# okuma longitude cx



## fishhawkxxx (Jul 7, 2012)

You guys that have an okuma longitude 12 hvy conventional.Is your top section larger in diameter than bottom section? I just recieved one and the top section right above the ferule is larger than top of bottom section???? Is this normal or did I recieve a mix matched rod??? Thanx in advance


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## histprof (Oct 30, 2011)

Can you post a pic? I can look at mine this afternoon.


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## fishhawkxxx (Jul 7, 2012)

Well i can try and post pic later thanx for reply


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## histprof (Oct 30, 2011)

OK. I see what you are seeing . It appears to be normal. The ferrule is reversed on those rods. The female side is on the tip section and the butt is the male. The increased diameter on the tip section is to accommodate the ferrule. Interestingly, my 9' of the same rod is the other way with the butt section female. Here are a couple of pics of mine.


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## fishhawkxxx (Jul 7, 2012)

*okuma longitude*

thanks, thats a relief! I guess they built them like that so they could rate them (weight-wise) heavier??? probably had something to do with cost effeciency though
You have the same set-up as me! Is the red reel a 7000 also? What is your sweet spot for the 12'? I havent used mine much except on land but it seems to be about 4-5.thanx again!!!!....love my abu's!!!


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## histprof (Oct 30, 2011)

I love mine, too. I went through a bunch of ebay reels before I settled on the 7000/7500s. I have a pair of Penn 200 Surfmasters that I keep as my backups for the Abus. I haven't needed them. I spooled the Abus with 30# braid as a backer and topped them with 25# mono.

I like 5oz with these rigs, but will also throw 4oz. My technique is pretty poor so I really don't load the rod up too much on the cast. I have the same rod for a spinning rig and it has helped me to get a better feel for the rod. I have to remind myself to get the cast up and let it fly. I tend to baseball swing if I am getting lazy. The low trajectory casts will blow up on me. I can throw the 12' spinner the farthest, followed by the 12' with the 7500. I can throw 3 oz on my 10' Penn torque with the Abu 6600W almost as far-- and it is almost effortless. Translated into real terms, at the beach, with 10-12 mph of wind in my face, I can reach the middle of the second gut from the 1st bar at Surfside (+-60 yards?) with 5 oz and a live finger mullet.

The rods seem pretty robust. They have landed slot reds, smacks, small sharks, trout, panfish and a gazillion stoopid whisker fish. The first time that I fished with one, I caught a 3' ray that required some serious pulling to get in. One caution: don't fumble them on the pavement. I dropped one on the cement one day and broke two guides. So, that one is 'personalized' with my home wrapped guides.


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## fishhawkxxx (Jul 7, 2012)

exactly same here!, tried the rest, 'bassadeur's tha best! Well for med. sharks n bull reds anyway.I use heavier backing though (80lb. braid) only because I fish florida at least 3 times a year.Do you feel safe with 30lb. backing?I would much rather use the 30 but just not sure.
around 60-70 yds is what I get also, but I have 2 buddies that are big n they can hit 80-100 yds.
I'm just learning my okuma (after 3 blow-ups) I learned 2-3 oz. are too light. lol I'm really used to old fiberglass blanks so I'm afraid I will break this rod If I load it like I do them.
thanx again prof.


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## histprof (Oct 30, 2011)

As for the 30 lb backing, I am fairly sure that it would be plenty. Those older Abus don't make too much drag, so I won't be pushing the limits of the line under normal conditions. I also use the Trilene Big Game or the Cajun Red mono on top. Both of those lines are super stretchy. The amount of stretch in 200 yards of that mono will provide lots of forgiveness.

I'm mostly a food fisherman. A perfect day for me would be a couple of slot reds or a handful of decent sized specks or a couple of big smacks in the cooler. I definitely enjoy hooking something that pulls drag, but it is not my primary effort.

I like the Ambassadeurs on that rod, for sure. I am interested in some of the newer reels, especially the Daiwa and Penn conventionals like the X-SH or Squall. My youngest goes to kindergarten next month, so with the day care lady off the payroll, I may put some of that savings into the newer gear. I actually really enjoy filtering through ebay to find interesting old reels and then repairing and re-tuning them myself. I recently acquired a Daiwa Sealine Magforce 250. It is in great shape. That is the ancestor of those fancy newer Daiwas like the X-SH, but with magnetic casting control. Once it gets a teardown and cleaning and a new set of carbon drags, I will be interested to see how it works.


