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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | Well, I've been throwing these new reels from Okuma since April now, and they have a lot of water time on them, so I figured I'd give a quick review on how they have been holding up given some of the issues with the Indurons in the past.
The Isis are an upgrade from the Indurons and Okuma has fixed many of the issues with the previous reels. The thumb bar does not go across the entire spool (isolated to the right half of the spool), and I have had absolutely zero issues with this engaging on the casts and zero issues with it being "sticky" (note, I currently have 4 of these reels in my line up).
The drags are also very smooth, although it took some getting used to the down sized star drag adjustment, but I only use it to tighten all the way down or loosen up when done for the day.
When looking at the durability of the reel, the pinion gears that gave me issues with the Indurons in the past are no longer issues (part of the thumb bar issue from the Indurons I believe). I have been ripping the daylights out of baits from 10" Jakes, DDDs, Pounders, Hardheads, Bucket heads, Depthraiders, etc and have not missed a beat on any of the reels. That was a primary concern when trying the Isis' this year and midway through the season, that concern has been put to rest at this point. Initially, I was leary about ripping baits hard with the past issues, but as I gained more confidence, those fears are gone as I mentioned earlier.
The reels are just as smooth as I expected (for $200 I was looking for something similar to the Shimano 400bs), and at this point of the season, I am extrememly pleased with the attention Okuma paid to the past issues and the corrections put in place to address those issues.
I would be confident in saying that you would be well pleased to put one or two of these reels in your line up as Okuma has put out a very good reel in the new Isis. After the beating I've put on these things since April, any issues should have surfaced, of which I've had zero up to this point. If anyone has any questions or concerns, I can let you know what I've seen up to this point, but as mentioned above, I have no concerns at this point, and will check back in at the end of the season.
(note, I'm not going to get into the specs of the reel as I frankly am not well versed in the engineering apsects of these things, so if anyone wants to get technical, feel free).
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Mine are performing exactly as stated above. |
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Posts: 339
Location: Denmark | tuffy1 - 8/1/2011 8:29 AM
The Isis are an upgrade from the Indurons and Okuma has fixed many of the issues with the previous reels.
Great news, but Isn't the New ISIS an upgrade from the Red ISIS?, rather than the Induron. |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | The new Isis for all intents and purposes replaced the Induron and the Red Isis. The Akena is a middle ground reel with 6 bearings VS the Induron's 8, a different frame, and a different drag system, designed to meet the needs of the low C spot range reel class. I suppose you could say it 'replaced' the Induron in the price range, but it's a different category than the Induron was originally addressing.
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | I suppose you could say that. I mentioned that being the Induron's were more well known then the Red Isis. Thanks for pointing that out though. |
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Posts: 538
Location: northern indiana | Is the Isis compareable to the Cardiff? |
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | The Isis is the replacement for the Red Isis and the Akena is the replacement for the Induron. Both the Akena and Isis are so much better than past reels that I'm hesitant to even call them replacement. All past issues have been resolved (as Joel noted) and both are the reels I would suggest to someone looking for a reel in the $100 (Akena) or $200 (Isis) price range. |
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Posts: 444
| Tuffy, thanks for the review.
I'm looking at the Isis or maybe the cedros to replace my induron...
Will see...
Anyone use the Cedros? |
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Posts: 203
Location: Minnesota | I have both Isis and Cedros... Basically, Cedros is a version of Isis with powerhandle but in blue/gold color... no difference in gears/schematics...
I LOVE both reels and definitely wont think twice about purchasing them...
7'6 Modified Grandt Rod mated with Isis: Beautiful glider/jerk rod... Excellent pick-up... very comfortable...
9'0 XH TI Telescoping Rod mated with Cedros: Does Dawgs and Big Blades good... I dont burn with this set up and it performs flawlessly... A friend of mine tried this combo and fell in love with it, he sold two of his reels, including a Saltist 20HA, just to buy a Cedros... Hes very happy with it as far as I know...
