Okuma Tundra Surf Glass Spinning Rods

This was my first saltwater rod and I followed the amazon reviews to buy this one. I did not follow the advice to sand the contacts and my pole was stuck together for quite some time which was annoying. Additionally, after maybe 5-8 fishing trips to the beach, one of the rings on my rod snapped off. I have had many freshwater poles growing up and they all last years. I was quite disappointed to have this pole break after so few fishing trips.

I decided to try this 15' Okuma surf rod, because I'd been having trouble casting beyond where the waves break on Long Island's south shore using a 10' Shakespeare Alpha combo respun with 30 lb. Stealth Braid. The braid added some distance over the stock 20 lb. mono, but not enough on rough days. I was hoping a 15' rod would cast notably further.I received the 15' Okuma yesterday and paired it up with an Okuma Stratus CS-65 reel, spun with 30 lb. PowerPro braid (coarse one in green box, not smooth one in silver - more on that later). As other reviewers have noted, you MUST treat the sections to keep them from sticking together. On mine, the bottom to mid section connection required sanding and lubing. I lubed the connections with a wax-based bike lube meant for bicycle chains, after sanding the bottom of the mid section with 100 grit by hand. It worked out great. Before treating, it took four hands and a lot of grunting to twist the sections apart.I took both rods to the beach this morning and fished with both of them. The Okuma 15-footer has remarkable quality for the price and is surprisingly lightweight for its size, but there were some unexpected drawbacks that kept me personally from rating it above 3 stars. To be perfectly fair, the same drawbacks might apply to other 15' rods too - I admittedly haven't used any others, so my 3/5 stars is based on ergonomics compared to a 10' rod, not compared to other 15-footers. On to the drawbacks...The 15' is in a word, unwieldy. Casting with it is like casting with the mast of a ship. Alternating casts with it and the 10' Shakespeare Alpha made the 10' rod feel like a snapper pole (and a snapper pole like a toothpick). Here's something I didn't see mentioned, and didn't know to expect because I've never seen a rod this size before... the base is HUGE. In my mind, I envisioned a longer version of my 10' rod, but never considered that everything would be bigger, including the handle.The diameter of the handle is considerably fatter than the 9-10ft surf rods I've used before. In fact, it would not fit into the 1-1/2" PVC pipe section that I use for a stand. I had to make a new stand from 2" PVC (internal diameter). More disjointing than the thickness of the grips is the length of the handle below the reel. With the butt of the handle pressed against my thigh, I had to reach UP to turn the handle on the reel. I'm 5' 8" and using this rod I felt like I'd borrowed it from a giant.The greater height of the reel mount on the pole translates to keeping your hands further apart when you cast. To me, this felt like swinging a baseball bat with one hand at each end. I spent four hours alternating between the two rods and still haven't mastered casting the 15' Okuma. I can't help but wonder about the ergonomics of the 13' version (which would fit in my trunk without having to fold down seats as with this 15' monster).By the end of my trip, using the same 4 oz. pyramid weights and approximately the same size pieces of bunker chunk for bait, I'd say I was only casting at most ~30ft further with the Okuma - maybe 100 yards with that vs. about 90 yards with the 10' rod (estimating roughly, based on the 125 yard braid on the Shakespeare reel almost being gone and down to the mono backing after walking up the beach to place the rod in the holder after casting).The casting distance is basically determined by the speed of the tip of the rod, and I just couldn't whip the 15' rod with the same speed at the handle as the 10' rod. I may have on a few casts, but those were surely the ones where I launched the bait right off the hook and made no notice of where the sinker hit the water.Initially, I began with too much weight. I had two large sections of bunker chunk and and a 5-6 oz. tin pyramid. When the first few casts were notably slower at the handle and only about as far as I was launching the 4 oz. weight and lighter bait (large shiners) with the 10' rod, I tried to increase the speed before decreasing the weight. That was when the pain and the blood came...I've surfcasted with braid before (30# spiderwire stealth), and been injured before, but never as badly as this. Trying to hurl all that weight in an arc with a 15' radius with the coarser 30# PowerPro, I'm lucky I didn't lose a finger. The PowerPro dug in and ripped through me like a ban saw. I didn't have any bandages in my tackle box (I do now), so a neoprene glove had to do to keep the wound covered until I made it back to the car four hours later.If I'm going to keep using that line on this rod (and I DO NOT recommend that braid on this rod, for safety's sake), I'll need a kevlar casting glove if I'm ever going to get the distance gain over the 10' rod that I'd hoped for.

Okuma Tundra Surf Glass Spinning Rod TU-120. I have just used my Okuma Tundra Surf Glass Spinning Rod TU-120, the 12 foot rod for the first time pier fishing and here are my first impression pros and cons review.Pros -good quality. Great price. double eyed ceramic guide inserts. Strong.Good casting distance. Agree with most of the reviews here.Looks better than the pictures. Name brand you can trust.Everything you'd expected in Okuma.Cons -heavy, by far the heaviest 12 foot rod in my collection. A bit too thick - overall, rod is thick, handle grip is nice and firm but too thick in my hands. When fish play, before the bite, a bit hard to feel in your hands. After the cast, end tip wobbles a bit longer than I would like. Used 4oz sinker. It is a 2 piece rod. I would like it more if it was 3 pieces. Made in China - nothing against them, just wondering how much led they used.This is my first impressions. I will update as I find more to write about. Overall I like the rod (4 stars).For a lot more money, Okuma Longitude Surf Graphite Rods fit my hands better. This is a very good starter rod for those 15 to 20 times a year anglers. Finicky anglers might fine this rod less sensitive and too bulky.

I own two 15' rods before buying this one. I am very impressed with the ease it goes together and comes apart(no sanding or waxing of the ends here). The fold down feature of the largest eye is a plus when packing it away so that it doesn't get smashed or damaged. The eyes are in a different configuration then my other two poles but I found this to be a plus. It distributes the force further down the pole and evenly when you have a large fish on the line not just higher up the pole like the other poles I own. Its very sensitive also. I could tell weather it was a crab or a actual fish going for my bait. The casting is smooth and silent I could load a lot of energy on the pole when casting and put it about 70 yards out. I have a Tsunami 10000 bait casting reel on mine. This is the perfect beach fishing combo.

For the price the rod is worth it, but its a cheap rod that performs on par with its price. Not something I will be taking out fishing anytime soon. Barely flex the tip and you can hear it crack and pop. Im afraid a decent size fish will destroy it. BTW, I ordered the 7' for channel cats. Ill keep it as a backup or loaner. But, if you buy it, you will get a rod that is worth exactly what you pay for it. Im going back to Ugly Stick Catfish rods.

I got the 10ft model---This is a throw away rod,it breaks,oh well,go buy a new one....except mine won't break,I treat it like a red-headed step child...So the guides are off,it sticks together sometimes and the craftmanship ain't all that great..IT'S 25 BUCKS!!!! Go buy a Croix or any other high end rod....500 BUCKS!!! Find the cheapest reel you can and put it on this rod and come over to Castle Island and we'll do some fishing

I am very happy with this purchase, the pole is of very high quality and certainly is cheap. The reviews were very helpful, I sanded the connections down before putting it together, I think that saved me from never being able to take apart a 15ft pole, ouch. I also slightly oiled the connections which seemed to smooth things out altogether. Great purchase, I think I will also get one of the smaller ones for pier fishing.