Can Okuma's Azores 65 Spinner & Cedros 11' Surf Rod Handle A Monster GT Strike?



A great way to start the year with the biggest shoreline strike in years! I was excited and knew something was about to happen. A guy sat next to me at 2am while i was fishing & asked to fish next to me with his Shimano rig. He looked at me bundled in my white sheet & asked me if i was Scuba Chris? Seems I sold him my Penn Battalion Rod last year. Small island! Earlier last night my bowling buddy Raymond Allen did the same thing. He only saw a "ghostlike" shape as i had my white sheet wrapped around me & figured if i started at him that he was going home early. Lol!



I let Ray use my Bonefish spot w/the sand spike pounded in. An hour latter he took a massive strike that was hard to stop. I knew this Bonefish was hooked before because it ran straight for a rusted metal post on the reef 10ft off the point. Ray's mainline was shredded rubbling along that post. By then my headlamp charge was almost gone & the video i just shot wasn't viewable. Ray left after that & was kind enough to let me use his "Walmart" special back-up headlamp. Because of that headlamp i was able to record what transpired afterwards.



Well back to this stranger fishing next to me. He rigged 1 of 2 live mullets he had in his bucket & lobbed it 30ft out. Within minutes he took a massive sizzling strike that stripped his reel in under a minute. Disgusted he departed but left me with his last live mullet. So i used my simple 2-hook live bait rig that allows the fish to be free-swimming straight, rather then bent. Within minutes my 11' Cedro Surf Rod w/my Azores 65 Spinner started screaming!



This was a great test to see what the Cedro Azores rig could really do! Some skeptics have messaged me saying i'm only backing Okuma because i test their equipment. But i have done my homework years before i approached Okuma. The quality & technology used to create their products is inspiring & the MSRP's are extremely fair.



When you watch this video look how the rod bends under the power of the fish. The rod didn't break though my arms paid the price & the reel's drag system held for over 40min. After editing the video clips i threw away over 20min of footage. The whole fight laster over 45min. I'm extremely happy with the outcome.



Be inspired everyone! Okuma does make great fishing gear at a fair market value. On my next outing i need to retrieve my 2 Mustad Ultra Point Circle 4/0 Hooks.





Timeframes-

2:44 - My Multi-Purpose Rig

4:36 - GT Hook-Up!

33:32 - Gt Broke-Off.



My Set-Up-

11' Cedros Surf H, 20-40lbs, 3-8oz

Azores 65- 280yd 65lb braid

Nice post.