Experience of Okuma Reels

After 3 trips over the last few days with my cheap fishing set and deciding I'm absolutely hooked with fishing I went ahead and bought a Shakespeare Salt beachcaster.

Since this took up most of my budget I'm looking at cheaper reels. Shakespeare reels seem to have mixed reviews and polarised ones at that

Could I go far wrong with ordering an Okuma Halogen, Beachcaster 380 or 365 Pro with a view to upgrading to something more substantial once I'm taking on 200kg sharks from the beach

Should I still consider one of the Shakespeare Salt reels?

Can't vouch for that particular model but have used a few of the Okuma coarse fishing reels and they're very well made and gave no problems after plenty of use

Paul

iv two of the okuma beachcaster reels, they are fairly tough, i have one about eight years and it still works grand even tho iv abused it. i still use it for mackeral fishing.

Same as shaft666, I don't know those models but I've used a couple of Okuma fixed spool reels. Still do, in fact. They're an excellent quality buy if you're on a budget.

I've bought some cheaper okuma fixed spool reels and they've been crap. They have a wide range of quality in there range and it's price dependent

Anyone know of any tackle shops in Cork that sell Okuma reels?

I've bought some cheaper okuma fixed spool reels and they've been crap. They have a wide range of quality in there range and it's price dependent

I've had the Interceptor range f/s in 30 and 50 size, both spot on reels.

My first rod was a ron thompsom beachcaster with an Okumu reel combo. Ive used that reel for 4yrs now and its still going strong and still get used 2-3 times every week. Cant fault it.

halfway angling centre should have some his website is tackledirectireland

Having had the pleasure of fixing or trying to fix Okuma reel a number of years ago i found that the quality wasn't good and they regularly failed. But like most things in life you get what you pay for, cheap reels usually means that.

From my experience the cheap Okuma fixed spools are better than the Cheap multipliers. I had a FS for mackerel and it lasted a good few years of abuse but I was given a multi which had the drag turned into a pile of brass dust by a not so big bullhuss.

Thanks for the input guys. At the moment I'm considering:

Shakespeare Salt Surf

Okuma Beachcaster Pro

Mitchell Blue Reel

Any budget Shimano surf/beachcasting reels I should consider?

ive been using a grauvell calypso ex70 there anything from €55 to €70 from diferent tackle shops ive used it regularly and had double doggies on many occasions, no crunching,grinding and it holds lotsa line, i,m looking at a daiwa emcast sport or wincastfor my next purchase but also may look at the cheaper shimano reels.

Any budget Shimano surf/beachcasting reels I should consider?

I used a pair of the original Aerlex 8000's for years for all my beach fishing and uptiding for cod without any problems, a mate has them now and they're still going strong so highly recommend them

Paul