ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — Okuma's biennial limited-edition Makaira programme is back, and for the 2026-2027 season the Taiwanese reel maker has handed the colour palette to the yellowfin tuna. Davey's World Fishing host Davey caught the first public look on the show floor at the 2026 Saltwater Expo in New Jersey and walked viewers through the reel before retailers had even taken delivery.
"As you know, Okuma every year does a special edition, or every other year does a special edition Makaira," Davey said in his sneak-peek video. "Last year was the Mahi Mahi edition. You've seen the blue with the stripes — several different colours, all kinds of fun stuff that they've done in the past. But for the 2026-2027 season, they're going to do a yellowfin edition."
The finish is the reason to watch this one. Where the Mahi run leaned on stripes and panel colours, the Yellowfin Makaira goes anodised — a multi-tone metallic gradient meant to mirror the look of a fresh fish on the deck.
"Check out that really cool anodising on that yellowfin," Davey said. "It's got the blue, it's got the gold, it's got the silver. Looks just like a yellowfin tuna fresh out of the water, right when you hit that thing with the gaff."
The rest of the package leans dark to make the finish pop. Davey pointed to a fully black-anodised spool, a murdered-out black handle and a black ratcheting plate built into the reel's top end. The build itself, he confirmed, is the same Makaira lever-drag platform that has anchored Okuma's offshore range for over a decade — only the cosmetics change.
Where the Yellowfin programme will hit collectors hardest is the size spread. Okuma is running the full Makaira lineup, top to bottom.
"They're going to be available in that size 15T all the way up to the 130 in that yellowfin limited edition," Davey said. "They're making one run of these things. When they get them, they're going right out to retailers, so you're going to have to hit them fast."
That one-run-only language is the practical headline for anyone planning a 2026 tuna or marlin programme. The standard Makaira lineup runs from the 15T two-speed — popular for jigging yellowfin, wahoo and black-fin — through the mid-range 30T, 50T and 80W sizes used on stand-up tuna and small marlin, up to the 130-class reels favoured by giant-tuna and grander-marlin crews. Buyers chasing a specific size in the limited finish will be locked into whatever volume Okuma has greenlit for this single production batch.
Davey did not have a confirmed retail price or a firm Australian release window in the preview video, but Okuma's previous limited-edition Makaira drops have typically run a modest premium over standard sizes and have moved through specialist game-fishing tackle stores within months of landing on shelves. For Australian buyers, that has historically meant ordering through dealers who carry the full Makaira range rather than waiting for a separate domestic release.
The 2026 Saltwater Expo, held in New Jersey, has long been Okuma's preferred unveiling for new offshore reels because of the density of charter and tournament buyers who travel to the show. For now, the takeaway from Davey's preview is simple: if a yellowfin-anodised Makaira in your preferred size is on your wish list, the time to flag it with a dealer is now, not when stock arrives.