I started to post this on another thread, but it seemed like I was hijacking it so figured I would give it it's own thread - sort of a reel review.
All of my gear was pretty old (mainly Shimano) so starting to replace it all. To get started was just looking to spend around $80 for the reels. Researched the heck out of it and of course the Shimano always came up, but in almost every thread I read, the Pfleuger President was always mentioned and seconded - people just seemed to love them so that was one I picked out.
I also came across a few reviews of the Okuma Trio S High Speed and all were good reviews and they raved about the drag. Never owned an Okuma but I did buy a $40.00 one for my son and thought it was a good reel for the money so thought I would give it a try. At the time they were selling for around $75.00 in stores and I came across a new one on ebay for $54.00 shipped
Put them both on the Ugly Stick Lite Pro.
The President - I like it, seems like a good reel for the money, just need to see how it holds up. My shimano reels were a minimum of 10-12 years old and tho they still worked fine, it was a pretty nice improvement (I probably paid around $40 for the shimanos way back when so you sure can't argue with the longevity, tho they did not get constant regular use. Nice reels but each one just had a few quirks that always bugged me a bit.
The President is pretty much what everyone said it was. Casts nice, pretty light. Have not really had to test out the drag yet. Love the handle, fits in my hand perfect.
The Okuma Trio S - is heavier than the President, but it is a good heft. The president weighs 5.9 oz where the Trio S weighs 10.4 oz so it is almost twice as heavy, but on the rod it is balanced really well. The extra weight just makes it seem more substantial, better built (may not be, just seems so). Light weight is obviously nice, but I figure if I can't be throwing a 10 oz reel all day, I shouldn't be fishing and I never carry it around as it is always on my boat. Smooth as butter, casts great. First day I took it out I put a hard body Sebile Magic Swimmer on it that I had owned for only a couple of weeks. I had used it quite a bit on my old Shimano so was used to how it cast, or so I thought. On the very first cast with the new Trio the Sebile went MUCH further then I thought it would go - wrapped it around a branch hanging way out over the water just out of my reach. Could not get it down. So I marked the spot as a waypoint and planned on coming back to saw the tree down (real small tree). Didn't get back out for 4 days and by then the water had drawn down to far - it was now on dry land surrounded by really rocky shoreline so I could not get the boat close enough to get to shore. I am still planning on getting that when the water comes back up. I have only used them about a month, but so far I like the Okuma better. Have not had any fish big enough to test out the drag they raved about. I throw everything on it - from very light stuff to the heaviest of my tackle. It is now the reel I go to if I am throwing heavy stuff.
The President has a ratio of 5:2:1 where the Trio S is 6:2:1 with the 30 S bringing in a whopping 31" per turn (the 40 S does 33")
I obviously can not speak about durability for it yet either.
I can say Okuma has great service. I can be really stupid at times and was using it on my downrigger like the 2nd time I had it out. Not thinking as usual, I was sort of playing around with the drag - reason the downrigger was mentioned was because I was right at the edge of the boat. I loosened the drag all of the way out and I went too far, it unexpectedly came off the reel - falling in about 60 feet of water. No, they do not float.
Can't say much for Okuma's web site and I could not find any parts diagrams, so I emailed Okuma telling them exactly how I lost it, no fault of theirs, and asked them for either a part number or if they sold them. Next day I got an email back and the guy said he was sending me one out with no charge.
I emailed him back, thanking him, telling him I did not realize their warranty even covered my stupidity.
No experience with Pfleuger warranty.
I am pleased with both purchases and both reels ended up costing about the same. As mentioned I put them both on the 6'6" U.S. Lite Pro and imo it is one nice outfit for the money - rod and reel ran me under $100 each.
I have used and tried out more expensive reels and while I had planned on my next reels being more expensive, after using them I really don;t see why i would spend more. The Okuma reels and casts as nice as some reels I have tried that were twice as much with the biggest down side (not for me) being the weight as it is about twice as heavy as most. I am just hoping that means it is built well out of good quality parts - we will see.
I was planning on getting a couple of different makes, but I was surfing ebay and see where I can get the Okuma Trio 40 S , new, for $45.00 shipped. Probably a little larger reel than I like, but that seems like a basement bargain deal to me and am headed there to order one now.
Now I just need to decide on what to get next as i want at least 1 more spinning outfit. Shimano, Daiwa or maybe even a better Pflueger - I guess I will just see what I can stumble across.
I don't see how you can go wrong with either reel. Will depend on durability but weight aside, the Trio S seems like a really good bargain to me.
Forgot - the only thing I am not a huge fan of on the Okuma is the handle. It just does not fit in my hand as nicely as the President does, seems a little bulky. Is not horrible, but the President feels much better.
