Makaira SE - Okuma's new secret weapon

[skip]

Up until recently, mention Okuma trolling reeels to any serious Angler in the USA and he would just laugh at you, following which he'd most likely throw a bunch of insults your way, down under they had a slightly better following but everyone agreed that they were plagued with quality issues, bad drag CAMs and overall poor design. I'm not talking about their smaller reels, but their flagship range the TITUS GOLD left alot to be desired given that they were being pegged as Offshore Trolling Reels. The Titus Gold 50W could not come anywhere close to competing with the Penn's or Shimano of equivalent size (albeit they were much cheaper)......

" In July 2008 Tiburon Engineering and Okuma reached an agreement in which Okuma would produce Tib's SST reels, and Tiburon staff would design some saltwater worthy reels for Okuma. This provided Okuma with the expertise they've needed and Tiburon gained the benefit of Okuma's production resources. That's a serious win-win for both firms. Further, Okuma invested money in hiring a great team of guys who knew saltwater fishing. They upgraded their staff, and showed they were changing focus in favor of actually building high quality gear. Okuma has been a sleeping giant in sportfishing tackle. Heck, most of the CNC machines used by the better reel manufacturing firms are made by Okuma! "...taken from www.charkbait.com

The Makaira reel turned the industry upside down, a reel that was near perfect in so many areas and where Okuma had listened closely to salt water anglers resulted in literally hundreds of charter boats dumping their Avet, Penn and Shimano reels in favour of both the Makaira's. Penn and Shimano still have their place and fan following, but those looking for the latest innovations have turned to the Okuma Makaira....

If you're serious about buying a quality reel, my first stop wouldn't be your regular fishing forums, but instead to visit alantani.com   For those of you who don't know....Alan Tani is considered to be one of the best reel repairers out there....he's not competing with Cal Sheets who is probably the world's best reel tuner for better choice of word, instead Alan has spent years stripping down reels, and repairing/rebuilding them and writing tutorial guides for the benefit of us all.

The Makaira was great and ticked most boxes, but there were still some areas where like all top reel manufacturers certain things were missed. Following feedback from anglers, the industry and Alan Tani, Okuma were persuaded to produce a special line of Makaira reels, known as the Makaira SE specifically targeting the long range boats that take 25-30 anglers offshore several hundred miles for up to 15 days of extreme fishing....(one of the most well known is Excel out of San Diego http://www.excelsportfishing.com )

Key Features:-

- Open Spool Bearings with TSI-301 oil. This increases freespool 2 to 2 1/2 times!

- All non-spool bearings feature FULL grease pack for maximum longevity. (That means they are packed properly, open any Shimano, Penn or even std Makaira and you're likely to find a bearing or two that isn't fully packed!)

- Frames have been machined out for increased clearance between the spool and cross bars.

- Fully greased drag washers, front and back

- Some other features that shows its the Special Edition.....!

Think of this reel as a std Makaira that has been sent to someone like Alan Tani, who has stripped it down, greased all internals, checked and packed all bearings, TSI-301 lubed the spool bearings and left the shield off as it should be, fully greased the drags and then put it all back together........

I know we've got some Alutecnos fans on this forum, but everything I've read about the Mak SE's put them as the reel to own at the moment with amazing free spool for fly lining live bait.....with a incredible drag that is smooth and strong. Remember it's not just about having high figures at strike and full moon, but also still being able to maintain a good freespool as well.

Check them out www.okumafishing.com

[Jonathan]

On the downside, on the internet I read that the SE version of the Makaira is only recommended for people who are ready to engage in regular servicing (as in oiling of bearings) of their reels. For the rest, other reels with shielded bearings or the standard Makaira are preferrable:

This is the source I'm referring to:
The SE versions will use "open spool bearings" with TSI-310 oil. This will increase freespool performance considerably, could be 2.5 times greater in that regard. Here's my take on the bearing upgrade, it makes sense for some but not for all. For my own use, I'll probably stick with the shielded bearings given less required maintenance. The existing series of gold reels will be better for those using them as trolling pieces with a lot of hard use (in my opinion). But, for folks focusing on absolue top freespool performance - which is already a strength of the Makaira reels - the open bearings offer some improvement.

