I decided to try this 15' Okuma surf rod, because I'd been having trouble casting beyond where the waves break on Long Island's south shore using a 10' Shakespeare Alpha combo respun with 30 lb. Stealth Braid.  The braid added some distance over the stock  20 lb. mono, but not enough on rough days.  I was hoping a 15' rod would cast notably further.

I received the 15' Okuma yesterday and paired it up with an Okuma Stratus CS-65 reel, spun with 30 lb. PowerPro braid (coarse one in green box, not smooth one in silver - more on that later).  As other reviewers have noted, you MUST treat the sections to keep them from sticking together.  On mine, the bottom to mid section connection required sanding and lubing.  I lubed the connections with a wax-based bike lube meant for bicycle chains, after sanding the bottom of the mid section with 100 grit by hand.  It worked out great.  Before treating, it took four hands and a lot of grunting to twist the sections apart.

I took both rods to the beach this morning and fished with both of them.  The Okuma 15-footer has remarkable quality for the price and is surprisingly lightweight for its size, but there were some unexpected drawbacks that kept me personally from rating it above 3 stars.  To be perfectly fair, the same drawbacks might apply to other 15' rods too - I admittedly haven't used any others, so my 3/5 stars is based on ergonomics compared to a 10' rod, not compared to other 15-footers.  On to the drawbacks...

The 15' is in a word, unwieldy.  Casting with it is like casting with the mast of a ship.  Alternating casts with it and the 10' Shakespeare Alpha made the 10' rod feel like a snapper pole (and a snapper pole like a toothpick).  Here's something I didn't see mentioned, and didn't know to expect because I've never seen a rod this size before... the base is HUGE.  In my mind, I envisioned a longer version of my 10' rod, but never considered that everything would be bigger, including the handle.

The diameter of the handle is considerably fatter than the 9-10ft surf rods I've used before.  In fact, it would not fit into the 1-1/2" PVC pipe section that I use for a stand.  I had to make a new stand from 2" PVC (internal diameter).  More disjointing than the thickness of the grips is the length of the handle below the reel.  With the butt of the handle pressed against my thigh, I had to reach UP to turn the handle on the reel.  I'm 5' 8" and using this rod I felt like I'd borrowed it from a giant.

The greater height of the reel mount on the pole translates to keeping your hands further apart when you cast.  To me, this felt like swinging a baseball bat with one hand at each end.  I spent four hours alternating between the two rods and still haven't mastered casting the 15' Okuma.  I can't help but wonder about the ergonomics of the 13' version (which would fit in my trunk without having to fold down seats as with this 15' monster).

By the end of my trip, using the same 4 oz. pyramid weights and approximately the same size pieces of bunker chunk for bait, I'd say I was only casting at most ~30ft further with the Okuma - maybe 100 yards with that vs. about 90 yards with the 10' rod (estimating roughly, based on the 125 yard braid on the Shakespeare reel almost being gone and down to the mono backing after walking up the beach to place the rod in the holder after casting).

The casting distance is basically determined by the speed of the tip of the rod, and I just couldn't whip the 15' rod with the same speed at the handle as the 10' rod.  I may have on a few casts, but those were surely the ones where I launched the bait right off the hook and made no notice of where the sinker hit the water.

Initially, I began with too much weight.  I had two large sections of bunker chunk and and a 5-6 oz. tin pyramid.  When the first few casts were notably slower at the handle and only about as far as I was launching the 4 oz. weight and lighter bait (large shiners) with the 10' rod, I tried to increase the speed before decreasing the weight.  That was when the pain and the blood came...

I've surfcasted with braid before (30# spiderwire stealth), and been injured before, but never as badly as this.  Trying to hurl all that weight in an arc with a 15' radius with the coarser 30# PowerPro, I'm lucky I didn't lose a finger.  The PowerPro dug in and ripped through me like a ban saw.  I didn't have any bandages in my tackle box (I do now), so a neoprene glove had to do to keep the wound covered until I made it back to the car four hours later.

