Okuma Rockaway Light Weight Carbon Saltwater Surf Rods

I read a lot of reviews and watched several Youtube reviews before purchasing this rod on Amazon. Nobody in the greater Orlando area had one that I could go touch and hold. I received 2 rods on Friday and fished them Saturday. I paired them with Daiwa BG 4500 reels with 15# Mono. If you were going to cast lures with this rod all day then I would think a BG 4000 would balance well depending on what you were targeting. I have a few of these new generation Daiwa BGs already and can't say enough good about them. As for size and balance the Daiwa BG 4500 runs big so it is about the size and has the line capacity of the Penn Spinfisher 6000. With this reel combo the outfit is balanced very well.I will use these rods to surf fish Central Florida East Coast mostly from Flagler to Sebastian.I was skeptical of the rods capabilities on the first impression out of the box because of how incredibly light and thin that it was (see pic of tip on a US Quarter). The rest of the rod is beautiful. The appearance and finish is just really nice. I read some reviews about the reel seats loosening up or inability to get tight, I did not experience any of that maybe it was their reel choice. Yesterday we started with throwing 2 oz pyramid sinkers with a double dropper mono pompano rig. The rod loaded well and flung nicely. I later used a 2 oz sputnik just to hold better. I did not need to throw a 3 oz weight yesterday but did just to test the rod and it didn't feel much different loading than the 2 oz. In the winter we may need to go 4 oz occasionally but mostly a 3 oz sputnik will do everything we need to hold. I don't do too much lure casting in the surf with long rods but with as light as this is I would think I could cast it as much as a 7' rod, coming from Ugly Stiks that is something I wouldn't have considered. I think the days of surf fishing with 15' rods and 8000 series reels are gone for me anyway, in hindsight I would have checked baits a whole lot more often with a setup like this vs those.The tip is super sensitive yet the rod surprisingly has plenty of backbone for as thin as it is, again my expectations were exceeded. We only caught small Whiting and Croakers yesterday but pretty confident it will handle bigger fish with ease, I have been fishing for 46 years or so and have a pretty good idea. I will likely purchase two more of these rods before the fall surf fishing here really gets going. For summer surf fishing or flat days in my area I would also think the Rockaway 8' MH with a Daiwa BG 3500 or 4000 would be just fine when there is not heavy surf. No reason to throw huge rods on flat days.Bottom line is obviously from my review I would recommend and I would purchase again.UPDATE 6/18/20Well after fishing these for a while I decided to change the reels on these to the Daiwa BG4000, it is the same reel size as the 3500 but with a bigger spool and line capacity. I did this for the sole purpose of shaving weight. The rod was pretty balanced with the 4500 but the 4000 is 1/2 pound lighter and it just makes these rods that much more comfortable to throw and hold and the wife can handle them better. I could definitely use these for big plug casting with the smaller real with ease. Hope this helps folks make a decision.Update 5/26/22I’m still using these rods with the smaller Daiwa BG4000. They have held up well, we have caught some larger Pompano along with the usual Whiting. The little butt balls on the bottom tip have gotten slightly scuffed from my rod holders. I put some black rubber weather stripping in the bottom of the rod holders to prevent that from worsening. I would still but these again but the fact is that I will probably not tear these up beyond use in the rest of my surf days. I did not purchase two more like I was planning. I actually bought two 9’ rods made for steelhead fishing. They are super light and can handle 2oz pretty well and I fish right off the beach with them in the trough. I use the 10’ Rockaway ti cast ti that same trough when the tide is higher and I need to throw further. Bottom line is that I still love these rods and the finish seems to be weathering more fairly than the heavy Ugly Sticks that I was married to for so long. Get you one or two of these.

9/7/22 - This baby was 12' long, very small in diameter & very light. I wondered if it would chuck a 3oz weight it was rated for without breaking? It did & without breaking. It sailed the bait & 3oz farther than ever before. Tip was sensitive enough to see tiny 3"-4" fish nibbling on the bait. (I know cause I caught one, along with a sea anemone & starfish) It did well bringing other 2-3 lb fish up the 30' cliff we were fishing from. Pretty impressive & happy with it. Good addition to the collection.However, next time I looked at it 2 months later (Nov), the tip & 3.5" of rod was broken off. It was stored like any others, separated in 1/2 with line still attached standing up with tip down next to handle. Mending failed cause I.D. was to small to insert anything strong enough & wasn't please about being 3.5" shorter if I put a new tip on it....being as it's brand new & only used once. I felt like I got cheated.Came across a fishing forum where a guy had same problem on same rod. He contacted the factory & got a new outer 1/2 of the rod for free. Well I'm screwed as it is so gave it a shot. Sure enough, the factory is sending me one too...for free. Might have to pay for shipping but that's better than the options I had.Bottom line, good pole & customer support but tip needs special care to prevent breaking. It appears to be a weak link. I will now store it standing up with the butt of both sections on the ground & twist tied together. Once again, beware, the tip will not take the abuse other rods will.12/1/22 update, Received outer 1/2 of pole from Okuma today. The thick cardboard 3" x 6' tube was bent 1' from one end. The tip end as it turns out. Luckily the pole was not damaged. Okuma didn't charge me anything, not even shipping.Now that's the way to treat customers!Kudo's to Okuma!I'll look you up 1st for my next pole. 👍

Arrived with significant damage due to packaging. In fact, there was no packaging. It arrived in a bag. Guides bent in all directions. Spend 10bux more somewhere else and avoid a return. Okuma is obviously saving money on a box via Amazon. I ordered from West Marine and it was boxed, well protected. No issues. Now I fish the surf. Replacement feels great, very happy. Light and long with sensitive action. Lure rating much better to cover soft and hard baits and chunking weights w/ natural bait. For a total of 125 at the other store the price point is easy to embrace. Field report 8/17/24 handled a 34" 17lb stripper with ease. Much confidence.