Okuma Makaira vs Azores (Spinning Reel)

[Gobi King]

I ended up with 2 Azores, size 80, I plan to get 2 more in size 55.
I also picked up couple of coronado 55s.

What is the black plastic gasket between the hand and the spindle? is this needed?

I loaded the coronados with 50 lb braid. I am going with 100 lb braid on the Azores. both of them will get mono leaders.


Boon, I will attempt my first fg knot later today :-).

[boon]

If you haven't already bought the braid I would just put 80lb on them, unless you really really need the slight increase in abrasion resistance.
And I'm 99% sure that the plastic spacer thing in the handle can be thrown away; loosen the handle off a little and it should slip right out.

[Gobi King]

10-4 on 80 lbs, I have huge stash of 80 lbs  
Thanks for confirming I can toss that gasket.

Taking the reels and line along to gulfshores for this weekend's trip, I plan on loading it in the hotel tonight.

[MarkT]

That plastic piece doesn't appear in the schematic.  It's probably just there to protect the reel from getting banged up in shipping.

[Rivverrat]

I've been looking closer at the Azores reels. For the money is there a sturdier reel made ? 

I believe they beat out the Diawa BG's not sure how they compare with the new Penn other than the Penn cost more.

The internals on the Azores looks really good to me. In fact I was very impressed with it's features & performance even more so when you see what they cost... Jeff

[Gobi King]

I've been looking closer at the Azores reels. For the money is there a sturdier reel made ?  

I believe they beat out the Diawa BG's not sure how they compare with the new Penn other than the Penn cost more.

The internals on the Azores looks really good to me. In fact I was very impressed with it's features & performance even more so when you see what they cost... Jeff

Jeff,
I agree, I like the double dogs and the price is really good.
I bought mine off ebay with the 15% off coupon of something they had back then.
I did not get to fish with mine as I ended up using my Okuma bait runners [post coming later tonight with fishing report]

I plan to swap out the felt drags with CF ones, the dfd drag is CF already. I think I will attempt the drag swap right now :-).

[Gobi King]

I used penn drag, 6-965 drags, the size was near enough but I think the cf drag was not as thick as the felt ones,

I am going to load braided line tonight and test the max drag 

[Porthos]

I used penn drag, 6-965 drags, the size was near enough but I think the cf drag was not as thick as the felt ones,

I am going to load braided line tonight and test the max drag 

You can double up each drag washer until the stack height is the same as the original factory one.

[boon]

I've been looking closer at the Azores reels. For the money is there a sturdier reel made ? 

I do not know of a modern spinner that is more robust for the $$. A store here is clearing out the old silver ones in the 55 size for ~100USD which seems like a deal to me.

[Rivverrat]

I've been looking closer at the Azores reels. For the money is there a sturdier reel made ?  

I do not know of a modern spinner that is more robust for the $$. A store here is clearing out the old silver ones in the 55 size for ~100USD which seems like a deal to me.

Boon, thanks for this reply.   Always good to check my thoughts against what others think on certain reels.

[MarkT]

You can easily find the 65 size for $84. The 55 goes for $94... go figure.

[Rivverrat]

Boon, I will attempt my first fg knot later today :-).

         This is the easiest way to tie an FG I have found  
                                                                                   

                                                                                    www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQmUN0L4F6c

[Gobi King]

I used penn drag, 6-965 drags, the size was near enough but I think the cf drag was not as thick as the felt ones,

I am going to load braided line tonight and test the max drag 

You can double up each drag washer until the stack height is the same as the original factory one.

Tried a the drag with 1:1 replacement with CF penn drags, the drag amount and adequate for my needs, my drag scale only goes to 25#s so that is plenty 

[Gobi King]

FG update:

Huston we have success in tying a FG knot.

I loaded 200 yards  50# solid spectra on my metaloid 5II, and I wanted to load 50# mono topshot.

I was using a kite rod to load the braid on to the metaloid manually (need to work on my auto loader). Sitting at the dining table I tied the other end of the braid to the chair arm and did my 20 turns of the mono around the braid pulling it tight after a few turns.
Then I did a few half hitches, and then I tested the knot, wow, I could not believe it, that sucker did not even budge. I could not remember how to finish off the knot, so I replayed the video. I wanted to do couple of double half hitches or whatever they are called, right as I was winding my 2nd double half hitch, I older go up and tripped on the kite rod and I ended up with a half hitch at the top of the knot, totally in the wrong direction, I frantically tried to undo it, but the braid started to fray. I trimmed off the tag ends and reeled on the mono till the reel was full and cut off the leader in to a loop and put a sticker won the reel "need to redo fg"  and called it a night.

Finishing - I saw video which show a Rizzuto finish to a FG knot. Anyone try the Rizzuto finish to a FG? What do you guys suggest for a finish to FG knot?

[boon]

Once I've done the wraps, I do 4 alternating half-hitches around both the braid and leader, then 4 alternating hitches around the braid only, then a 3 turn Rizzutto to finish.