If I'm going to keep using that line on this rod (and I DO NOT recommend that braid on this rod, for safety's sake), I'll need a kevlar casting glove if I'm ever going to get the distance gain over the 10' rod that I'd hoped for.
I decided to try this 15' Okuma surf rod, because I'd been having trouble casting beyond where the waves break on Long Island's south shore using a 10' Shakespeare Alpha combo respun with 30 lb. Stealth Braid. The braid added some distance over the stock  20 lb. mono, but not enough on rough days. I was hoping a 15' rod would cast notably further. I received the 15' Okuma yesterday and paired it up with an Okuma Stratus CS-65 reel, spun with 30 lb. PowerPro braid (coarse one in green box, not smooth one in silver - more on that later). As other reviewers have noted, you MUST treat the sections to keep them from sticking together. On mine, the bottom to mid section connection required sanding and lubing. I lubed the connections with a wax-based bike lube meant for bicycle chains, after sanding the bottom of the mid section with 100 grit by hand. It worked out great. Before treating, it took four hands and a lot of grunting to twist the sections apart. I took both rods to the beach this morning and fished with both of them. The Okuma 15-footer has remarkable quality for the price and is surprisingly lightweight for its size, but there were some unexpected drawbacks that kept me personally from rating it above 3 stars. To be perfectly fair, the same drawbacks might apply to other 15' rods too - I admittedly haven't used any others, so my 3/5 stars is based on ergonomics compared to a 10' rod, not compared to other 15-footers. On to the drawbacks... The 15' is in a word, unwieldy. Casting with it is like casting with the mast of a ship. Alternating casts with it and the 10' Shakespeare Alpha made the 10' rod feel like a snapper pole (and a snapper pole like a toothpick). Here's something I didn't see mentioned, and didn't know to expect because I've never seen a rod this size before... the base is HUGE. In my mind, I envisioned a longer version of my 10' rod, but never considered that everything would be bigger, including the handle. The diameter of the handle is considerably fatter than the 9-10ft surf rods I've used before. In fact, it would not fit into the 1-1/2" PVC pipe section that I use for a stand. I had to make a new stand from 2" PVC (internal diameter). More disjointing than the thickness of the grips is the length of the handle below the reel. With the butt of the handle pressed against my thigh, I had to reach UP to turn the handle on the reel. I'm 5' 8" and using this rod I felt like I'd borrowed it from a giant. The greater height of the reel mount on the pole translates to keeping your hands further apart when you cast. To me, this felt like swinging a baseball bat with one hand at each end. I spent four hours alternating between the two rods and still haven't mastered casting the 15' Okuma. I can't help but wonder about the ergonomics of the 13' version (which would fit in my trunk without having to fold down seats as with this 15' monster). By the end of my trip, using the same 4 oz. pyramid weights and approximately the same size pieces of bunker chunk for bait, I'd say I was only casting at most ~30ft further with the Okuma - maybe 100 yards with that vs. about 90 yards with the 10' rod (estimating roughly, based on the 125 yard braid on the Shakespeare reel almost being gone and down to the mono backing after walking up the beach to place the rod in the holder after casting). The casting distance is basically determined by the speed of the tip of the rod, and I just couldn't whip the 15' rod with the same speed at the handle as the 10' rod. I may have on a few casts, but those were surely the ones where I launched the bait right off the hook and made no notice of where the sinker hit the water. Initially, I began with too much weight. I had two large sections of bunker chunk and and a 5-6 oz. tin pyramid. When the first few casts were notably slower at the handle and only about as far as I was launching the 4 oz. weight and lighter bait (large shiners) with the 10' rod, I tried to increase the speed before decreasing the weight. That was when the pain and the blood came... I've surfcasted with braid before (30# spiderwire stealth), and been injured before, but never as badly as this. Trying to hurl all that weight in an arc with a 15' radius with the coarser 30# PowerPro, I'm lucky I didn't lose a finger. The PowerPro dug in and ripped through me like a ban saw. I didn't have any bandages in my tackle box (I do now), so a neoprene glove had to do to keep the wound covered until I made it back to the car four hours later. If I'm going to keep using that line on this rod (and I DO NOT recommend that braid on this rod, for safety's sake), I'll need a kevlar casting glove if I'm ever going to get the distance gain over the 10' rod that I'd hoped for.