Okuma Integrity and equipment review...

[Lil Salmon]

I just wanted to let all our visitors know that I had great success with the Okuma Intergrity 10/11 fly reel for kings this past weekend. Previously I had been using my Scientific Angler System 2 1011 which couldn't hold a king to save its life, but the few I did battle with were well fought with my Okuma. Besides the performance, the price at around $70.00 is alot easier to handle for those on a budget vs. my SA System 2 at $170.00.

My first custom rod also held up also except 1 eye fell victim to a angry king. It will just give me an excuse to drive to Cabela's again to pick up a single foot Titanium carbide snake guide.

Hope everyones equipment held their own on your trips to the Salmon River. I was thinking about starting a equiptment review section on the site but not sure if it would be useful to our visitors. Please post some comments and tell me what you think.

Lil'

[Craydaddy]

Hey lil seems like you had a great weekend! Congrats!! I think an equipment review section would be nice!! I beat the he!! out of my stuff and I will tell anyone about it. Let's see what the rest have to say! Congrats again man! I want to try to hook up with ya in Oct!!

[Lil Salmon]

Definetly...looking forward to it.

Lil'

[gman2153]

Glad you liked the Okuma - I recall mentioning it to you when you asked about reels..

10/11 - damm - you are loaded for Bear my Man...

I got the Integtrity 7/8 and 8/9... I used my new Okuma Airframe 7/9 this trip up and it worked well... Can't complain about the prices.

Love those Starwheels - even a guy with tree trunks for fingers can finesse the drag....

[Anonymous]

has anyone put the new cortland AR 10 or 8 to the test?
i've been fishing with cortland reels for some time, and they work okay. the problem is when i hook a screamer, i can smell the drag burning (no joke)... too much plastic. i am pretty excited to get my hands on the AR, just wanted to know who's fished one...

[Lil Salmon]

I know. I know. 10/11 is a little overkill. Everytime I tried someones reel it didn't deliver and wasn't able to hold a fish. So I figured I wouldn't take the chance and have the same thing happen with this reel. Besides...it balances the rod I just finished nicely.

Not quite sure about the Cortland. Anyone else have some help for Neil?

Lil'

[ecsteelheader]

Hey Lil Salmon,that sounds like a great idea,what size System 2 do you have ? I have a 8/9wt. which replaced a junky Orvis 10/11wt.Battenkill,that reel couldnt hold squat...lol...i like my System 2 alot,,but you have me thinking of that Okuma,i gotta go check it out,,great post....>))>

[Lil Salmon]

I have a system 2 1011. In three years I could never hold a king. Its fine for steelhead but the power and weight of some of the kings it crapped out. I was extremely impressed with the Okuma Integrity. It has some sort of steel bearing drag instead of cork, etc. Lamson makes a reel called the Lamson Litespeed and its beautiful looking and has a 'conical drag that is supposed to be phenomenal, but the reel is like $350.00. With the Okuma at $70.00 you can't beat it! If you want something a little different the Okuma Magnitude is the exact same reel but the frame etc. is made of Magnesium instead. Its like 10 bucks more. Gman told me about the Okuma's originally.

EC I hope this helps.

Lil'

[fish chaser]

I like Okuma spining reels in the winter time for those hard fighting steelies nothing like 4 pound test throwin a mile in the sportsman pool They are some good reels i tell ya good $ too.But for fly rod i wnet all out and purchased an abel 3n thats a great reel for me even tho the price was a litttle high.

see you guys on the river!



fish on coming up......
fish offf

[Finman]

has anyone put the new cortland AR 10 or 8 to the test?
i've been fishing with cortland reels for some time, and they work okay. the problem is when i hook a screamer, i can smell the drag burning (no joke)... too much plastic. i am pretty excited to get my hands on the AR, just wanted to know who's fished one...


Neil,
The Cortland AR10, AR8 and AR6, are not new. It is the introductory first generation reels from Right Angle, and they are not making them anymore for Cortland. They aren't private labeling for anybody anymore. I have a Right Angle AR10 in gold and it is a pretty good anti-reverse reel, but I do believe there are better anti-reverse reels out there like the Tibor Billy Pate "Salmon" and "Bonefish" models are proven winners, and the Gilmore "Intercoastal X400 AR" is a fairly new reel that is supposed to be awesome. It even has a large arbor spool. I tried an Orvis Vortex, wasn't overly thrilled. I like the drag on the crank side, not the opposite side.

I had a bit of a problem at first with my Right Angle AR10. When it got wet from rain, not a river dunking, the drag was chucking when the fish ran. I sent it back to Right Angle and they replaced the drag washer and sent it back to me. So far, so good, but it hasn't been fished with in the pouring rain since I got it back so I am curious myself if it will do it again.

Don't buy the Cortland if you see some of them left around like at Big A's shop in town or somewhere else, cause they're old and first generation, and if you have warranty issues you then have to go to Cortland who then has to go to Right Angle. I think I may buy a Gilmore and give it a shot. If I do, I'll post on here as to it's performance. Hope this helped. Tight lines to you.

Finman <=^<<

[Anonymous]

I have an 8/9 Integrity that finnaly got brokin in last weekend. Good reel though the drag skip after being rained on and dunked a fare number of times during the day. I love the fact that the drag was easy to find and adjust during the battle and the price is unbeatable. I would suggest it to anyone in a heavier version though those 25+ lb brusiers in high water will be tough no matter what reel you got. One other aspect that I found nice is the fact that I had to drop the dough for the extra spool of mono on Sun with the water levels and $25 with line can save the day. What a day Sunday was!

[gman2153]

maybe your problem is grease. Lil Salmon poste the other day his reel went into free spool. He thought it was from dunking it, but took it apart and found grease on the drag disk. Cleaned it with alcohol - good as new. It may be worth a looking inside your reel.

[Lil Salmon]

Gman .... are you kidding me :) I was just about to post the exact same response..almost verbatum. I took it home on Sunday poped it open and found grease on the clutch discs. I cleaned them with rubbing alcohol and hopefully it is as good as new. Not quite sure why Okuma wouldn't try to keep grease away from the drag but either way I think I fixed it. We'll see on the first king I lay into on friday.....It's funny how great minds think alike :lol:

Lil'

[Craydaddy]

Gret minds??? You guys are more twisted than anyone else! LOL!! Just Joking guys! I could not resist! :lol:

[Anonymous]

I finnaly tore this this sucka apart and it's loaded with grease and tiny parts. After some fumbling and dropping numerious parts I finally got to the drag and I can't even understand the logic of dropping that much grease on friction plates. I wanted to put on a pair of gloves there was so much(slight exageration). I cleaned w/ alcohol, dried and reassembled with minimal grease and the drag seems much better. I would definetly suggest that anyone who purchaes these reels tear it apart before you hook into your first big King of the year and have it free wheel and bash your knuckles repetedly (spoken from experience). I still think it's a great reel for the money. Though I can feel the urge to splurge on an anti- reverse (my knuckles are still sore).

Tight lines

[Anonymous]

even with all of the complaining it only took 20 min