bad reports I've heard of any Okuma reel has been from those who have never bought/used one and/or by the Richard who abuses every thing he buys and can not reason that everything has it's pre- crap itself limit 

 

 

[Sunny boy]

1 hour ago, Gad said:

Howdy ubnt... I've bought Okuma reels in sizes 20-80 (2000-8000) since the mid 2000's. I have 2 of their 60 size bait feeders/runners, that I bought around 2010, that are still running great...  a rinse and clean after use, along regular 6-12 month home services the Okuma range is a bang for buck reel....
The only bad reports I've heard of any Okuma reel has been from those who have never bought/used one and/or by the Richard who abuses every thing he buys and can not reason that everything has it's pre- crap itself limit 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Gad said:

Howdy ubnt... I've bought Okuma reels in sizes 20-80 (2000-8000) since the mid 2000's. I have 2 of their 60 size bait feeders/runners, that I bought around 2010, that are still running great...  a rinse and clean after use, along regular 6-12 month home services the Okuma range is a bang for buck reel....
The only bad reports I've heard of any Okuma reel has been from those who have never bought/used one and/or by the Richard who abuses every thing he buys and can not reason that everything has it's pre- crap itself limit 

 

 

Hi Gad, thanks for sharing your experience with the brand. I wonder how hard it is to do 6-12 months service? I tried open my daiwa reel one day and found they use special screws and not easy to open. do i need any special screw driver for okuma?

[Gad]

Evening Sunny boy,  I'm guessing that these rainy days are not your kind of days....
My piscatorial reel arsenal is made up of Okuma spinners and br's, Shimano spinners and baitcasters, ABU Ambassadeur overheads and Alveys...  daiwa reels and I had a rocky relationship in the late 70's-early 80's so parting was never regretted 
I'm not a reel servicing guru, so my in side reel services are very basic ones, clean out and regrease/oil, bearing, cogs, shafts etc.  
all my Okumas have phillips head screws for getting into the workings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWpOaD3fbRE

https://www.reelschematic.com/reel-schematics/okuma-reel-schematics/

hope this is of some help to you

 

 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hey @ubnt

Baitrunners are definitely worth it, especially if you plan to fish with live baits a lot. I don't have any comments on the Okuma version but I can't imagine they would be that bad. 

Even with my short experience using a baitrunner, I really like them. 

Good Luck,

Cheers Hamish

[ubnt]

On 26/02/2022 at 6:41 PM, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Hey @ubnt

Baitrunners are definitely worth it, especially if you plan to fish with live baits a lot. I don't have any comments on the Okuma version but I can't imagine they would be that bad. 

Even with my short experience using a baitrunner, I really like them. 

Good Luck,

Cheers Hamish

Hi Hamish, glad to hear that you have found your baitrunner worthy and I expect mine so as well. Just curious if you put sinker on the line or let your bait fish swim free from landbased perspective? Have you caught any fish yet,

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

45 minutes ago, ubnt said:

Hi Hamish, glad to hear that you have found your baitrunner worthy and I expect mine so as well. Just curious if you put sinker on the line or let your bait fish swim free from landbased perspective? Have you caught any fish yet,

Hey ubnt 

I mainly fish landbased in the Brisbane River. The tide is quite strong, which means that even if fishing structure right next to the bank you will often still need a sinker. The only time I fish unweighted is when I float prawn cubes down for bream.

When I am live baiting in the river and targeting fish like threadfin salmon, I use anywhere from a size 2 ball sinker to a size 5 star sinker. Size 2 and 6 ball sinkers and size 4 star sinkers being the main size I use. I put these on top of a trace of about 70cm (can go shorter/longer but I prefer above 50cm) or occasionally just have the sinker running straight to the hook.

I think you will find that if you cast out unweighted livies they will stay on the surface, get pushed away by the current, and tangle with other fishers lines.

I have caught a few threadies and many other fish using sinkers and live bait, though only a few little bream fishing unweighted. I would be giving fishing in the river a miss for about 1-3weeks due to all this debris and freshwater.

Cheers Hamish