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## fishhawkxxx (Jul 7, 2012)

cajun red? stretch? Never thought of the stretch factor! Maybe that's what I need? Because I have had 3 blow-ups within the last 2 weeks that have resulted in break-offs that have sent my lead to who knows where! And I use 80lb top shot! Gonna run to wally world n get me some cajun red to put on reel that I destroyed over 100 yds of 25lb co-polymer p-line yesterday!
Have you ever tried ceramics (bearings,line pawl)? A professional reel mech. told me that the bearings get too hot on a long run??? And the ceramic line pawls are too hard and wear out worm gears too fast???
I too constantly rumage through fleabay for reels, Did you see that 9000cl on there 2 weeks ago? Well I got it, x-cept it wasn't a 9000 but a 7000 with many parts missing! lol


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## histprof (Oct 30, 2011)

Well, the mono stretch won't save a birds nest that stops a cast too early in flight. If you really shank one, expect the break off. That is also one reason that I went back to mono after my 'all braid' experiment a couple of years ago. A good blowup seemed to damage the braid and make a break off more likely. The other key idea for me is that mono is dirt cheap. If I have any reason to doubt my line, I will change it. A $7 spool of mono versus $50 worth of braid is not a hard call for me. I just wish that Berkeley would make the Trilene XL in the solar so that the birds can see it better. I'm kinda so-so on the Big Game (really, really stretchy).

As for the fancy supertuning parts... IMHO those make great sense for bay waders trying to throw 1/8 oz arties. Surf casters need to be workhorses. Smooth, long-casting workhorses, but dependable and durable. I have quite a few bushing reels (Penn 200, Abu Five, Abu 7000) that throw just as far as my ball bearing reels when serviced. The key with both of them is cleanliness. Clean bushings make a reel sing. Dirty bushings are like an adhesive.

The ebay reel habit is out of control. I had to buy a reel cabinet this month and re-org just to find stuff. I will probably list a few this month to thin the herd. It won't stay thinned....


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## fishhawkxxx (Jul 7, 2012)

I got away from stretchy line years ago while bass fishing ( hard to turn a fish when your line stretches) but perhaps it is better for surf fishing, asorbs shock better? I have noticed a-lot of people use it on the coast.I'm gonna try the cajun and let ya know this eve (sho does look good on a black ambassadeur)I think youre right on the ceramics ( I might be making my abu's too fast) I know on 1 I can spin the spool, by hand and line pawl will travel the full length plus 1/2, the other abus I have dont??? I simply hate putting too much pressure on spool control because I'm afraid I'm putting too much pressure on spool shaft causing shaft wear???? maybe not?? what do you think?


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## fishhawkxxx (Jul 7, 2012)

the rest of the story.....Rod throws 2-6 really well, had no problem with 20lb cajun, hit 60-70 yds ever cast! good enough for me!


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## histprof (Oct 30, 2011)

That's good news. I am really looking forward to the fall. With the weed and the heads subsiding, the fishing will be much more fun. The 12' rods have been on the back burner since Jan. I fish the lighter gear when I'm using shrimp for bait in the spring. In the summer, the long lines make weed balls. The big rods move back to the front of the line here in a few more weeks.


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## fishhawkxxx (Jul 7, 2012)

yea, me too, might wait untill oct.Spent 2 weeks on sand in may and it was pretty bad! I've been looking at some of the older daiwa mags and I like some of them, just not crazy about plastic reels,I reckon graphite with metal side plates are ok, Do you have any suggestions for a level wind about same dimensions as our 7000's?


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## histprof (Oct 30, 2011)

Daiwa made a couple of level winds in the Sealine series (27 & 47). I have a couple of the 27s and have found that they don't cast very well. They are durable and solid, so they would be better as BTB reels for the kayak crowd. For casting, things really open up when you get away from the level wind. They made some open top, no level wind versions of the classic Sealines in good heavy surf sizes (250H, 300H?) that look like they would cast beautifully. The real gems in the arsenal were the Sealine Magforce reels, which were open top reels with cast control magnets. There were two sizes, 170 and 250. I'd love to get my hands on a 170, but they are pricey. I scored the 250 for nothing a few weeks back, so that is my current project reel. It is huge, suited for (lots of) 25# of 30# line. Today's high performance Daiwa reels are direct descendents of those two Sealine product lines. Those old Sealines are are awesome with their one piece aluminum frames. Their only major flaw was lousy glue on the decals. Nearly every reel from that period is missing its model number decal.

I often have my kids with me and their hands are too small to manage without a level wind. That is why I mainly fish with level wind reels. I keep the Abu 7000s on the big rods and I put Abu 6600s, 6500s, Penn 9, Daiwa 27 or Millionaire 6HM on my lighter rods. I also have to force myself to remember to carry the spinners in both heavy and light weight. So many times, I get to the beach and find the wind pretty brisk and right in my face. It is nice to have something more forgiving in the arsenal.


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## fishhawkxxx (Jul 7, 2012)

I grew up on squiders, but because of some kind of weird thumb problems I had to go to level winds and thats where I fell in love with the 7000 amb.So I think I'm stuck with level winds unless a miracle happens!


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