Akios Cresta AK100 maxi spin-reel

Akios is a brand that’s new to New Zealand anglers, but a quick Google search reveals a great deal about this brand.

I couldn’t find any information on the internet about the model I was to test and gave it the casual “yeah looks mean” and attached it to my favourite rod, an MC Works 516ss. Later on, after watching a talk by the founder of the company on YouTube, I went over the reel bit more carefully and stripped it down. I found a very solid internal system but also a few things I will be keeping an eye on. Then I let it rip on the kings!

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The distributor of the reel assured me it would handle the day-to-day running with ease – and he wasn’t wrong! This reel has potential-plus as a great live bait reel for deep water kingie fishing and I look forward to seeing how it performs in the future.

The first thing I noticed about the reel was its weight and I initially thought it would be too heavy for jigging, but I have now had many a turn with it and it’s a solid performer. After a month of use and some 100 kingfish the reel has had a thrashing mechanically and it’s still great – none of the mechanical concerns that I had initially have come to fruition, which is great to see, and it’s great to see our customers enjoying using it too.

The reel has a series of rubber seals which gives it that little bit of extra water resistance. This has stopped any water intrusion into the internals after some fairly heavy drownings with salt water, including no water intrusion into drag system. There have been some cosmetic problems, but that’s to be expected with a reel that does a lot of work. Lost decals/graphics can be easily addressed with a different adhesive and a minor reel handle issue was easily fixed and can be sorted for future reels at the factory.

– Reviewed by Carl Muir at Epic Adventures

Specifications:

• Max drag: 30kg
• Weight: 780g
• High strength Al-Si-Cu-Mg aluminium body/rotor
• 10+1 stainless steel shielded bearings
• Oversized permanent instant anti-reverse bearing
• Line capacity 440yds/30lb/400m/15kg mono
• Stainless drive, pinion and oscillation gears
• Gear ratio: 4.1:1
• Saltwater resistant
• Sealed body and drag
• Stainless and carbon textile sealed drag
• Titanium coated line roller
• Solid 4mm wire bail arm
• Gearbox lubrication port
• Waterproof CNC handle