All of my gear was pretty old (mainly Shimano) so starting to replace it all. To get started was just looking to spend around $80 for the reels. Researched the heck out of it and of course the Shimano always came up, but in almost every thread I read, the Pfleuger President was always mentioned and seconded - people just seemed to love them so that was one I picked out.
I also came across a few reviews of the Okuma Trio S High Speed and all were good reviews and they raved about the drag. Never owned an Okuma but I did buy a $40.00 one for my son and thought it was a good reel for the money so thought I would give it a try. At the time they were selling for around $75.00 in stores and I came across a new one on ebay for $54.00 shipped
Put them both on the Ugly Stick Lite Pro.
The President - I like it, seems like a good reel for the money, just need to see how it holds up. My shimano reels were a minimum of 10-12 years old and tho they still worked fine, it was a pretty nice improvement (I probably paid around $40 for the shimanos way back when so you sure can't argue with the longevity, tho they did not get constant regular use. Nice reels but each one just had a few quirks that always bugged me a bit.
The President is pretty much what everyone said it was. Casts nice, pretty light. Have not really had to test out the drag yet. Love the handle, fits in my hand perfect.
The Okuma Trio S - is heavier than the President, but it is a good heft. The president weighs 5.9 oz where the Trio S weighs 10.4 oz so it is almost twice as heavy, but on the rod it is balanced really well. The extra weight just makes it seem more substantial, better built (may not be, just seems so). Light weight is obviously nice, but I figure if I can't be throwing a 10 oz reel all day, I shouldn't be fishing and I never carry it around as it is always on my boat. Smooth as butter, casts great. First day I took it out I put a hard body Sebile Magic Swimmer on it that I had owned for only a couple of weeks. I had used it quite a bit on my old Shimano so was used to how it cast, or so I thought. On the very first cast with the new Trio the Sebile went MUCH further then I thought it would go - wrapped it around a branch hanging way out over the water just out of my reach. Could not get it down. So I marked the spot as a waypoint and planned on coming back to saw the tree down (real small tree). Didn't get back out for 4 days and by then the water had drawn down to far - it was now on dry land surrounded by really rocky shoreline so I could not get the boat close enough to get to shore. I am still planning on getting that when the water comes back up. I have only used them about a month, but so far I like the Okuma better. Have not had any fish big enough to test out the drag they raved about. I throw everything on it - from very light stuff to the heaviest of my tackle. It is now the reel I go to if I am throwing heavy stuff.
The President has a ratio of 5:2:1 where the Trio S is 6:2:1 with the 30 S bringing in a whopping 31" per turn (the 40 S does 33")
I obviously can not speak about durability for it yet either.
I can say Okuma has great service. I can be really stupid at times and was using it on my downrigger like the 2nd time I had it out. Not thinking as usual, I was sort of playing around with the drag - reason the downrigger was mentioned was because I was right at the edge of the boat. I loosened the drag all of the way out and I went too far, it unexpectedly came off the reel - falling in about 60 feet of water. No, they do not float.
Can't say much for Okuma's web site and I could not find any parts diagrams, so I emailed Okuma telling them exactly how I lost it, no fault of theirs, and asked them for either a part number or if they sold them. Next day I got an email back and the guy said he was sending me one out with no charge.
I emailed him back, thanking him, telling him I did not realize their warranty even covered my stupidity.
No experience with Pfleuger warranty.
I am pleased with both purchases and both reels ended up costing about the same. As mentioned I put them both on the 6'6" U.S. Lite Pro and imo it is one nice outfit for the money - rod and reel ran me under $100 each.
I have used and tried out more expensive reels and while I had planned on my next reels being more expensive, after using them I really don;t see why i would spend more. The Okuma reels and casts as nice as some reels I have tried that were twice as much with the biggest down side (not for me) being the weight as it is about twice as heavy as most. I am just hoping that means it is built well out of good quality parts - we will see.
I was planning on getting a couple of different makes, but I was surfing ebay and see where I can get the Okuma Trio 40 S , new, for $45.00 shipped. Probably a little larger reel than I like, but that seems like a basement bargain deal to me and am headed there to order one now.
Now I just need to decide on what to get next as i want at least 1 more spinning outfit. Shimano, Daiwa or maybe even a better Pflueger - I guess I will just see what I can stumble across.
I don't see how you can go wrong with either reel. Will depend on durability but weight aside, the Trio S seems like a really good bargain to me.
Forgot - the only thing I am not a huge fan of on the Okuma is the handle. It just does not fit in my hand as nicely as the President does, seems a little bulky. Is not horrible, but the President feels much better.
