# Okuma Contoura reels?



## 4nbait (Jan 15, 2007)

Has anybody seen or cast these reels yet? Just reading about them on the 'new gear' section of a magazine. They retail for $90 to $125 and are magged with.


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## SteveZ (Nov 30, 2006)

Nope, haven't seen one yet. But based on my experience with the Convector I think the Contoura is gonna be good. I got a Convector just to play with...static magged it...excellent casting reel...like it better than my SHA. Took it apart...big gears...drag seems fine. Only fished a little with it and caught one 42" striper. So, yeah, I'm gonna get a Contoura. Then I gotta build a stick to put it on...never ends...


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## SteveZ (Nov 30, 2006)

*Cr-203cs*

Got it yesterday. Hmmm...they changed the spool. Width is the same but they put a flange on it so now it has less line capacity. Mebbe 160 yds of 17 Tri+ is all yer gonna get. If ya throw it 100+ yds and walk another 20 yds up the beach...ain't much left for fightin' a fish. I put 180 yds of 15 lb BG on it & will cast it later today & see how the mags work. With that line capacity I'm thinking ok for stripers and not so ok for drum. If ya get one get the 303...my .02...


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## bstarling (Apr 24, 2005)

*I got a Convector 20and..*



SteveZ said:


> Nope, haven't seen one yet. But based on my experience with the Convector I think the Contoura is gonna be good. I got a Convector just to play with...static magged it...excellent casting reel...like it better than my SHA. Took it apart...big gears...drag seems fine. Only fished a little with it and caught one 42" striper. So, yeah, I'm gonna get a Contoura. Then I gotta build a stick to put it on...never ends...


...I static magged it. It cast great, doesn't hold a big load of line, but I did manage a 45x27 drum two weeks ago with it. I have put in on an LDX and it will fly. I am looking forward to the factory magged Contura.

Bill:fishing:


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## Jaron15 (Aug 14, 2007)

here they are fro 89.99 to 109.99
http://www.castawaylakes.com/Contoura.html


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## SteveZ (Nov 30, 2006)

*Well...*

Don't like it. Cleaned the bearings, gave 'em a drop of red RF, filled it up with 15 lb BG & off to the field we went. Geez. It has terrible bearings & screeches like a banshee. I was afraid that might be the case as cleaned and dry bearings did not spin very well. And that flanged spool is just too narrow - not enough thumb room. The spool is real thick & heavy on the magnet side. Dunno what that is about but it makes it harder to control. Had to set the mag control to two clicks less than max. Just for kicks threw the same load on the same rod with a 20SHA and the static magged Convector and both went 10 yards further than the Contoura. The SHA & Convector both had 17 Tri+ and the Contoura had 15 BG. Dunno. Mebbe this winter I'll mess with it but now I got fishin' to do. At the very least it needs some better bearings. I don't think this reel is gonna suit me... 

I'm leaving next week to fish for stripers for 3-4 weeks and the Contoura is gonna hafta stay home. Too bad, as I like the Convector very much and was hoping the Contoura would be a similar reel with adjustable magnetic breaking. 

Allwatersfishing has 'em cheaper than CastawayLakes.


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## SteveZ (Nov 30, 2006)

*Update*

Put some decent bearings in this little reel and it makes all the difference in the world. Throws good. Not as far as an Abu 6500 but almost. The mag control works great. I'm gonna put it on an 11' Daiwa SLX rated 4-7 oz. Ought to be a good combo. 

If you get one I'd suggest the next larger size for better line capacity. Still dunno why they flanged the spool. 

A friend got a couple of 'em and had no bearing trouble so mebbe I just had a bad one.


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## nomadfl (Jan 7, 2007)

SteveZ said:


> Don't like it. Cleaned the bearings, gave 'em a drop of red RF, filled it up with 15 lb BG & off to the field we went. Geez. It has terrible bearings & screeches like a banshee. I was afraid that might be the case as cleaned and dry bearings did not spin very well. And that flanged spool is just too narrow - not enough thumb room. The spool is real thick & heavy on the magnet side. Dunno what that is about but it makes it harder to control. Had to set the mag control to two clicks less than max. Just for kicks threw the same load on the same rod with a 20SHA and the static magged Convector and both went 10 yards further than the Contoura. The SHA & Convector both had 17 Tri+ and the Contoura had 15 BG. Dunno. Mebbe this winter I'll mess with it but now I got fishin' to do. At the very least it needs some better bearings. I don't think this reel is gonna suit me...
> 
> I'm leaving next week to fish for stripers for 3-4 weeks and the Contoura is gonna hafta stay home. Too bad, as I like the Convector very much and was hoping the Contoura would be a similar reel with adjustable magnetic breaking.
> 
> Allwatersfishing has 'em cheaper than CastawayLakes.


