The Epixors have 10 ballbearings and the Avenger has 7. From a fit and finish standpoint these reels are very impressive and the suggested retail price of $64.99 for the Epixor and $34.99 for the Avenger seems to be a tremendous bargain. Just to give you a general idea of size, the EF20 is about the size of a 2000 series Shimano, the EFS30 is about the size of a Shimano 4000 series and the AV20 is about the size of a Shimano 1000 series.

During June I spent 10 days fishing smallies in Door County, Wisconsin and in the process of catching 300 fish I had a great opportunity to use all three of my Okumas, along with Shimano Stradics and Symetres. Both the Okumas and Shimanos performed flawlessly.

Okuma EF20

I found the Okumas to be very smooth, with an excellent drag system. Like the Shimanos there is no wobble in the spool during retrieves. Shimano calls their system Dyna Balance and Okuma calls their system Rotor Equalization System. Whatever it's called, I like them both. The anti-reverse is great on the Okumas and a very nice feature is how easily the handles fold down with just the push of a button.

I've always liked the light feel of the Shimano reels and how they feel during the retrieve. The EF20 and AV20 have this feel. The EFS30, which has a faster retrieve ratio, has a little heavier feel during the retrieve because of the gearing for the faster speed, but is still extremely smooth. I've always liked the 6.0:1 retrieve ration of the Stradics and Symetres. The EFS30 has a ratio of 6.3:1 and the other two are 5.0:1, which I was ok with.

Okuma EFS30

The Epixors have a very comfortable handle grip, made of a hard rubber. I like, and am used to, the small inside bail of the Shimano reels. The EF20 and AV20 have bails that are slightly larger, but still easy to work with. The EFS30's is even larger and took a little time getting used to. I've been told the larger bail on the EFS30 is related to balance. The gearing is different with both companies. Shimano uses a worm gear drive and Okuma uses an oscillating gear drive. Most importantly, as I've already noted, they're very smooth.

I know how durable the Shimano reels are, but can't comment on that aspect of the Okumas yet. Based on the quality I've seen, I'd expect these reels to hold up. Bottom-line, these are quality reels with all the bells and whistles for a bargain price.

Okuma Web Site