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Okuma Hakai Baitcast Reels
By Sean Bekkers
Sean Bekkers adds the cutting-edge Okuma Hakai baitcast reel to his kit, giving us an overview of the reel features and his experience putting it to work on the fish. Fish on!
When these reels were released, I knew almost immediately that I needed to add one to my collection. The sleek aesthetics, comprehensive feature list and compact size of the reel suited a lot of the fishing that I like to do. Let’s jump in and have a bit of a closer look at the Hakai from Okuma.
Reel Overview
The first thing that you will notice when unboxing the Hakai is how light the reel is. Features such as the FLITE SPOOL and FLITE SHAFT, along with the LITECAST magnesium frame have kept the weight of Hakai extremely low, achieving an impressive sub 170 grams.
As I alluded to earlier, aesthetically the Hakai is a masterpiece, with no compromise on any of the performance features. I’ll drop a link at the end with a detailed description of the features, but in short, the standout for me is how light and smooth the reel is, while still being capable of producing up to 9kg of drag.
Casting is amazing, with line exiting the reel smoothly and the magnetic cast control system allows you to really dial it in to match your casting ability and chosen presentation. Likewise, on the retrieve, the line winds on effortlessly and more importantly, evenly across the spool.
The last thing that I’ll touch on here is a little feature that Okuma has incorporated, which is the line diameter indicator. This may seem a little insignificant, however how often have you scratched your head thinking what line have I loaded onto the reel? For me, this is a small but welcome addition, especially if running multiple baitcast outfits. The Hakai comes in 3 right-hand models, with retrieve ratios being 6.2:1, 7.3:1 and 8.1:1. There is also a left-hand model, with a retrieve ratio of 7.3:1.
When I picked up the Hakai I really wanted to set up a rod and reel combo that I could use for chasing impoundment bass. The idea was to be able to send TT spinnerbaits, Switchblades and heavier ZMan plastic presentations into the edge. In terms of rods, I opted for a 7’ TT Red Belly 4-8kg baitcast rod, which matched up nicely with the Hakai.
Line wise I spooled the reel up with 10lb Platypus Pulse X8 Braid as I was intending to mostly chase bass and the occasional golden perch when the opportunity arose. With that being said, this combo often finds its way into my boat when hitting the saltwater estuary systems.
On the Water
So, what were my first impressions? After dialling in the drag system and getting a feel for casting the reel (which didn’t take long), I found it to be fantastic casting wise. It was spot on, and I was able to send my casts a long way, which was exactly what I was looking for when out on the impoundments. In the hand, the Hakai fits nicely in my palm and when winding I had a sense of the reel being bullet proof, while being light, largely due to the engineering and materials used by Okuma to build this quality reel.
As mentioned above, I predominately use this combo when fishing the impoundments to complement my light spin tackle, and it is often rigged with slightly heavier presentations than my 1-3kg spin combos. When casting with and into the wind, the Hakai performed extremely well, with minimal thumb control needed. In fact, there were a couple of occasions when I thought to myself, I was going to birds nest it for sure, however I was pleasantly surprised when the line ran off without a knot in sight. Once hooked up on a fish, the drag was super-smooth and simple to adjust on the fly with my index finger, regulating tension depending on how the fish was fighting.
Overall, I have been impressed with the Hakai. It looks good, feels great in the hand and is super-smooth, whether casting, retrieving, or fighting a fish. I have a few more species in mind to tick off with this combo and the team up north have been having a blast targeting mangrove jack and barramundi with it. If you’re in the market for a new baitcast reel, stop in at your local Okuma stockist and check out the Hakai or visit okuma.com.au… it’s impressive.
Cheers for reading, Sean