Keith, I couldn't agree with you more.
A story that underscores this thought is when I first got my 4/5 reel, I took it into
my favorite small fly shop and asked them if they had heard of the reel. They said
that they hadn't and started to play with it a bit. They were very impressed with it,
to the point of calling the owner over to look at it.
We compared it to their cheapest Tioga reel that retailed for $110. The Tioga had a
lot more slap back in it until the drag kicked in then the Okuma. Yet to this day
they still don't carry the Okuma line even though they admitted it was a better reel
for the money.
I will give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe they didn't want to go through
the cost/hassle of becomming a distributor for another brand but still I find the
behavior interesting.
Again, the reels are perfect but it performs every bit as good as my SA System 2.
Which reel would I trust for a really big fish like a Salmon, the SA 2 of course. But
while fishing for trout up to 8 pounds or so, the Okuma is perfect.
Mike W
Keith wrote:
<<I think this is the typical situation of different strokes for different
folks. Some wouldn't be caught dead with a reel that cost less than $200 or
$300 no matter how good it is. I have a couple of fishing buddies who hear
me comment on the Okuma reels but neither of them even cares to try mine for
a few minutes because they think the cost is too low. Others, myself
included, are primarily concerned about finding a good reel that is a good
value. I've used a lot of different less-than-$100 reels and so far none
have come close to the value of the Okumas. Are the $200+ reels better? In
most cases, yes. Are they worth it? That depends on who you're talking to.
Keith>>
