We were fortunate enough to catch two bull reds on our first fishing trip with two Okuma 65's. One was 35 inches long and the other was 44 inches long. The drag performed smoothly with no suggestion of grabbing or irregular chatter. It was smooth as butter. One of the best features of these reels is the "fish finder". After you cast out, you engage the fish finder lever and now the line can be taken out by the fish at an adjustable drag tension so the fish does not feel the rod until you start cranking the reel handle. Then the main drag takes over without any adjustment at all.

This is an amazing reel for a paylake catfishermen i love this reel so much i have only caught 1 fish but it held up prefectly i love this reel the baitfeeder is really nice and it i got in a 21lb cat with it i would say this is a great reel for beginers because i am only 14 and so it fits prefect for me but also a good reel for more expericed people because my dad also uses this reel on his rod to go cat fishing and when i get enough money i am going to buy another one of these reels also