Anyone interested in some Okuma Titus Trolling Reels

skip · April 01, 2008, 13:23:45 CET

Just wondering if anyone is interested in buying Okuma Titus trolling reels as I've found a source where they can be bought for a good price. The two ranges that make the most sense are the Titus and the Titus Gold series. The difference between the two is that the Gold have a gold anodized frame and a carbon fiber drag washer and high performance ABEC5 bearings, whereas the std Titus have standard bearings, and fiber drag washers, and the frames are a type of carbon fiber which whilst light aren't as heavy duty.

The great thing about Okuma's is that they use the same sized parts in their various reels. This means you can use a carbon fiber drag washer from a Titus Gold 30 in a Titus 30 std, it just slots in. Same with the bearings, you can put the high performance bearings from a gold in a standard.

Okuma Titus Gold 50 wide 2 Speed Reel - Lm 125.00 including VAT.
710 yard of 50lbs Mono Line

Okuma Titus Gold 30 2 Speed Reel - Lm 115.00 including VAT.
640 yards of 30lbs Mono, 540yards of 40lbs, 400 yards of 50lbs

Okuma Titus Gold 30 Reel - Lm 107.00 including VAT.
640 yards of 30lbs Mono, 540yards of 40lbs, 400 yards of 50lbs

In my opinion, the 50 wide 2 speed offers the best value for money.

Okuma Titus T30 - Lm 70.00 including VAT
630 yards of 30lbs Mono, 530yards of 40lbs, 390 yards of 50lbs

Okuma Titus T30 2 Speed - Lm 82.00 including VAT
630 yards of 30lbs Mono, 530yards of 40lbs, 390 yards of 50lbs

Okuma Titus T50 - Lm 80.00 including VAT
830 yards of 30lbs Mono, 510yards of 50lbs, 300 yards of 80lbs

Okuma Titus T50 wide - Lm 85.00 including VAT
830 yards of 30lbs Mono, 510yards of 50lbs, 300 yards of 80lbs

In my opinion, at the cheaper end the T30 offers the best value, whilst the 50 wide for the higher end.

Titus silvers exist, but they are priced too closely to the gold's to make them worthwhile in my opinion.

What I recommend doing to any lever drag reel, regardless of brand is to open up a new reel and give it a once over. Put marine grease like Yamaha Marine Grease on all the internal metal parts to prevent corrosion, and on the gears etc. Check all bearings by opening the shields and checking that they are properly lubed, and on the cheaper reels replace bearings with good quality ABEC5 type.

Alan Tani recommends that if you use a reel for trolling then all bearings should be packed with Yamaha grease as freespool isn't needed. But if you want good freespool than pack the two spool bearings with Corrosion-X lubricant.

Finally and this one is open to personal preference, wet (greased) drags are said to perform better than dry ones, even though in the past most reel drags were dry. Wet drags eliminate the shudder on initial pickup as the line spools out. Over the past two years or so, nearly all manufacturers have switched to wet drags on their lever drag reels. Star drag reels do not have wet drags to keep production costs down.

The drag grease to be used is either Shimano drag grease or Cal's teflon based drag grease. So I would also re-grease my drags to ensure a complete and even application as sometimes wet drags are not greased evenly, even on new reels.

Once the above is done, you've basically protected your reel and 'pimped' out the drag and bearings and should have a long lasting, good performing reel.

I'm gearing up myself with Cal's drag grease, Yamaha Marine grease, bearings etc to do my reels, and will also offer the service to anyone who wants to do the same to theirs.

So if anyone is interested in sorting their reels or buying some Okuma's, drop a post in and reply.

Regards,

Skip

skip · April 09, 2008, 22:01:24 CET

Looks like there's no interest! One of the forum members passed a comment that the for sale section didn't have anything in it, but it seems it wouldn't make a whole lot of difference if it did! I'm going to go out on a limb and say that even those who do go out boat trolling probably aren't inclined to spend Lm70 on a reel as recently Jonathan was telling me just how many people locally try and manage at times to catch Alungi on very very light tackle/reels.

redbus9 · April 10, 2008, 17:42:09 CET

hi skip,ive just gone and ordered a penn 155L from the states its star drag and a design thats been around for ages,and its stood the test of time and for a price off ?100 approx inc shipping i thought it was a good buy .what do you think?

skip · April 10, 2008, 19:36:09 CET

The Penn Senator 115L is a great reel Keith. Not sure if we had it out when you came but the one I have that belongs to my dad dates back to the late 1960's! I recently opened it up and there wasn't a spot of rust. I'm going to upgrade it a little in due course and put the new Penn HT100 drag washers in and it should be good to go again. And yes that was a great price

gottie · April 15, 2008, 12:03:12 CET

I am looking to buy a good reel this year, with particular interest in Shimano. Seems like most of the quality reels dont have a levelwind system. What's the reason for this? I find the level wind system to be very convenient.