I am glad some people are static magging the Convector ...for $50 to $60.. not a bad reel.

About the Contoura 20, some are coming on the market, too my knowledge they are not suppose to be sold yet ....what I have been told, they are salesman's samples. I have sent the whole post off to Okuma with the comments.


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## SteveZ (Nov 30, 2006)

nomadfl said:


> I am glad some people are static magging the Convector ...for $50 to $60.. not a bad reel.
> QUOTE]
> 
> Been meaning to look you up & thank you for first posting how you magged the Convector. It was your idea & it works quite well. I use one .25 x .1 rare earth mag with red rf in the bearings. The reel NEVER blows up & gets good distance. I cannot think of a better way to inexpensively get into the conventional game than putting a static magged Convector on a 12' Tica. Thanks!


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## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

SteveZ said:


> I cannot think of a better way to inexpensively get into the conventional game than putting a static magged Convector on a 12' Tica. Thanks!


Only better way I know is eBay. I got a 12 Tica and Penn 525 mag for $180 separately but included shipping. The guy that works on my reels loves the Okuma bearings vs the ones on Daiwa. I may have to check this new reel out. I have a 9' tica conventional rod needing a reel.


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## nomadfl (Jan 7, 2007)

Moderator, I would like to edit a part of one of my post in this thread


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## nomadfl (Jan 7, 2007)

SteveZ said:


> nomadfl said:
> 
> 
> > I am glad some people are static magging the Convector ...for $50 to $60.. not a bad reel.
> ...


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## nomadfl (Jan 7, 2007)

[/QUOTE] About the Contoura 20, some are coming on the market, too my knowledge they are not suppose to be sold yet ....what I have been told, they are salesman's samples. /QUOTE]

I have sent the post off to Okuma for their comments, but the quote above, I wish to withdraw

I wish to withdraw the above statement, because I misquoted someone, and I apologize for that. I only wish there was an existing edit button, so posters can edit when they realize that something is not correct . nomadfl (Richard O'Mara)


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## Railroader (Apr 13, 2005)

Did any of you know that in Chinese "Okuma" translates into English as "Wet one-ply toilet paper"....opcorn:


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## nomadfl (Jan 7, 2007)

Railroader said:


> Did any of you know that in Chinese "Okuma" translates into English as "Wet one-ply toilet paper"....opcorn:


From nomadfl ....You could be more helpful then that ....you should be "constructive....not destructive"


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## Railroader (Apr 13, 2005)

nomadfl said:


> From nomadfl ....You could be more helpful then that ....you should be "constructive....not destructive"


Hey, not trying to piss anyone off, just poking a little fun...

No way I can do anything constructive for Okuma...They destruct just fine on thier own...

Now, I've only owned two, they both sucked, went into the trash, and I'll NEVER give them my business for anything again.

I guess I just USE fishing gear too much. They would have probably lasted the 10-trip-a-year guy for a season or two, but for the 10-trip-a-MONTH folks, they just don't cut the mustard...:--|

Sorry.

How's that?


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## AtlantaKing (Jul 7, 2002)

I'm with RR on this one. Buying something cheap "just for a couple of seasons" is false economics. Quality stuff has good resale value, cheap stuff has little or no resale value. Paying $60 for a cheap reel that "will suffice" and throwing it away in two years seems cheaper than paying $150 for a quality reel and thowing it away in two years. However, in the two years of ownership, the cheapie is worth 0 while the quality piece is worth easily 70% or more of its original price. Therefore, the ownership cost of the quality reel is actually _lower_ than the cheapie, and the usability is better, thus resulting in _less_ lost opportunity!


