Of the dozens of casting reels I’ve tested in the past few years, the new Okuma X-Series lands in the top five, for sure. I’d place it right there with the Lew’s HyperMag and close to the Abu Garcia Zenon MG-X; the X-Series is that good.
This came as quite a surprise to me, since this reel is the first Okuma product I’ve ever fished, but considering how impressed I am with it and the Okuma X-Series rod, I can guarantee you it won’t be the last.
Okuma X-Series 100HA Casting Reel Out of the Box
When I first pulled the X-Series 100HA from the box, I noticed right away how light and crisp it felt. A little research revealed why: all of the components in this reel are made of lightweight but strong materials. An aluminum frame and carbon side plate are paired with a 100mm carbon reel handle to create a power fisherman’s dream with a finesse feel. The total weight of the reel straight out of the box is only 5.6 ounces.
Okuma sent this reel out along with one of the company’s new 7-foot, 3-inch medium-heavy/fast X-Series rods. I paired the two together, spooled the combo up with 40-pound Sufix 832 Braid, tied a frog on, and hit the water.
The Okuma X-Series 100HA Casting Reel On The Water
I caught several small fish right away on this combo. I was also testing a new frog out that day, the Gambler Walking Frog. It turned out to be a fantastic fish catcher in itself with a couple of innovations I haven’t seen in any other frog: a fully plugged hook hole and iridescent tensile in the legs. All in all, the fish were biting, and this rod and reel combo was making short work of them.
I like to skip a frog a lot, under docks and around bushes. To do this well, you need a quality casting reel that makes accurate casts again and again. And, you need to be able to really fine-tune the spool tension and brakes to get a good, consistent skip. I found that the X-Series casting reel performed as well on the water as any other I’ve ever fished with, in this regard.
Toward the end of my outing, I launched my frog out over a shallow point and began working it back slowly. I had a fish make a relatively subtle roll on the bait, and I could tell by the flash of its side that it was a pretty big one. I laid into her and the rod loaded up, big time.
Fighting the fish in shallow but open water, I wrestled her to the boat and got my thumb in her mouth pretty quick. Lifting her up out of the water I saw two things, she had my frog choked and she had a bloody tail. This big girl was likely sitting on bed when the frog came over her head, and she punished it for such an offense.
This was the first real test for the X-Series combo, and both the rod and reel impressed me immensely. For me, it takes sticking a big one like this to really test a reel. The X-Series reel held up under pressure and performed flawlessly on the cast.
Velocity Cast Control System
One of the most impressive features of this reel is the internal Velocity Cast Control System. I typically prefer an external brake control to an internal one, since external controls are usually a bit simpler to use. But, as internal brake controls go, the Velocity Cast Control System is the best I’ve ever seen.
I often dislike two primary aspects of internal brake systems: the mechanism that locks and unlocks the side plate is often really stiff and hard to use, and the side plate sometimes comes all the way off, creating the opportunity for a really bad day on the water if you drop it in the drink.
Okuma fixed both of these issues. The sliding latch control that opens and closes the side plate is super smooth and easy to use. And, when you open the reel up, the side plate pivots out of the way while remaining attached to the reel. Kudos to them for making this system work better than any other reel I’ve used.
Once inside, you’ll find six brake controls that are easy to read. Pushing a brake out away from the center of the reel turns it on, as indicated by the arrow beside it. It’s always best to try to use brakes across from each other to balance any brake system, turning them on or off two at a time. Okuma made this extremely easy to figure out by assigning each pair of brakes the same number and color.
Additional Features
There are four options in the X Series from Okuma: left-hand and right-hand versions in both 7.3:1 and 8.1:1 gear ratios. Each reel has a 24-pounds-max drag, which is pretty impressive for a 100-size reel. There’s also a circular metal line clip at the top right of the reel frame, where you can attach your loose line if you want to store the reel.
There’s another cool feature tucked away beneath the reel: If you roll the X-Series over, you’ll see a line indicator that can be set to denote the size of the line you have on the reel. This is a great use of this typically underutilized space.
All models are priced at $279.99.
Again, I’ve tested two or three dozen casting reels in the last few years, ranging from $50 to $500. I’ve only had this one for a little over a month now, but the X-Series has impressed me so far.
