Okuma Contoura/Catalina reels....

[homeslice]

Some folks swear by them while others swear to them. I purchased their californian low line graphite spinner as my first reel of choice and remains the most reliable reel I have. Now I'm checking out their new 08 line up of SW boat reels. The Catalina looks like a good competitor against Diawa's Sealine. Also, I visited their distributor in Ontario whose marketing director showed me their new Contoura reel which should be released soon. The drag felt strong and he mentioned that its lowest 30 class comes with a 7:1 gear speed. Sounds Awesome. FYI- the Contoura msrp is approx. $90, not bad.

So is anyone familier with the Okuma Catalina or heads-up reviews about the new Contoura reel??? links below.

okumahomepage
okumahomepage

[grantar2]

I have the Catalina and like it a lot.

[Kernowboy]

I bought a pair of Contoura CR-203CS (the smallest one). Supposed to have a 7.1:1 gear ratio and hold 290 yards of 0.35mm line... mine are marked up as 6.2:1 and 230 yards. I have checked the reels and the specs marked on the them are correct i.e. the Okuma marketing material (and thus all the seller's adverts) would appear to incorrect!

Then again, could be a batch error...

[lbil]

from the responses i'm seeing here, okuma must have made a turnaround recently-when they first came out a few years ago they were so bad we wouldn't touch em' with a barge pole-i personally had an okuma caster break first trip, just to have it's replacement break within minutes of hitting the beach-was there a shake up in ownership or q/c a the company ??-lbil

[Danimal]

my Kabooma Catalina lasted about 3 trips and one yellowtail

In that price range, the Sealines are a very safe bet.