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## nomadfl (Jan 7, 2007)

*What did you own????*

I have used an Okuma Convector mag modified now for over two years on the beaches of north Florida. I fish nearly every day while I am there., and I am there for a total of 4 months during the winter ...so don't go belittling something you have never used. I can go to Walmart and buy an Abu reel with plastic parts , or a cheepo Penn ...but I don't . When you make statements like what has been said in the last couple of post ...everyone can read them, and interpret the quality of their meanings. Sometimes people will make negative statements, because the don't know how to be constructive, and see things outside their own mind.

I have 2 Penn 525 mags, numerous Abu Ct's, and I am not a young kid wet behind the ears. so have a great day.


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## Railroader (Apr 13, 2005)

nomadfl said:


> I have used an Okuma Convector mag modified now for over two years on the beaches of north Florida. I fish nearly every day while I am there., and I am there for a total of 4 months during the winter ...so don't go belittling something you have never used. I can go to Walmart and buy an Abu reel with plastic parts , or a cheepo Penn ...but I don't . When you make statements like what has been said in the last couple of post ...everyone can read them, and interpret the quality of their meanings. Sometimes people will make negative statements, because the don't know how to be constructive, and see things outside their own mind.
> 
> I have 2 Penn 525 mags, numerous Abu Ct's, and I am not a young kid wet behind the ears. so have a great day.



Not only are my ears dry, they're hairy too. And I have a truckload of FINE fishin' gear, that I fish with 12 months a year...

Okumas SUCK and I'm not arguing with you about it.

Merry Christmas.....:beer:


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## barty b (Dec 31, 2004)

Sorry, I have seen and fished with the convector and frankly I think it is garbage...right up there with the Tica Caiman... I had one of those get the guts ripped out of by a large ray. IMO...Okuma sucks  I will give the Ok to the Solaris rod, decent for the money,but then again it has no moving parts to break


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## nomadfl (Jan 7, 2007)

barty b said:


> Sorry, I have seen and fished with the convector and frankly I think it is garbage...right up there with the Tica Caiman... I had one of those get the guts ripped out of by a large ray. IMO...Okuma sucks  I will give the Ok to the Solaris rod, decent for the money,but then again it has no moving parts to break


Barty, I will take your word for it. I know that the earlier Okuma Contenders and Classics, were not that good ...but I find it hard to beat this Convector reel for value for the price. There is all kinds of earlier Okuma CT styles for sale on eBay...which I know are mainly Contenders and Classics, the old style.


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## SteveZ (Nov 30, 2006)

*Okuma quality*

I don't think it is the best...but they ain't bad reels. The Contoura I just bought had bad bearings. Took the anti-reverse dog off the Convector and found that the anti-reverse bearing would sometimes fail to hold. Put that dog right back on. 

These are not my numero uno reels...they'll go on backups and loaners. But for those of us who like to tinker & experiment I think they are a fine value. I know I got enough fun outta playing with that Convector to make it worth the purchase price. Other reels I use a lot are Abu 6500s, Abu 7000s, and Diawa shas. Really prefer the Abu reels. 

It's all good...


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## F I LetsGoFishin (Apr 24, 2007)

cygnus-x1 said:


> The guy that works on my reels loves the Okuma bearings vs the ones on Daiwa. .


 While I will agree with this. I will add my 2 pennys in. 
I am not a conventional user so i can not comment on those but I did buy a spinner 2 years ago. It ws the EB-50. After 1.5 years of use which would be 3-4 days each month January - November, the gears started breaking apart. This is not what I personaly would expect from any reel that costs more than $30. It was cleaned thourghly after each use and completly cleaned and regreased about every 4th outing the same as I do with all my reels most of which i have owned for over 10 years, bought used and never paid more than $25.
When it broke down I had a hard time contacting them (don,t bother with there website contact us button). But I will say that once contact was made, the reel was very inexpesive to work on. I rplaced all gears and spacers for less than $15 including freight and the replcement parts appeared to be of much better quality than those that were in it when I first bought it. That is less than it would have cost me to have warrenty work done.GO FIGURE.
The bearings are still as smooth as the first time I fished it.


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## nomadfl (Jan 7, 2007)

Guys, I have never said that they were the top of the line ...but buck for buck, a mag converted Okuma Convector is a great starter reel for someone who wants to take up surf fishing using a conventional reel ....unless you want to go to the old shakey frame Penns, which a good used one would cost about the same price. If anyone is over in the Florida panhandle and they want to try them out...contact me


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