Way better camera and eyes than I have!

Any of you have the 7’3 medium fast casting model? I’m wondering if it would make a good weightless senko/fluke etc rod. And maybe once in a while a 3/16-1/4oz t rigged trick worm.

On 4/1/2025 at 8:53 PM, 12poundbass said:

Way better camera and eyes than I have!

Not sure about eyes. Tying knots is my nemesis nowadays! 

On 4/2/2025 at 6:55 PM, woolleyfooley said:

Any of you have the 7’3 medium fast casting model? I’m wondering if it would make a good weightless senko/fluke etc rod. And maybe once in a while a 3/16-1/4oz t rigged trick worm.

Anybody?

On 4/7/2025 at 4:55 PM, woolleyfooley said:

Anybody?

If open water you could get away with a medium.  Normally for all my senko rod med heavy ideal.  But if you are gonna be Texas rig with 1/4 I'd go MH all the way.  In the 7'3 or 7'5.  Use to fish long rods like a 7'5 in the loomis line but I eventually going back to shorter rods in the 7 to 7'3.  Better balance overall and more nimble for easy twitches easier to fish with all day

On 4/10/2025 at 2:54 PM, THE_Vue's said:

If open water you could get away with a medium.  Normally for all my senko rod med heavy ideal.  But if you are gonna be Texas rig with 1/4 I'd go MH all the way.  In the 7'3 or 7'5.  Use to fish long rods like a 7'5 in the loomis line but I eventually going back to shorter rods in the 7 to 7'3.  Better balance overall and more nimble for easy twitches easier to fish with all day

Interesting. I was thinking the medium heavy would be a bit overkill to cast weightless senkos/flukes etc. I was originally planning on buying a Dobyn’s champion extreme hp 743 for this but I really like what I’m hearing about the Okuma X series.

Still curious about where these are made. Anyone know? Doesn’t change anything, just curious!

They are made overseas, much like everything in the entire fishing industry, with a few exceptions of course.

So I’m interested in buying a new dedicated weightless senko/fluke etc rod and I like these. I was looking at the 7’5 mh fast and it has an odd lure rating range of 1/4-1/2oz.
 

That seems like an awfully narrow range of weight. In any case, does anyone have experience with this model? Anyone have any idea how it would work for weightless plastics?

On 4/7/2025 at 4:55 PM, woolleyfooley said:

Anybody?

That's exactly what I use my 1st gen Zodias 72M for and to skip docks with 12# Sniper.  It's a powerful stiffer tipped medium so I can't speak to the Okuma rod.  Mediums are weird.  Some are just like a MH in the tips but softer deeper down and others are practically a ML.  I don't have any familiarity with Okuma rods to say.  Worst case scenario you hope it's works out for what you want but have a plan b use for it if it is too soft for weightless plastics and light T rigs such as a jerkbait rod or treble hook topwater rod.

I’m really finding myself more and more interested in this rod as time passes. One thing, are the guides titanium?

 

I was thinking of getting a Dobyn’s champ extreme 744 for 3/8-1/2oz chatterbaits and spinnerbaits but now I’m thinking the Okuma x series 7’3 heavy might be the ticket.

 

Anyone know what the taper is like on these rods? I know Dobyn’s are almost a mod fast and I like that for chatterbaits/spinnerbaits. How fast are the various Okuma’s?

 

Would the 7’3 heavy fast be a good choice for 3/8-1/2oz chatterbaits/spinnerbaits instead of the Dobyn’s champ extreme 744? 

Anyone have the 7’3 heavy fast? I’m wondering how it would work for 3/8-1/2oz chatterbaits, spinnerbaits etc.

On 4/24/2025 at 5:28 PM, woolleyfooley said:

So I’m interested in buying a new dedicated weightless senko/fluke etc rod and I like these. I was looking at the 7’5 mh fast and it has an odd lure rating range of 1/4-1/2oz.
 

That seems like an awfully narrow range of weight. In any case, does anyone have experience with this model? Anyone have any idea how it would work for weightless plastics?

I'm betting this is lead only.  Have iRod MHF casting rod rated 3/16-3/8 oz.  This is more ML territory to me, so I contacted iRod about it.  Reply was that the rod does handle MH weights...which means 1/4-3/4 or 1/4-1 oz. total weight to me.

21 hours ago, new2BC4bass said:

I'm betting this is lead only.  Have iRod MHF casting rod rated 3/16-3/8 oz.  This is more ML territory to me, so I contacted iRod about it.  Reply was that the rod does handle MH weights...which means 1/4-3/4 or 1/4-1 oz. total weight to me.

I spoke to a rep at Okuma. Apparently tackle warehouse has it listed wrong. The 7’5 mh is 1/4-3/4oz NOT 1/4-1/2oz. 
 

The rep told me the 7’3 heavy wouldn’t be a good rod for 3/8-1/2oz chatterbaits and spinnerbaits and that the 7’5 mh would be a good choice for those baits. 
 

