hey everybody,

   Long story short: I've gotten a couple of okuma reels direct from the company as giveaways for a tournament down the road. It's an Okuma aveon spinning reel, line test range is from 4-8# and it has a ratio of 5.0:1. 11 bearing. What rod do you think I should pair these up with and are they beefy enough to handle bass fishing? They seem light to me, but I'm used to using a 6-10# spinning reel. I was thinking a 6' or 6'-6" m to ml. Something in the $50-$100 range would be best.

http://www.okuma.com.au/home/okuma/product_details.asp?name=aveon

No.

Those are stocker trout, crappie or pan fishing reels.

Bummer. So, I give a winner of a bass fishing tournament a trout fishing reel? I guess you can't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Anybody want these? I've got two and need stuff that I can use as a prize for a BASS fishing tournament or cash to buy said items. Both NIB, one hasn't even been opened yet.

Wait a minute. What size is the reel. I use Okuma's Exclusivly for my spinning setups. For some reason their line ratings don't reflect their size at all. The reels come in sizes (10,15,20,30 and so on). If it is a AE20 then it is the perfect size reel for bass. The 15 is pushing it on the small size and the 30 is a little to big for me. I have a 40 that I use for salt water. Okuma spinning reels are great. I have been useing them for nearly six years now with no problems.

As a bass fisherman, I would be very happy with the 20 or even the 30.  

PS- That's a $200 gift horse!!  Forget looking it in the mouth, I'll inspect his tonsils for $225!! lol

If they are smaller than the 20, perhaps you could contact Okuma and explain your dilemma.  I've heard nothing but good things regarding their customer service, worth a call.

Personally, I use 6-10# spinning reels for bass, but I do know a few people who use 4-8# and wouldn't use anything else. They typically throw weightless Senkos, while I try to vary my baits more. I'd say that at 4-8# it isn't a bad deal. Heck, for free I'd throw it on one of my rods and I'd use it.

Oops!

I want to defer to other Okuma owners. I have a 1000 series Shimano which I had in mind when responding on this thread. It certainly "can be used" for bass fishing, but I do not choose to use that size. For me, it's a "stocker trout, white bass, crappie, panfish" reel. Perhaps that is not applicable to the Okuma reel you have.

Maybe after fishing the rig you can post your review of the new reel.  

Okuma Aveon AE20. It sounds like this is a winner after all? Good deal.

Hey RW, everybody makes mistakes. I didn't know either.