Okuma Custom Blue 5Nii

rogan · August 17, 2022, 10:56:33 PM

I made an unexpected purchase last week and it arrived on Monday, an Okuma Cavalla 5Nii in a custom color, blue. A well known tackle shop in Huntington Beach, Ca made a special purchase and offered these up for sale at a nice price. I wasn't really looking for a small 2-speed lever drag, but at this price, I could not refuse.

I remembered Alan talking about a small 2-speed for tuna, something to handle the 30lb class. I think this reel would also serve as a slow pitch jigging reel, but I don't have any experience with SPJ yet, so mine will function as a 30lb class reel for now. I spooled mine up with 50lb j-braid braid and just barely got 300 yards loaded onto the spool. Other braids will have differing capacities. I wanted to use 40lb, I don't have any right now, so I used 50. (Please ignore the glaring bright color of the braid, I got a good deal on 2800+ yds of it for less than 4 cents a yard.)

This is only my third 2-speed, and haven't caught any fish on a 2-speed yet, so this is only an initial impressions kind of post. After spooling, I broke out the scale and took some measurements. I dialed up the pre-set until I got 14lbs at strike, which gave me 22 at sunset. I was slightly disappointed with the drag curve since it's short and fast. This reel has detents on the lever, with 20 stops between free and strike and another 9 stops from strike to full. At the 14/22lb settings, there are 7 unused clicks to get to any form of drag when going from free towards strike. The next 4 clicks the drag goes from about 1lb to about 3lbs, then it jumps to 9ish lbs with a noticeable increase in force to move the lever. There is a second similar jump when moving the lever past the strike detent, it jumps from 14lbs to 19lbs at the first click past strike. So this reel may be a candidate for a cam re-profile.

The handle arm is long, set up for SPJ, but I don't mind it. I don't care for the football style grips, but since it's riveted in place, I will have to drill it out to replace it with Alan's 3/0 handle.

I looked up the Metaloid schematic and compared it with the Custom Blue paperwork that I got in the box. Looks the same to me in general design. The frame, spool and gears have different parts numbers, but the drag washer and gear shaft are the same, as well as some other small parts. I am including a photo of the schematic ( for you J

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I will take it casting later and report back, it's giving me 15-18 seconds of free spool right now and when I crack it open this weekend I'll see what Okuma is doing inside with lubrication and corrosion protection.

Recoil Rob · August 17, 2022, 11:08:56 PM

Yep, I fell for one also, arrived about 10 minutes ago. Not sure if I'm gonna spool with 40 or 50 J-Braid multi. Might get some small tuna with it off Montauk but will mostly be used for chunking stripers I think. Looked like a good deal, we'll see.

pjstevko · August 17, 2022, 11:10:33 PM

Hell ya! That's a prefect 30# reel!

Now send it to Alan to re-work the drag scale and it'll be perfect!

What other 2 speeds do you have?

rogan · August 17, 2022, 11:18:02 PM

PJ, I have a Penn 16VSX and an Andros 12N. I need something to cover 50-60 and then I am ready for Tuna. Well, I still have two rods to get, but that's gonna change too cause I bought a used rod wrapper over the weekend, so now I have another hobby! I'll post about the rod wrapper later...

pjstevko · August 18, 2022, 12:38:57 AM

You're well on your way to being covered for tuna on all bases! Check out the Mak 15T for 50-60# work

thorhammer · August 18, 2022, 12:59:03 AM

I saw those! Really wanted one but have several dozen LD's sitting idle as it is...

rogan · August 19, 2022, 12:24:57 AM

I mounted it up on a 30lb rod and took it casting at my local pond. It casted well for me, just like a similar sized star drag. The current free spool time of 15-18 seconds actually translated into an easy cast for me. If I get better free spool, I will have to be more controlled with my casting and thumb control to prevent overruns.

Overall I really like it. Now the question is, "do I take it to Cedros in a week?"

pjstevko · August 19, 2022, 12:45:34 AM

Quote from: rogan on August 19, 2022, 12:24:57 AMOverall I really like it. Now the question is, "do I take it to Cedros in a week?"

Why wouldn't you!!!!!

patrisage · August 27, 2022, 10:14:56 PM

I bought one as well. Disappointed in how steep the drag curve is. Granted, I'm fishing for salmon, so my strike drag setting is pretty low. Nonetheless, drag curve is almost nonexistant. With strike set at my usual downrigger-trolling spot (maybe 5lbs), a couple clicks back is essentially freespool. Would love the reel if the drag curve could be flattened enough to use in more than an all-or-none capacity!

pjstevko · August 28, 2022, 01:09:09 AM

Quote from: patrisage on August 27, 2022, 10:14:56 PMI bought one as well. Disappointed in how steep the drag curve is. Granted, I'm fishing for salmon, so my strike drag setting is pretty low. Nonetheless, drag curve is almost nonexistant. With strike set at my usual downrigger-trolling spot (maybe 5lbs), a couple clicks back is essentially freespool. Would love the reel if the drag curve could be flattened enough to use in more than an all-or-none capacity!

Send it to Alan and have him re-work the drag profile! He's headed to Cedros today or tomorrow but the reel will be buttery smooth after he works his magic...

boon · August 28, 2022, 09:21:46 PM

Yeah the drag curve on these little Okumas is more like Off-On-More. They basically work like a star drag except you have a second position for more beans.

ksandin · September 01, 2022, 03:57:05 AM

I came here looking for a DIY maybe to fix this "on/Off". I got mine in the mail a few weeks ago and was so disappointed I stopped by there on my way down to Oceanside (also to pick up a couple of their Okuma deckhand rods on special too).
I asked if there was something wrong with mine and they said all lever drags are like that. Not my internationals, not my accurates, and not even a little avet that I have, but I chocked it up to being a "miniature" reel and left with it, figuring I can use the first 7 detents of drag as a "cast control"!

When you open it up Rogan, let me know if anything needs attending to and good to know Alan can work some magic on it down the road.

Thanks, Keith

boon · September 03, 2022, 12:19:36 AM

The Makairas run like this as well with the braid cam. If you put the "Tournament"/mono cam in they get a much more progressive drag curve. To "fix" it I think you would have to mess around with a combination of the belleville washers and the ramp of the cam.

EDIT: I think you would probably end up with reduced maximum drag too, but at the same time these little reels make far more drag than is practical on any rod they will actually balance with.

sabaman1 · September 03, 2022, 05:10:24 AM

Where are the bellevilles in the schematic? I dont see any being listed also.

Robert Janssen · September 03, 2022, 09:10:06 PM

I looked at mine yesterday. The cam is straight and even with a very gentle rise of around 0.5 mm. Nothing strange at all.

Total increase in drag from the first click above freespool being set at one pound, was around 11 lbs.

The belleville spring washers were four 6 x 11 x 0.7 mm, stacked ()()

I would suggest simply ordering four 6 x 12 x 0.5 mm bellevilles and see how that feels.

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