Okuma Avenger ABF30 Review Thread ....

[Pferox]

There is a long story behind why I got these reels, suffice it to say that my last baitfeeder reels were 5000 Penn Captivas which are going strong, but are way too heavy for holding any length of time.

My Wife kind of surprised me with a pair of these, so I have no idea how much they cost and she's not tellin'.  They came in a nice box with interesting basic instructions, and a spare spool.  Initially when I picked them up, they seemed to be heavy for a 3000 reel, but in all honesty it is more like a reel and a half when you remember they have two drags.  They felt very smooth and the drags seemed to hold tight.







One of the points on the box is that the drags are sealed with a grommet.  I readily found the grommet on the metal spool that was on the reel, but not on the graphite extra spool, removal and reinstallation of the grommet revealed that it is not interchangeable between the two spools, or I am doing something wrong.  Because of this, I suggest that if you plan on dunking this reel, stick with the metal spool.



They are a nice size for slot sized fish, the reel is rated for 330 yards of 6lb and 180 yards of 10 lb mono.  On one reel I used about 150 yards of 12lb CXX in hi viz green and at least 330 yards of 20lb braid that came off of my collection of accumulated spool ends.  I've been kind of trained to use the graphite spool for braid from other reels historically so I kept with that trend.  I noticed that the graphite spool makes the reel feel much lighter, but it might just be me.



After mounting them both on different 7 foot medium rods, they feel quite light, almost the same weight as my standard Penn Pursuit II in 3000 size.  I think it is as much balance as weight because looking at the reel, you can see that the stem is quite different in shape and angle compared to other reels.



I have been looking at these reels for a long time, a couple of Florida fishermen I follow on Youtube, one being a Kayaker use them and have nothing but positive things to say about them, although I'm not sure if they are live liners or not. There are a few reviews on line on them and I only found two negative comments one being a weakness in the cranking handle pivot pin, and the other being the screws aren't salt friendly.  The screws look brass to me, but a coating of Hard As Nails will help to keep them from corroding, and I didn't see any excessive play in the hinge point in question.  I guess we will see on this point.



I got a chance to use them one time, and sorry to say neither saw any action.  But I did get play with them a little and do have some initial feelings.  Man do these things have a drag on them.  They seem to be very smooth, although I won't be able to say much more until I get a fish on the other end of the line, and cranking down on them makes them very hard to move by hand.  I didn't play to much with the live liner drag, but found it disengaged and engaged reliably and crisply.  They cast quite well, and are quite strong reels.  Bringing in the one ounce weight with large chunk of bait fish can be a challenge for some reels, this one made it effortless, many times I thought they were coming in with a bare line.  The only negative I see is the line out alarm is very hard to hear, but I also have that problem on my Captivas.  Stay tuned for at least one review on line out alarms.



I like these reels a lot, probably will like them more when I bring in some fish with them.  Based on what I see with the drags, they are well suited for heavier braids, (probably up to 50lbs) and believe they were designed to be more of a braid reel than mono reel, although the 12lb CXX worked well, with no sign of line twist at all.  I have no qualms with hooking on to a big bull red or black drum with this reel, and can probably hold my own to a mid sized shark with it, once in a great while. 

Now THAT is pretty impressive, coming from a Penn Fanboi.     

[Pferox]

I have been using these reels every trip since the last post, the number of which were a lot less than I wanted to get in, but that is the way things go.

I find myself liking these reels more each trip.  They are quite robust and strong, bringing in heavy baits, twigs / trees, and huge crabs quite easily.  As you can see I haven't hooked up on any big fish yet, but I am optimistic.

I think when the time comes to reline, I am going to go with 30lb braid almost to the rim and maybe a few feet of 20lb mono.  To me, this is definitely a braid reel.  I am very confident that they will handle most of the inshore species I run into.  I still feel they are a little small for Gulf Pier fishing, but a larger sized reel would hold up very nicely especially if filled with braided line.  I haven't given up on my Penns, but do believe that these reels are a good inexpensive option for live lining and inshore fishing in general.

They are the perfect size for the kayaker and his normal inshore / bass type gear, in my opinion.  An excellent affordable reel for someone planning on targeting slot game fish, with the ability hold their own when the occasional "biggun" comes along.

[Smallie_Stalker]

They look good Jim. But you accidentally put the handles on the wrong side.        

[Pferox]

They look good Jim. But you accidentally put the handles on the wrong side.        

I'm left handed so everything is backwards.