makaira 8 II rebuild - 3/4/2011

[alantani]

at a very light drag setting, it is very common to feel some unevenness to the drag.  it is usually because the drag material itself is uneven.  under a heavy load, the drag material mashes down and evens out.  as far as the material itself, probably the highest quality material out there is from ballard.  the materials coming out of asia work just as well and at a fraction of the cost, but the are not the same quality of material that you will find from smoothdrag.com and all of the us reel manufacturers. 

[coastalobsession]

Okuma stepped up their game on this reel!

[Dweezy]

Are there plastic parts in this reel?  Im debating on purchasing the makaira 8 or the andros...  I know the makaira is a better built reel but the andros is so light and tiny!  Any suggestions on which one to choose?

[alantani]

depends on whether you need 12 pound of drag or 24......

[Dweezy]

I would like to get the andros but i am worried about the plastic pieces on and in the reel...

[wallacewt]

ive had my andros for 2yrs,hasnt missed a beat,landed some good samson fish.magic reel.

[JGB]

I fish both the MK10 and the Andros 5. Both are very good reels and both have different strengths.
The Andros was intended to be fished up to around 40# (50# being the max) and is a high speed  2 speed reel.
It is very light with a lot of line capacity (more than the MK8 and less than the MK10). Plastic parts are limited to the lever guide and the anouncer. It does not have harness lugs. The spool weight is very light and makes for high performance casting.
I fish this reel with 30-35# BlackWater leaders and 50# braid.
The MK10 (same as the MK8 but wider) is a much heavier reel with a very strong frame and harness lugs. You can fish 65# with no problem with this reel (you could fish 100# if you did not need the line capacity). It has a lower retrieve rate to match the higher drag capability. Spool weight is higher than the Andros but it still cast very nice.

If you are buying new a MK8 or MK10 I would consider the MK8II-SEa or the MK10II-SEa. They have the 'Tani ' service built in, large Tiburon handle and a slightly machined out frame (1/2 oz lighter).

My go to reel for 5-7 day trips is the Andros 5 set up with 35# short top (25') Black Water flouro leader. This has easily subdued
many YFT between 65# and 100#. The reason is I like to 'finesse' with long soaks at  the Lupe and the Rocks. The Andros is ligh enough to do this all day. The Mk10 is heavier and more tiring to fish 15-20 min soaks. Both rigs present live bait very well while the Mk10 provides more power at the rail.

If it comes to value the Mk8/10 and the Andros 5 are within $60 of each other. I feel the MK series offer more value for the $$.

Jim N.

[redsetta]

Great detail Jim - much appreciated.
Cheers, Justin

[kallitype]

If they only came in a left-hand model.

[boghy]

So far, does anyone experienced wear issues with this part?


On my Cavalla, i changed the plastic made clicker gear few times, fishing for sharks. Its not expensive, but it doesn't make any sense in my head why Okuma chose plastic gear click gear for their high-end reels, but yet for okuma solterra they opt for metal click gear. Also, the clicker on solterra SLR-10CS that i had, IT KEEPS the LOUD sound even after multiple strong runs in one season, versus my Cavalla 20, where the plastic clicker gear starts fading by the end of one season, where replacement is needed. For Cavalla 50w-ll - the clicker gear is joke.

[madday]

i know this would like a dumb question....
but how actually this makaira's dual drag works?

i will receive this reel tomorrow, read this review some times, but i can't understand yet how these work..... 

[redsetta]

Hi Madday,
No dual drag on the Makaira, just a standard single CF washer, ie:



Hope I've understood your question correctly.
Good luck with your new reel, Justin

[madday]

Hi Madday,
No dual drag on the Makaira, just a standard single CF washer, ie:
Hope I've understood your question correctly.
Good luck with your new reel, Justin

thanks... i was misunderstood..... its a dual force..... 

[Norcal Pescador]

Does the Mk10II SEa rebuild the same as the basic Mak 8II?

[alantani]

they are the same.