Very interested in :

- Shimano Tyrnos 2 speed. This one has a lever drag and without levelwind.
- Shimano Tekota 800. This one has star drag and level wind.

Should I go for level wind or not ?

gottie · April 15, 2008, 12:12:08 CET

I like the okuma too. But also not sure wether to go for level wind or not.

With regards to the drag system I have found the lever drag to be much better than a star drag.

skip · April 15, 2008, 12:52:02 CET

Hi Gottie,

Nice to see you back online and hope all is going well. I believe you don't find level wind on the bigger reels due to the amount of pressure being exerted on the mechanism. It seems that when you go above a 30lbs reel you no longer find level wind.

The Tyrnos 2 speed is a great reel, just dont go for the single speed version as the gear ration is like 5+:1 which is too high for trolling, but with the two speed you get the low gear you need.

It seems like an excellent reel that retails for $360 (Tyrnos 30II), in fact Fin just bought one that's on it's way.

My Okuma 50 Wide 2 Speed arrived yesterday and have to say for the price I'm pretty damn impressed. It's machined out of a single piece aluminium block with just the right end cap with handle etc so the frame is not in three pieces like many reels (center body, left end cap and right end where the handle). They also seem to have addressed the overly quiet alarm as this is much much louder and the reel uses HPB bearings x 4 and a Carbonite Drag washer like the Penn's etc.

For the price paid, the fact it's 2 speed and a 50Wide I really can't complain. Will drop you a PM Gottie.

Skip

FREESPIRIT · April 15, 2008, 15:54:49 CET

Hi Skip,

I have an Okuma Titus Gold 50 Wide 2 speed reel also, I a like it a lot.

The only thing a don't like about it is the alarm, which isn't loud. In your post you said that Okuma seem to have addressed this issue. Do you think I can upgrade my reel?

skip · April 15, 2008, 20:57:22 CET

Best way to determine this would be to compare the reels side by side because I could be talking utter rubbish and the alarm is the same as yours!! Mine is marked as a 2008 model so there is a remote chance the design has been changed. Does yours have the clicker on the left and a solid frame?

Post a pic if you can and I will try and do the same or we can meet up, I live in Mosta and work in Qormi.

FREESPIRIT · April 17, 2008, 13:22:41 CET

Hi Skip,

I have sent you an e-mail,

Regards,

freespirit

redbus9 · April 18, 2008, 14:49:29 CET

hi skip just got back from a new tackle shop in swansea,they have ocuma titus gold 50 wide for ?150 inc vat which is 180 euro at todays rate of exchange with sterling,or Lm93 at 62cents to the pound sterling.Its a special offer.No free line though.

skip · April 19, 2008, 17:32:41 CET

Hi Keith,

Good to know, did you check/notice whether it was the Titus Gold 50 Wide 2 Speed or just the Titus Gold 50 Wide as there's quite a premium for the 2 speed version.

redbus9 · April 20, 2008, 16:28:33 CET

hi skip,the reel was 2 speed with lever drag.

skip · April 20, 2008, 16:57:34 CET

That's a good price Keith, add freight on top of that and probably comes up to about the same. In case a forum member is interested, would you be able to bring the reel down with you to save on shipping costs? Perhaps add a little something for the hassles?

redbus9 · April 20, 2008, 17:53:07 CET

The only thing with that Nick is that i wouldn,t be able to put it in my hand luggage as i,m already bringing two reels with me and its quite a heavy reel, and if i put it in my suitcase it would probably get pinched at the airport as they scan all the suitcases and would know exactley what it was and I would be ?150 out of pocket.I could possibly bring it in august in my hand luggage as I,ll be back at the end of the second week.I,ll be back this time on the 14 may untill 8 july.