Ref: http://charkbait.evecommunity.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2741078602/m/806007746001

Freespool performance isn't a priority for my style of trolling. Reliability and minimal maintenance needs is much more important to me. For this reason, after having read the above, I would think twice about buying the Makaira SE and would consider other reels instead.

[skip]

The MAK-SE is competiting with reels like the Penn VSX range, AVETs and Accurate's, or perhaps a better way to describe it would be reels used on long range trips for very large fish that are primarily caught using live bait. So yes you're right it isn't directly pegged as a Trolling reel, but when spending this kind of money, I don't want a one role reel, I would want something that is versatile.

I'm afraid I don't fully agree with the comments from the source you are referencing......whilst I can understand the comment I think the reasoning on the bearing shields is flawed for the following reason........

If you get water in to the spool bearings and you have the shields on , water can't get out. Now in your case Jonathan if you strip down your MAK-30 you will probably find that the bearings are not fully packed with grease (they will have some but prob not fully packed leaving air bubbles that will allow corrosion), allowing for bearing failure should water get in. This is common place in most reels from all the top end manufacturers...... Have a look at the MAK-50II strip down www.alantani.com/index.php?topic=750.0

Now it's true that freespool isn't required for trolling applications, because its primarily a requirement for casting or fly lining a live bait....it's also true that usually when you oil the spool bearings with a fine oil like Quantum Hotsauce etc, you should ideally check these bearings quite often, TSI-301 is better still because it's a pure synthetic ester and penetrates the pores in the metal bonding itself to the surface. At least with open shields, if water does get it, then it can also get out and you will soon notice when you need to re-check your spool bearings. Something in between would be Corrosion-X or Xtreme Reel+

As others have posted here on the forum, you should ideally open and inspect a high end reel like a MAK or Penn V every season, check the drag for grease, check your bearings etc in order to keep your investment in tip top condition. A MAK-SE certainly isn't for the fainthearted but then I don't think a reel that you're spending $575 is something you are going to ignore maintenance wise.

If you scroll down in that post you will see Alan Tani's comments about open spool bearings....and this comment just sums it up for me "I would call the special edition Makaira the only reel that I would fish with absolute confidence, straight out of the box!!"

Now between the MAK-30II and MAK-30IISE there's around $80 difference, but you're getting a reel where you know that the bearings and drag's are fully greased/lubed properly, an oversized handle arm for more torque, and a lower gear ration 1.3:1 (in the MAK30iiSE) for even more power fighting those big fish, and then the gunsmoke colour just rocks!

Given that reliability is a priority for you and you don't need freespool, then perhaps you should be removing the shields from your spool bearings and packing them with something like Blue Marine Grease (Yamalube or Evinrude Triple Guard). Grease, making sure they are 100% packed and then reinstalling the shields.

[Jonathan]

Skip I have some Cal's Drag grease. What do you think about using that for the bearings?

[Jonathan]

BTW re bearings, Alan Tani sums his thoughts as follows:

i've come to the conclusion that bearings will simply not last forever. if i want a reel to cast, i leave the bearing open and lubed with corrosion x. if the reel is used for trolling only, then i pack the bearings with grease and reinstall the shields or seals. it's one way or the other.
http://www.sportfishermen.com/board/f258/differences-drag-reel-grease-59212.html

Which for me means that guys who intend casting should get something like the Makaira SE
Whilst those who intend trolling & not casting should look at reels with shielded bearings

[skip]

J,

I wouldn't use expensive Cal's drag grease in my bearings......stick to good marine grease and you should be fine.

And yes this is why I told you "Given that reliability is a priority for you and you don't need freespool, then perhaps you should be removing the shields from your spool bearings and packing them with something like Blue Marine Grease (Yamalube or Evinrude Triple Guard). Grease, making sure they are 100% packed and then reinstalling the shields."

But to be honest with you if I had to buy a new Makaira I would still go for the SE for the reason I stated above.......Maximum versatility when buying an expensive reel. If it's drifting season I will fish the reel out of the box, looking to get BFT (Catch and Release now as season is closed) and as the trolling season approached I would simply replace my spool bearings with grease packed shielded bearings and still enjoy all the other benefits that the SE has to offer.

Just as a side note, it turns out that TSI-301 is a dry bearing lube which is interesting.....

Btw you can get your standard MAK upgraded as well and choose which parts to get/what work to have done on it.