OKUMAHelios Lightweight Spinning Reel

Wow, what a impressive little reel! Very well made, it reels smooth as silk! Will be used on a UL Rod, will be great for Bluegill, Crappie and Trout. It impressed me so much I bought a 2nd one.

I love it, the color combination is my absolute favorite. It works great and very smooth. I have several expensive reels and this one is definitely my N1

Yes. I bought another spinning reel but I was horrified by its weight and size when it arrived. This one is 1/2 the weight and size, and I took it out fishing the day after I got it. The other is still on the bench: I think it's going back. It's so sleek. I highly recommend it, especially when Amazon has it on sale. No local store carries it. Very nice.

I ordered this reel after hours of OCD searching because I really couldn’t find anyone who said a bad word about it. It’s the most favorably reviewed reel under $100.00 that I found. After unboxing and handling/fiddling with it, the quality seems exceptional for a reel of this price. Tolerances are great, it’s smooth as silk, and it doesn’t make any funky noises. In fact, it’s really quiet. The bail action is great, much better than most other more expensive reels I’ve used. Maybe the best ever. Why four stars? My only criticism is, although very smooth, there is definitely a bit more effort in reeling, even with an empty spool. If I free spin my less expensive Daiwa Legalis or more expensive Shimano Stradic, the rotor will spin easily and freely for many rotations. This one gets maybe 3-1/2 or 4 turns. I’m guessing this could be caused by either an excessive amount of grease in the body or a much heavier reel grease than I’m accustomed to. If it doesn’t loosen up a bit on its own, I’ll disassemble it, clean, and re-grease it, but I don’t see this as being a potential problem. I can’t wait to fish this reel!I’ll update this post after a few trips to the river this spring. If it fishes half as good as it feels it will I’ll update to 5 stars for sure.

I own four of these reels, 3 HSX-30 & 1 HSX-40 because I've had nothing but a great experience with these reels.These are very light weight and they handle torsion amazingly! Another reason I love these reels is because of the "Elliptical Gearing System" that keeps the line very even on the spool. I find it helps with longer casts when your line is evenly spread on the spool. All four reels I've spooled with braided line & fluorocarbon leader and these reels handle it perfectly, no need for backing because the spool are braid ready.I've included a photo of a 5.2lb bass that was caught using a HSX-30 on a med-light rod using a Z-Man TRD Craw Ned Rig. Oh, drag on these reels is amazing also ... smooth and strong when needed. I've never experienced any "jerky" drag peel on any of my four Helios.Tight Lines ! IG @__dgh__

I found this normally $130.00 reel as a "Used-Good Condition" for $80.00! Thing was brand new just a bad box. I put it on my 7' M/L rod, load it up with 6lb KastKing Flourokote and head off for some Columbia river walleye. On the last cast I hook into something giant!! After 25 minutes of being spooled over and over I bring a 6' sturgeon up to the boat and release it. The reel was sooo smooth. No jerky movements, no runaways, nothing but butter. Absolute beast in a tiny package!! Tight Lines!!

This is my first Okuma reel and while its about $ 50 bucks above my normal reel price point It is worth every penny. Its lightweight, has excellent casting distance, reels in buttery smooth, true instant anti reverse with zero slop I may add (never had that in any reel before this one), and excellent drag. I have not caught anything throwing crankbaits yet but have caught many large walleye trolling and pulling these lunkers off the rocky bottoms in Marinette Wisconsin. Not sure if this is the right reel for trolling but it still performed excellent. Only knock I have is it scratches easily so if you want an expensive reel to look nice don't set it down where it can bump into other objects or equipment.

I’ve used this hard for over a month and can only say it’s very good and worth every penny

I am used to fishing with stradic fl's, but thought I'd give this reel a shot. Wow... I'm impressed. Smooth, well balanced and a great drag system. For half the price it's right up there with the stradic fl for quality. Great value and well made reel.

Really unimpressed with this reel. I bought the 4000 series for salmon fishing and when retrieving inline spinners you can feel the bearings clicking in your hand. The drag is also a big disappointment. Not even comparable to some of my other reels that are sub $100. Saving grace is the light weight of the real which makes walking the rivers nice.

Ce moulinet roule vraiment bien ,je m’en sert pour pêcher le pike et le musky d’en problème

Bought at lower price than local tackle shopItem has good built qualityUse as intended.

bought this helios and thought this one might be a smooth trout reel. Very disappointed immediately after receiving it. Go spend extra $40 and go for Daiwa Fuego 2500 or Freams 2500s. far more smooth than this helios. I returned this reel and will stick with Daiwa Fuego and Freams. Even a Daiwa Legalis is smoother than this helios....