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Posts: 246
| Looking at getting a couple new trolling reels. I know the Shimano Tekota reels are the best but what are peoples experience with the Okuma Convector reels? Also, what size do you use?
Steve |
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Location: Eastern Ontario | Convectors, are fine i believe the newer ones have carbon drag washers I had to install my own but have no issues with the reels. I use them for muskies as well as salmon., I also have a Quantum Blue Runner that I like but they are no longer brought into Canada I would buy them again. |
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Posts: 559
| I use and like convectors. I use size 20 and most will advise to get the bigger one. If you are just trolling boat roads and inline planner boards, you can get by with the smaller ones with no problem. If you are going to use a mast system you will want to use the bigger sizes for more line capacity.
Also, if you are going to run large hard pulling baits you may want to look for a more powerful reel. An example would be a legend plow. These would be tough reeling in with a convector imo. Just checked and the 30 and 45 size does have a lower gear ratio than the 20. |
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Posts: 743
| for me, Convectors (sizes bigger than 20, i think the 30 and 45) are the best deal for a trolling reel. Not expensive and all of mine have been very reliable. i dont clean, lube, repair or even try to be nice to my trolling reels and i have never had one fail. they are also strong enough to reel in baits that pull very very hard; which is important to me. |
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Posts: 2274
Location: Chisholm, MN | I have one and I hate the drag and the line counter broke. I'm thinking a daiwa accudepth is next. |
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Posts: 479
Location: Northern Illinois | Daiwa Sealine |
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Posts: 480
| Okuma reels in my boat, I have extras now when friends want to bring their own gear. I have over 12 years now on my original purchase of 4 Okuma Catalina linecounters. |
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Posts: 20178
Location: oswego, il | They are all good. If you like the convector it is a good reel. Get the 20 if you uze braid, 30 for mono. |
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Posts: 2224
Location: SE, WI. | Muskie Junkie - 2/14/2018 7:35 AM Looking at getting a couple new trolling reels. I know the Shimano Tekota reels are the best but what are peoples experience with the Okuma Convector reels? Also, what size do you use? Steve I guess, if you know which reel is the best, and you have the $$$, spend the $$$ and get the best!!! If you spend any amount of time trolling, and R committed, you will be glad you did! JD |
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Posts: 20178
Location: oswego, il | I know guides on LSC who run convenctors. I have had them for years without issue. I suppose if i trolled wishmasters i would use a tekota. Think about what it is you want to do and choose. Nobody builds a reel that is designed not to work. I had the cheaper magda reels that lasted 17 years trolling and with suckers. They just need gone through. |
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| jdsplasher - 2/15/2018 6:57 AM
Muskie Junkie - 2/14/2018 7:35 AM Looking at getting a couple new trolling reels. I know the Shimano Tekota reels are the best but what are peoples experience with the Okuma Convector reels? Also, what size do you use? Steve I guess, if you know which reel is the best, and you have the $$$, spend the $$$ and get the best!!! If you spend any amount of time trolling, and R committed, you will be glad you did! JD
exactly |
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Posts: 1675
Location: Mt. Zion, IL | i know you didn't mention it, but I have had good luck with the Penn Squall reels. They are the updated version of the GT reels that were great for many years.
SQL20LWLC reels are 20% off on ebay today. 81 bucks shipped each. |
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Location: 31 | I recently switched from the Tekota 600LC to the 700LC for my board rods and can hardly believe the overall improvement it made. Not only does the larger spool have better capacity and torque for bringing in boards, the drag has a much better range and can be dialed in much more precisely. I found it interesting that I could not bring in the boards with the drags set properly on the 600s, but surprisingly can most times with the 700s (?no idea why?), but can tell you it's really been an unexpected bonus not having to tighten and loosen the drag every time... that issue alone has cost my boat lots of fish for various reasons through the years with the 600s.
BTW, I still like and use Sealines for down rods, but they are not as good for bringing in boards... and will never go back to the Tekota 600 for board rods after experiencing the advantages of the 700. The only downside is they are a little larger and no auto engage which does take a little getting use to, but with an average cost of about a good muskie bait more than the 600 it's pretty easy for me to justify the slightly more expensive 700. Shimano Tekota 700LC Levelwind Line Counter Reel - Extremely Fast Shipping! | eBay |
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Posts: 20178
Location: oswego, il | Jerry, is there is difference in the handle size between the 600 and 700? The tekota is an excellent reel but i can buy two convectors and a spool of braid for one. |
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Location: 31 | ToddM - 2/19/2018 3:45 PM Jerry, is there is difference in the handle size between the 600 and 700? The tekota is an excellent reel but i can buy two convectors and a spool of braid for one. Yes, it's the same size and style. FYI, I had already switched the down rod Sealine handles over to them as well because they are so much nicer to use than the hard plastic that comes on the Sealine. The reels/drags on my 600s had a lot of wear so rather than replace the drag again, I just replaced the whole reel... sold the beat up 600s on Ebay for about $100 each and ended up with 4 new 700s for the board rods because I liked them so much more than the 600s.
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| only thing that is poor on the tek is the clicker.i also use sealine for short line,because the clicker is loud and it do the job when you don't have to bring big fighting cranks from 100'' away.and it need a lil to no maintenance.i have one that is at least 6 years old,never been oiled or greased and it still work like a new |
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Location: 31 | Exactly! For you non-trollers; the loud Sealine clickers work better for the down rods because when you point the rod/reel down it's away from the boat and harder to hear when they go off. I would add that the standard Sealine drag system is improved exponentially by adding the carbon drag washers. The clicker on the Tekota 700 is noticeably louder than the 600, but not as loud as the Sealine. |
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Location: 31 | Found a good picture of the 3 different reels in use.
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 trolling reels.jpg (37KB - 497 downloads)
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| jerry what's the first rod at the left? |
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Location: 31 | It's certainly nothing special, just a 9' Bass Pro two piece muskie trolling rod with about 6" cut off the butt end. The rod has a nice slow taper that "loads up" nice for boards... along the lines of the center rod that you can see. Good backbone and value for an inexpensive rod. |
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