Okuma Makaira vs Azores (Spinning Reel)

Started by Gobi King, August 27, 2018, 09:14:44 PM

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Gobi King

Okuma's numerous models have head spinning.

I was looking at the Azores and comparing it with the Makaira spinning reel.

DFD - Azores has a felt drag vs the Makaira has a CF drag

Is this just cost saving? I am guessing the bottom DFD is huge or of funky design.

I am looking for a low speed beefy reel that is not going to require  me to sell one of my kidneys, for fishing off the pier or jigging for salmon.

The price point for the Azores is very attractive,
For jigging should I go for a size 40?
Shibs - aka The Gobi King
Fichigan

boon

The Makaira costs 5 times as much. Chalk and cheese comparison. I suspect more time and effort goes into building the Makaira's rotor, for example, than the entirety of an Azores.

I have a 20k and I would confidently pitch baits to Marlin with it. I bought it to target Yellowtail in the 80-100lb bracket. Even the 10k would be such massive overkill for Salmon; there would be no sport in it and there are reels that would be much nicer to fish in appropriate weight classes - the Makairas are a bit of a brick.

All of this said, the Azores is an excellent value proposition. Especially if you could find some carbontex washers to replace the felt ones with.

philaroman

if there's no secondary A/R in the 40-size, maybe next size up is well worth $10 more

Gobi King

Boon,
lol, true,  I was comparing the DFD system, on closer inspection, the bottom drag washer is CF in both, and in the Azores the top drag material is felt, that should be a simple task to swap out.

Do you have braid with a mono top shot on your 20k?


Phil,
Good point, I see that, size 55 vs size 65,
65 has a lot higher drag rating a little bit heavier, hmm, decisions, decisions.


Danke!
Shibs - aka The Gobi King
Fichigan

boon

Quote from: Gobi King on August 28, 2018, 10:00:57 PM
Do you have braid with a mono top shot on your 20k?

390m of 100lb solid core multi-colour braid with maybe 5m of 100lb mono on top. If I ever have to use the full potential of the reel I suspect the rod will explode unless I point it straight at the fish. But I will probably be pulled overboard first, or drop the rod. 30kg of drag is not for playing games with small fish. At the moment I only have mine preloaded for around 20kg of drag.

Gobi King

Boon, what knot is used for the braid > mono connection?

and Mono > hook

Shibs - aka The Gobi King
Fichigan

MarkT

I use an improved Albright/RP/Alberto/JC for the spectra to leader and a uni or springer to tie on the terminal tackle.
When I was your age Pluto was a planet!

Rivverrat

#7
Mark covers the most used, better mono to braid connections. I like the RP to tie long & short leaders . Tied right with quality mono it will come close to to breaking at it's rating. Sometimes surpassing it. But I've not achieved that with any dependable regularity... Jeff

EDIT: I meant the FG  & not RP / Royal Polaris knot I dont no why I have so much trouble keeping the names straight... Jeff

boon

Anything that doubles the mono is old-school - weak and bulky compared to the modern finger-trap style knots.

PR knot if I have time on my hands to tie it. FG knot if I'm in a hurry or on a wobbly boat (braid -> leader).

If I'm jigging, I use the AG chain knot to attach the leader to a ringed grommet. If I'm livebaiting, usually just a 5-turn Uni knot.

MarkT

I like the FG but I've never tied one I've been happy with. I have a lot of confidence in the Improved Albright, RP, etc and I usually use a short leader so the knot isn't going through the guides.
When I was your age Pluto was a planet!

boon

#10
I like to run 5m or so of leader. The time of largest risk for contact with the boat is in that very last bit of the fight, when the fish can change the angle faster than you can get the rod over the side. 100+lb mono or fluoro will survive touching the chine/keel as long as there isn't too much load on, where even heavy braid will pop or at least be compromised if the fish takes another run.

EDIT: It also gives the deckhand something to grab to get control of the fish if we're planning to release it and don't want to sink a gaff. Taking a wrap on braid is a terrible thing to have to do.

Gobi King

Thanks a bunch guys, I have knot anxiety since I have ventured into 50 lb plus mono leaders.

These newer knots are super sleek, they pass through the guides well.

I love the springer knot for tying the hook, it is fast to tie, I love it how it holds with heavier mono.

I found that the springer knot does not work that well for braided rope in a sailboat, I tried the springer knot to attach the jib sheet to the bottom of the jib, well at the first major gust, off came the jib sheet  :o


boon, I like the longer leader idea, works well for pier fishing too, I lost a red last year when the braid touched one of the post.

jeff, lol, you are doing much better than I am, I have quite a bit of difficulty with the knots

mark, im albright is what my charter guy uses for his mono/braid for the dipsey diver rods, they pass find through the guides. this is with 25 lb mono, they have the tag end cut flush.

I am going to try a few of these,
Shibs - aka The Gobi King
Fichigan

Rivverrat

#12
I've tested a lot of these knots while fishing & casting repeatedly.  The FG tied & finished well is the best I've used for this.

Some knots should never pass through the guides repeatedly or possibly ever.

However any & all knots joining braid to leader that pass through guides should be checked often. My experience has been they all will eventually come undone when repeatedly passing through the guides during a cast. Maybe not as bad using a spinner. I use conventional 90% of the time.

Covering these connections with a pliable glue like the fly Fisher fellas use or covering the both leading edges with floss helps a lot.
A properly tied FG should have no issue being cast with a rod through proper guides well over 50 times. Guide size & transition plays a major role here. This probably is considerably more using a spinner

I know we are talking about spinners but I'll pass this along.

On two of my conventional rods I built it is a complete non issue. This using 40 - 80 mono line joined 60 - 100 braid for leader or short top shot.. Jeff

MarkT

I have a Mak 20k and I've used an Azores 65 on the Marlas IV out of Puerto Vallarta since the use Okuma. All I caught were trigger fish and other small fish. Brendan got a 30# YFT on a popper and no problems landing it on the Azores. There's no comparison between the Mak and the Azores. The Mak is a high end expensive super spinner for large strong fish while the Azores is at best a mid range spinner inexpensive reel.  For what you outlined the Azores will certainly get the job done just fine with the stock drags.
When I was your age Pluto was a planet!

boon

Quote from: Gobi King on September 01, 2018, 01:35:30 PM
im albright is what my charter guy uses for his mono/braid for the dipsey diver rods, they pass find through the guides. this is with 25 lb mono, they have the tag end cut flush.

Charter guys might end up tying a whole lot of knots in a day so I can understand why they would tie one that is reliable when tied in a hurry, simple knot that is hard to get wrong, and in those line-weights unlikely to make a huge difference unless you needed all of those 25lb on a fish.

The first few times I tied the FG and PR were incredibly frustrating; I was left thinking it was a complete waste of time and that the knot couldn't be trusted. But if you persist with it, it doesn't take a long time or a lot of knots to get pretty repeatably good at them, and their strength will astound you. The very important thing to keep in mind is that the knots "settle" quite a lot, and if the wraps slide off the tag end when it's settling, that's game over. You can reduce this by making sure the wraps are tight - when tying an FG I cinch the wraps down every 3 or 4, and by pulling decently hard on the knot before clipping the tag end. Once those wraps lock in though, they aren't going anywhere.

A while back I was fishing 80lb braid FG'd to a 100lb mono leader that was uni-knotted to a swivel; I got hung up in the reef and had to pop it; the 100lb mono broke at the swivel which should give you some idea of the relative strength of a good FG.