Jiggin' Jarak... Again (Part 3)

We also did try jigging for the supposedly ever plentiful Golden Snappers (Angcho) but they were elusive this time. Strangely enough in fact, all the bottom dwellers seemed passive though the current was ideal.

This lone ranger was the only Goldie that turned up. And it sure did look bruised up badly, as if it survived a fishy gangfight in the depths below. Either way, it gave a good account of itself on its way up. Caught on the ever faithful 150g Bluefox Herring

The casting game begins...

The stern roof was pushed back, allowing ample space for our elongated wands to propel our lures towards the reefline and drop-offs.

The fish seemed to wisen up to the surface lures. So the ever witty KH rigged up a Bluefox Reflect Pirk and began casting with the new upcoming Okuma Nemesis 6-12lb rod coupled to a leftie Curado E7 (a speedy oh la la reel!)... and was soon in business!

"Aye Mama mia! You love me, no?"

KH cradling his beloved

(D1: Shouldn't you be biting a rose??)

When dusk approached, we landed a nice Spotted Mackerel and all the hungry anglers smacked their lips. SASHIMI!!!!! Sensei Frodo-san the master sashimi chef brandished his beloved Rapala fillet knife and skillfully cut up some nice ite sized morsels of Mackerel. With wasabi & shoyu - WALLA!

Sashimi wiped out less than 2mins after photo taken *BURP*

As the sashimi was being wallopped, there were huge splashes near the front of the boat. Several Skitter Pops & X-Walks landed in the midst of the surface commotion but were bust off almost immediately.

Joey however connected and was soon battling it out painfully with GeeTee Jr. The Majorcraft Offblow handled the fish very nicely coupled with Okuma Trio 55. BTW, did I mention the sound whizzing out of that graphite/aluminum crossover spool is simply music to one's ears? Hint: it's very different from how an aluminum spool would sing when line fizzes out at high speed!

Joey to GT: "No, I'm not going to give you my Trio 55!"

Rod: Majorcraft Offblow PE1.5-3 Casting Spec

Reel: Okuma Trio 55

Line: Sufix Performance Braid 30lb

Leader: Sufix Superior Leader 50lb

Lure: Rapala X-Walk13 CLN

Little girl can catch big fish! Way to go Sister Joey!

Trio: Okuma's "Crossover" Reel

Okuma showcased its innovative side when it developed the Trio range of spinning reels. Don't take this reel for your ordinary eggbeater. It was designed as a radical concept of combining aluminum & graphite to offer strength in construction and shedding unnecessary weight.

What's unique about this design is that Okuma places aluminum where strength integrity is needed. For example, the reel rotor consists of a 'hybrid' aluminum frame connecting to the side of the bail arm. This gives stability and strength under heavy pressure, ensuring perfect alignments and eliminating spool wobble.

Note the underside of the rotor which features the aluminum construction, giving it strength and stability.

One key feature of the Trio is in its spool construction, where multi-disk Japanese-oiled felt drag washers are housed in an aluminum drag chamber and enclosed in a cool, lightweight carbon-fibre design graphite spool on the outer side. The idea is, again, to shed extra unecessary weight from the spool yet maintaining strength and stability.

Carbon-fibre design on the spool encased in an anodized aluminum styling frame

Okuma also prides itself in its patented Elliptical Oscillation System, a design that uses an oval shaped gear working pretty much like a train's gears to provide exceptionally even line lay on the spool. This is also thrown into the Trio.

Probably the first thing when one picks up the reel is to notice a one-piece anodized aluminum reel stem that connects the reel foot to the body. Despite being eye-candy for design, it is also to keep the gears in alignment, according to Okuma.

The Trio also features Okuma's DFD (Dual Force Drag) system, a unique way of maximizing drag efficiency by applying pressure on both sides of the spool. This feature that was initially seen in high-end reels such as Shimano's Stella are now available on the Trio. Apart from the multi-disc felt drag in front of the spool, another drag washer sits below the spool to apply even and efficient braking. As such, squeezing up a crazy 8kg of max drag pressure on the little Trio-20 is now possible. (The Trio 55's max drag is up to 12kg!)

Trio's Features:

Multi-disc, Japanese-oiled felt drag washers
DFD: Dual Force Drag system
9BB + 1RB stainless steel bearings
Quick-set anti-reverse roller bearing
Precision machine cut brass pinion gear
CRC: Corrosion Resistant Coating process
HDGII: Corrosion resistant, High density gearing
Crossover aluminum and graphite hybrid body design
Crossover aluminum and graphite hybrid rotor design
EOS: Patented Elliptical Oscillation System
Hybrid spool design with graphite arbor and aluminum lip
ADC: Aluminum Drag Chamber precision spool system
Rigid, forged aluminum handle design
Hydro Block water tight drag seal
Heavy duty, solid aluminum, anodized bail wire
RESII: Computer balanced Rotor Equalizing System

Model	Bearings	Capacity	Gear Ratio	Line Retrieve	Max Drag	Weight
Trio-20	9BB + 1RB	190/4, 110/6, 90/8	5.0:1	22"	18-lbs	8.8 oz
Trio-30	9BB + 1RB	200/6, 160/8, 110/10	5.0:1	25"	18-lbs	10.3 oz
Trio-40	9BB + 1RB	270/8, 190/10, 170/12	5.0:1	28"	20-lbs	11.0 oz
Trio-55	9BB + 1RB	380/10, 340/12, 240/15	4.5:1	30"	24-lbs	15.3 oz