OKUMA SLV Fly Fishing Reel

I have a 7/8 SLV and take it everywhere. I have pulled in some nice False Albacore, Bonita and Spanish Mackerel along with multiple species of freshwater. You could spend a lot more and get a lot less.

The reel itself is fine but priced $20 more that others on line. My thought was it was priced more because of the spare spool and there for is a good deal, the reel will come just fineWell don't hold your breath for the spare spool ... False advertising???

Bought and used for four seasons for trout fishing. The real was dependable and the drag adjustment worked great for trout (have caught up to 7 lb on it). Just returned today from Idaho where I caught a 22" rainbow (along with 13 other smaller ones) and it took several minutes to land this big one. While I was battling this chunker, that I'm sure weighed at least 3 lbs, I noticed how well the drag worked and helped me wear this monster down through several runs before I finally netted it. In April I purchased an Okuma fly rod and because of my experience with the first Okuma reel I decided to buy a second one for my new fly rod. So far it has been a very good reel as well. I have been able to adjust the drag quickly to adapt it to the size of fish. True that it isn't the most expensive reel, but I find it a good value for the money.

The reel is cheap for a reason. The drag is terrible, I bought it to use in Alaska for coho. I wouldn't purchase this reel again. In fact if you need one left me know I have that are paper weights now.

Yeah, the drag stinks on my SLV 10/11 too. Interestingly, my two 7/8 SLV reels have very powerful, fish stopping drag systems, while my 8/9 version falls somewhere in between. I think Okuma got it backwards, as the drag strength normally increases with reel/intended use size. I can use my 7/8 versions for Alaska sockeye in fast water but not the larger versions!