Any experience with Fin-Nor's OFS series reels?

[Ellis Feibush]

Does anyone out there have any experience with Fin-Nor's Offshore OFS  OF16H  or  OF20H series reels? They sound good and are priced right around the same  as the Shimano Toriums. Some of the fishermen around here are starting to use them with good luck. Not sure who else has used them. Thank you for any replies.

[alantani]

here you go!  http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=590.0

[Ellis Feibush]

Thanks Alan for your thorough reply. I absolutely agree with your assement; this reel looks very much like my own Saltist however there  is a price differential. The Saltist I think, is a few dollars less and is quite a good reel. Not a fan of Ambassaduer-style a/r dogs. Never felt too secure with this type of set-up. (Your upgrade with drop-in a/r spring and pawl on the Torium was just super!) Kind of a strange mixture of bearing materials, with the main bearing  made of Stainless and the pinion made of brass. They should have also made the pinion out of stainless too. Was the main shaft on the Fin-Nor made of stainless also? Just serviced My Daiwa Grandwave 30, a reel Daiwa made for a short time, but very good for what it is with a double a/r set up (a/r pawl and also a/r bearing). Also removed Dailwa's wet felt washers, installed a set of Carbontex washers, brushed on some Cal's and now I'm a believer! Thanks Alan.

[alantani]

welcome to the dark side......

[Ellis Feibush]

Hi, Alan- Used my newly serviced Daiwa BG20 (12#), newly serviced tiny Avet SX 5:1-1 (20#), and Daiwa Sealine X30SHA (25#), on terrific Striped Bass and Bluefish  fishing yesterday. When we found the fish you had to get through the bass to get to the Bluefish. The bass ran 5 - 35lbs. The poolwinner went 35 lbs. The water had prematurely warmed up and the fishing had also heated up. I pre-set drags or each reel running line through the rod guieds and attaching to a drag scale. Testind a reel loaded with 20# and setting dragat 5 Lbs. is unrealistic. Stripers are simply not great fighting fish like Bluefish or False Albacore. The challenge here isfinding a large Striper. In any event, the drags worked fine, but I think in this case drags  preset at around 20% yield more fun and challenge from each fish than drags preset at 25%. I would think the 25% drag  setting would work well on our offshore Yellowfin Tuna, Bluefin Tuna and Bigeye Tuna. I would imagine the same setting would work well for Pacific Coast species. I believe my drag testing did include the influence of  the rod guides which is substantial. Thanks again Alan. I appreciate your responses. I only wish I could make mine as short as yours.

[CapeFish]

Does anyone out there have any experience with Fin-Nor's Offshore OFS  OF16H  or  OF20H series reels? They sound good and are priced right around the same  as the Shimano Toriums. Some of the fishermen around here are starting to use them with good luck. Not sure who else has used them. Thank you for any replies.

A few people our side of the Atlantic have started using the 30's for Surf fishing as they take a bit more line than the Torium 30. I have now seen 2 with pinion gear problems, they just don't seem to engage properly. There seems to be a problem with the springs holding the pinion down not seating properly. Also, drive shafts poorly machined. They look very bling bling but the manufacturing is not up to Shimano/Daiwa standard.

[Ellis Feibush]

Thank you for your response Capefish. The consensus of opinion regarding the Fin Nor reels is mixed, although mostly negative. It seems that parts aren't  so easily obtainable. You have to bear in mind that this is not the same Fin Nor as in yesteryear. It is an entirely different company with different ownership and sort of trading on the good name that Fin Nor established. Originally they built some of the finest big game reels in the world. The introduction of Penn Internationals and other big game offshore reels helped shovel the dirt over their grave so to speak. Having owned a few of the original Fin Nor Regal big game reels, I can testify to the quality of equipment, which was excellent. This new company is a totally new firm and IMHO too many negatives to jump into the fray. For me, anyway, it's a no for the Fin Nor OFS reels. I saw one yesterday and it certainly looked the part, but when I compared it with the Daiwa Saltiga 30Lb. class, I think that's the direction for me to spend my money. Thank you for your enlightening reply. That's what makes these forums so helpful.