The REAL Cortez Experience! The Cortez CZ-55Wa Reel!

The Cortez Reel Experience by Okuma! Jigging! Trolling! Casting!

This reel was discontinued by Okuma a few years ago. It's still a popular trolling reel on the West US Coast to the shore casters off Hawaii. The reason? Lightweight for it's size & rated for 400yd of 50lb monofilament line!

This conventional star drag can do it all. Bottom jigging to trolling & even casting. There are currently 3 smaller sizes, the 5, 10 & 12. All has magnetic cast control. You can still find these for sale from Okuma. Only the larger CZ-55Wa model is being re-vamped The original "W" reel had a lightweight graphite frame. But flexed a lot under the load of a big strike. Then the "Wa" model was released a few years after the W. This model has aluminum side-plates & frame. It can handle large strikes without the flexing.

For me i love the open top frame for casting. Some anglers rely on reels with high max drags to slow the run. Being solely dependent on the reel's gearing to slow a run can lower the lifespan of any reel. But most knowledgeable anglers don't rely on using a reel's drag to slow a run, they use their thumb. Some use thumb pads. Back in the day i'd cut open a bicycle tire tube and tie-strap it in on the reel seat with the flap exposed facing me for casting and slowing a blazing run.

For my current conventional rigs i currently use 2 Tesoro12's on a 12ft Longitude & Solaris rods for bait casting (they cast FAR using a 4oz pyramid). I plan on using this reel on my Okuma H 13' HCS Ulua Rod for sliding live or dead baits using 1-way or 2-way slides. I had 360yd of 60lb Trilene Big Game monofilament line added. I can break 60lb & 80lb if i had to, but if i used 100lb i'd have to wrap a towel around my arm first before trying to break it. That stretch on thicker line is a killer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jiYxpInQa4