Okuma Delivers Solid Performance With Their Citrix Suite of Reels

Total Score: 7.13 - GOOD

Introduction: If you're not one of the top four or five favored fishing reel manufacturers, the low profile baitcaster business is a tough market to crack. Come in with a questionable product and you are forever tainted as a brand to avoid. Yet each and every year at ICAST, we see companies try to break in and gain a bit of that market share. Companies keep trying because every now and then it really does work. Witness the resurrection of Lew's and Abu Garcia in recent years. Consumers like alternatives and competition is what drives all companies to make products that outperform the next. At TackleTour, we enjoy seeing new products from manufacturers trying to grab a piece of the bigger pie. Today, we take a look at a mid-line product from a manufacturer whose had their share of criticism from consumers along their baitcaster journey. Is Okuma finally poised to make a move into the low profile baitcaster market? Here's our take on the Citrix suite of reels.

Impressions: The Citrix-a is Okuma's second iteration of the same platform. Not having fished the first generation of this reel, the only differences I can discern from the specification sheets is that Okuma increased the bearing count and lowered the price by five dollars. The 200 sizes are available in 5.4:1 and 7.3:1 retrieve ratios and the new, 300 size reel in 6.4:1. All but the 5.4:1 200 size is available in both left and right hand retrieve. For the most part, the 200 and 300 size reels are the same, so this review applies to both sizes. However, we will highlight differences where applicable in the body of this review.