Jigger 2kNR Rocking Solid

Japanese styled slow jigging has taken the local fishing scene by storm and hence more overhead jigging reel's been seen in the wild. Recent development of physically downsizing these overhead reels made plenty of people jump ship from the old to the new.

Occasionally, you'll find gems like this Shimano Ocea Jigger 2000NR-PG, an oldie but goldie. A friend was considering jumping ship too pinning his hopes of finding some kind or any kind of fault/excuse to sell this oldie for a new ocea jigger.

Dated looks compared to the newer sleeker Ocea Jigger? I think it's fine.

As with most reel that's not been cared for after a while, you get salt crystal deposits in crevices and odd places. For this instance, the free spool return spring. Everything else seems to be fine with some dirt and dried up gunk.

Top, reel clicker can be disabled with this nifty design (green). More salt crystals with some rust found on the crank case cover. Entire reel looks dried up, probably untouched since coming out of the factory.

Some of the bearings are also bone dry but no rust was to be found anywhere.

One way bearing's easily dismantled and cleaned. Drag system is in tip top condition as with the shaft and gears.

Crank case plate gets some scrubbing before being lathered with marine grease for protection and water displacement.

Drags are in excellent condition and only need a light coating of drag grease. Main and pinion gears are also in tip top condition knowing that it's been regularly fished hard during its prime. No premature failure or wear detected on these big sturdy gears at all.

Extra marine grease coating/stuffing to cover bearings generally most exposed to salt water.

Upon completing the strip down and service, this reel feels excellent with plenty of stopping power. The best part about this reel is its cranking torque compared to the newer OJ. This OJ cranks effortlessly with heavy jigs and does an amazing job when retrieving lunkers from the deep. The newer OJ needs a bit more effort to crank when loaded. This OJ seem to have better stopping power with low tech drag discs vs the newer carbon fiber based discs. Better yet, this drag discs doesn't seem to have any wear on them

With this reel in hand, it feels that the build is much tighter and solid. Everything about this oldie feels like a tank. The newer OJ just misses out by a tiny bit on that front.

As a result, this goldie of an OJ is very much a keeper. This friend is glad to have discovered no faults or excuses to jump ship anymore.