So… does anyone have the 7’5 mh? 😁 I’m hoping it will work well with 3/8-1/2oz chatterbaits and spinnerbaits. I’m really curious how the taper is.

3 hours ago, woolleyfooley said:

I spoke to a rep at Okuma. Apparently tackle warehouse has it listed wrong. The 7’5 mh is 1/4-3/4oz NOT 1/4-1/2oz. 
 

The rep told me the 7’3 heavy wouldn’t be a good rod for 3/8-1/2oz chatterbaits and spinnerbaits and that the 7’5 mh would be a good choice for those baits. 
 

So… does anyone have the 7’5 mh? 😁 I’m hoping it will work well with 3/8-1/2oz chatterbaits and spinnerbaits. I’m really curious how the taper is.

I have a 6'10" HF Tour Edition and Superlite rated 1/4-5/8 oz.  Doesn't seem reasonable that both have misprinted lure weights.  Also doesn't seem possible that these are true weights for a Heavy power rod.  I can only assume these are listings for lead only.

 

What is the actual numbers on the Okuma X?  Have two of the iRods, and both have the same rating on the rods.  Same for the Quantums.

 

Sheet happens.  Someone at TW could have made a mistake when writing up the Okuma's lure rating.

Anyone have the Okuma x series 7’5mh? 

Edit - Just noticed Okuma raised the price on the x series. @Glenn are these made in China? Please don’t take that the wrong way. I’m not trying to be political or make any criticism, I just want to know.

On 4/11/2025 at 5:49 PM, woolleyfooley said:

Interesting. I was thinking the medium heavy would be a bit overkill to cast weightless senkos/flukes etc. I was originally planning on buying a Dobyn’s champion extreme hp 743 for this but I really like what I’m hearing about the Okuma X series.

MHF is my standard for 10-10.5 inch weightless ribbontail worms...BUT...I am always fishing them in or on the edge of lily pads.

On 4/25/2025 at 9:09 AM, Bigbox99 said:

That's exactly what I use my 1st gen Zodias 72M for and to skip docks with 12# Sniper.  It's a powerful stiffer tipped medium so I can't speak to the Okuma rod.  Mediums are weird.  Some are just like a MH in the tips but softer deeper down and others are practically a ML.  I don't have any familiarity with Okuma rods to say.  Worst case scenario you hope it's works out for what you want but have a plan b use for it if it is too soft for weightless plastics and light T rigs such as a jerkbait rod or treble hook topwater rod.

I only have 2 Okuma rods.  Liked the 7' M Helios so well I bought a second.  Check out TT's review of it in the Archives.  It handles way outside its listed range in the review.  I personally haven't done that much experimenting with mine.

56 minutes ago, woolleyfooley said:

are these made in China?

I'm not 100% sure, but I think they are.  I know Okuma lost a couple thousand rods at sea during covid (their container fell overboard in rough seas en route to U.S. from China), so based off that...

4 hours ago, woolleyfooley said:

Edit - Just noticed Okuma raised the price on the x series.

$40-45 increase on their site. TW still has them listed at their old price...for now. 

19 hours ago, NorthernBasser said:

$40-45 increase on their site. TW still has them listed at their old price...for now. 

I wonder if that’s to due with tariffs or…?

 

Edit- Rods are made in China. This comes from their New Zealand website:

 

Where are Okuma products made?

Okuma is unique in that it manufacturers the majority of its products in its own factories. From its high tech machining workshop in Taiwan to its state of the art rod factory in China all of its factories work on the same principles of innovating and developing the highest quality product.

My local mom and pop had these in the shop today. Super clean builds, light, and the actions are spot-on. Walked out with two of the 7’3 Medium Heavy power. One is a dedicated weightless senko/tx rig rod and the other is for frogging.

 

The grip size is PERFECT for my hands as well.

54 minutes ago, Maverick2017 said:

My local mom and pop had these in the shop today. Super clean builds, light, and the actions are spot-on. Walked out with two of the 7’3 Medium Heavy power. One is a dedicated weightless senko/tx rig rod and the other is for frogging.

 

The grip size is PERFECT for my hands as well.

Make sure to post up how it throws weightless senkos please! I was thinking the 7’3 mh would be perfect for a weightless 5” senko rig. Now you can be the guinea pig! 😂

3 hours ago, woolleyfooley said:

Make sure to post up how it throws weightless senkos please! I was thinking the 7’3 mh would be perfect for a weightless 5” senko rig. Now you can be the guinea pig! 😂

That’s exactly what I’ve got tied on for tomorrow’s outing, paired with 16lb Shooter.

 

We’ll see how tomorrow goes!

19 hours ago, Maverick2017 said:

That’s exactly what I’ve got tied on for tomorrow’s outing, paired with 16lb Shooter.

 

We’ll see how tomorrow goes!

Sweet! Thank you!

There’s a (I believe) 7’5 Psycho Stik at Sportsman’s warehouse in Chattanooga. I just left it there a couple hours ago. Almost brought it home, but that’s hard to hide…