Both reels definitely are worth the $$$, casts smoothly with 80# Bronzeback, retrieves effortless, and very comfortable to use... |
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | You won't be disappointed with the Isis at all. They are all I was hoping for when I got the, so Okuma got these ones right on the button. Not sure about the Cedros, but it sounds by the above post like they are working just as well. |
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Posts: 349
| So the Isis/Cedros is an upgrade from the Red Isis is what I'm reading. What were the huge flaws with the Red Isis? I picked one up with the power handle this winter for $40 brand new and it looks exactly like the Cedros but with red instead of blue. It has been an awesome big blade reel for me this season. Only thing I have read about is the big handle will cause it to engage on the cast but the simple fix for that is hold the thumbar down until the lure is about to hit the water. |
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | The issue that was most rampant was an issue with the thumb bar and it not engaging all the way causing the reel to engage on the cast at times which put unnecessary wear on the pinion gear (at least that's my take on it). So basically it was a thumb bar issue. It seemed more prevalent with the Indurons though as my Red Isis never had that issue, even with a power handle. |
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Posts: 1141
Location: NorthCentral WI | Thinking about picking one of these up now that I see they ARE actually available in left hand (the right hand) retrieve. The Akena and Cedros are not. |
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Posts: 1764
Location: Ogden, Ut | Thanks Joel, but what I really want to know is just how hard can a guy that weighs a total of 127 pounds in a Frabil Stormsuit rip a bait? I still see very little stress on those reels! LOL
I think I might be trading up to the Isis in the winter; my Akena has performed similarly - flawless.
S. |
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | Hahahahahaha. Nice Sorno. I'm up to 128 though (just had a Dilly Bar).
You won't be disappointed with the Isis for taming those Utah tigers. And if fishing's slow, you can always cast at Pointer and practice reeling him in (unless he's too busy getting married now). |
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Posts: 339
Location: Denmark | I owe the Akena 400, and is crazy about the handle and the drag, that makes me grab the rod more often where my Akena is mounted rather than my Calcutta.
If the new ISIS posses the same size handle as the Akena, as well as an even better drag, with an overall quality that matches the Calcuttas, they have made a smashing reel. Seen it for only 155$ on ebay, inclusive free shipping! |
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Posts: 743
| Are there any power handle options? |
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | Honestly, you don't even need a power handle on the Isis. The new handles are larger then the ones on the prior reels and even handle dbl 10s easily (granted I'm not burning them). I wouldn't doubt if you could get a power handle (perhaps Mark can confirm), but don't think you need one for the Isis. |
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Posts: 203
Location: Minnesota | Pretty Much Okuma Isis and Okuma Cedros are exact the same reel... same gears, same schematics but different color and different handles...
Okuma Isis is dark gray/charcoal and gold, has twin paddles
Okuma Cedros is blue and gold, has power handle
From what I can see, Twin Paddle and the power handle are virtually the same size...
You want an Isis with a power handle, simply get a Cedros... no difference there!!! |
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Posts: 299
Location: Ontario, California | The only differences as mentioned above a few times are cosmetic and the style of handle. Other than that, they are the same product. |
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| Hi which rods do u have the okumas On? |
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Posts: 661
Location: Sussex, NJ | I love my Isis. I have the 400LX which is the lefty version and its awesome. No problems whatsoever with this reel. I have it on a 9' TI XH and its awesome. Well worth every penny |
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Posts: 999
| the new Isis has held up well for me!! Sweet reel! |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Mine too. |
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Posts: 582
| i can vouch for the Akena. i picked one up for a loaner rod in my boat. Turns out i use it quite a bit and it has taken some abuse. REally a good bargain at $99. |
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Posts: 24
Location: PA | JandH Tackle has the Isis IS-400LX on closeout for $99. They only have the 400 size in left hand retrieve. They offer free shipping if your order totals over $200 so if you order 2 just add something cheap to increase the total to $200 to save even more. That's 2 reels for less than the list price of one. I'm not affiliated with them but have ordered from them a few times.
http://www.jandh.com/okuma-isis-round-baitcasting-reels.html
Hope it's OK to link to a store that's not a sponsor if not please delete the link. |
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Posts: 399
Location: WI | This thread really helped to convince me to get an Isis 400LX. Then I put line on it & noticed ALOT of line piling up on 1 side of the spool & almost no line on the other side. The level wind went past the spool on the 1 side & not all the way to the end of the spool on the other side. Since the reel was gift that was ordered online, not like I could just swap it at the store. $13+ to ship the reel to Okuma, and a $7.95 check to get it shipped back, for a reel that left their factory defective, and not even a "sorry we screwed up". This could be the best reel ever made, but this whole experience has really turned me off from ever buying another Okuma product. I did let Okuma know how I felt, got no comment from them.... |
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Posts: 38
Location: WI | To mix things up a bit. How does the New Okuma Komodo 350 compare to the reels being mentioned here. |
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Midseason review of the new Okuma Isis 400