18 and life, you got it! 2025
burrows reply :
What happened to the Abu Garcia brand? I see a downward spiral? Remember the abu for life guys it seemed like everyone was on the band wagon. I got to admit I was using their products and I still like em. But there like on the bottom of my list.
Abu for life! Where did they go wrong and will they make a comeback? Or will they continue on their very low Plateau?
Johnbt reply :
I don't know anything, maybe they cut their advertising budget. I fished 3 Premiers for a few years and then bought an SX a year or so ago. They're very nice and still work well and have handled everything I've asked of them.
Then, after 5 years of retirement, I bought a Metanium MGL, a Steez SV TW and a Chronarch CI4+. I've fished mostly Shimano saltwater reels since the early '80s, along with a few medium Daiwas, so buying Shimanos is easy for me.
Log Catcher reply :
I used to use Abu Garcia reels. I had 2 of the revo s generation 3 series. They both developed the same problem some one else wrote about a while back. You push down the thumb bar and make a cast. When you turn the handle to start your retrieve nothing happens. I sent one back to them and they said it was put together wrong. It worked for about a month and did the same thing. I got rid of both of them. I don't think the quality is there they once had. I will never buy another Abu Garcia.
CroakHunter reply :
Hard to compete with Daiwa and Shimano. A $2-300 abu is nowhere near a $2-300 Shimano or daiwa in my opinion. Although the orra winch is a good reel. One of my co-workers is an abu for life type of guy, both rods and reels, no explanation as to why
KDW96 reply :
The only thing Abu i will use and still use at times,are my 4600s and 5500s from many years ago. Anything else from Abu - its not going to happen...........
Boogey Man reply :
Pure Fishing bought them out, that's what happened. I was an Abu for life guy. Years ago, the Black Max, Silver Max and Pro Max were round Swedish made reels, not Walmart blister pack reels. They had one series called the Tournament Pro, it was one low profile, and several round reels. The low profile one actually had dual breaking and a flipping switch built into the thumb bar. Weighed about 10 ounces but those older Swedish made reels were built like a tank. Man, can you imagine a Swedish made Revo. Now THAT would be quite a reel.
Boogey Man reply :
In my opinion, the Torno was their last good Swedish made LP reel. Found this pic of one on the big auction site.
Johnbt reply :
www.theoutdoorwire.com/features/231352
"Monday, December 12, 2016
NYWayfarer reply :
Abu for life, if your life expectancy is 3 years.
My Dad's 1st gen Revo SX is still going strong. Nothing I see coming out these days from Abu comes close to it.
Still love my Abu rods though.
BassWhole! reply :
Why would anyone want anything to "last a life time"
Avocado fridge from the 70s anyone?
Who is still watching their tv from the 80s?
PC 386?
flip phone?
J Francho reply :
On 3/13/2018 at 9:04 PM, reason said:flip phone?
Don't hate. 
OnthePotomac reply :
The Abu reels have been made in China for many years now.
burrows reply :
On 3/13/2018 at 9:04 PM, reason said:Why would anyone want anything to "last a life time"
Because you payed for it with hard earned money! Unreasonable to think you wouldn’t want your gear to last.
Tywithay reply :
I think a lot of their following left when they were bought out by Pure Fishing. Their swedish reels are still bulletproof, but the low-pros are essentially just rebranded chinese reels from a big factory. They just pick out parts from a catalog. It's hard to compete with companies like Daiwa and Shimano, that are actually innovating, and creating their own new technology, when you're just putting your stamp on someone else's work.
Vilas15 reply :
On 3/13/2018 at 10:36 PM, OnthePotomac said:The Abu reels have been made in China for many years now.
The c3, c4, and morrum are made in sweden. The revos are made in korea. The cheaper ambassadeurs and black max, etc. are made in china.
burrows reply :
My zodias is made in China and it’s one of my most reliable most sensitive rods that I’ve ever owned so being made in China doesn’t necessarily mean it’s crap.
Vilas15 reply :
I've been happy with a revo toro S and a revo SX. And of course the old C3s are still going strong. If Abu copied the Pfleuger president (another pure fishing brand) I'd be all over it.
WRB reply :
Where a precision part is made isn't as important as what it's made from, within design tolerances and processes. Parts made in South Korea have tracibility, China none.
I gave up on Abu back in 2000.
Tom
JLBBass reply :
I own 4 Abu Revo Premiers, gen 2's, and they are one of my favorite baitcasters ever!!! Got them upgraded with Abec 7 ceramics, and lubed with yellow rocket fuel!
I'll use them till they fall apart! which may take a while!!!
lmbfisherman reply :
I still use the Veritas v1. Still one of my favourite everyday use rods. 7’3” Medium Heavy Fast, probably will never let it go either. If I didn’t buy Shimano/Loomis rods, I’d Probably buy more Veritases.
Patrickcatalano reply :
I’ve noticed one of the least talked about casting reels in my opinion is the Revo Premier Gen 4 . I bought it with a coupon and Christmas and have used it a lot with my G rods pro bass and it works perfect. I can cast far with it and the reel is very smooth. I never saw a review on it and when I tried it out at bps, I was amazed. I too have noticed that people don’t really talk about Abu anymore.
Caliyak reply :
Lews is the new Abu Garcias. Same reels with a cooler name.
Jelvas reply :
I´ve got nothing but good things to say about my 3 Abu reels (1 revo winch gen 1, 1 revo winch gen 2 and 1 revo toro winch 61), both the gen 1 winch and toro winch are on my arsenal since they came out and i have had absolutely zero problems with them. The gen2 revo winch i have it for 3 years now and so far so good.
I do like Shimano and Daiwa better but Abu is still a pretty valid option for me when i´m thinking off buying a new reel, in fact, lately i´ve been thinking about buying 2 new reels for big baits, 1 of them i´ve allready decided it´s going to be the Shimano Tranx 301, but the second one will probably be coming from Abu... i´ve been eyeballing the Revo Toro Beasts since they came out.
Mobasser reply :
I still love the Swedish made round casting reels. I have 3. 5500 is my fave.
craww reply :
The internals of their current, non swedish round reels hold up ok. But the paint scratches if you look at them funny, and badges and caps fall off constantly.
Also people see reels like the BCX (or whatever its called) that kindve looks like a low quality ambassaduer, (and not know that it isnt) and the brands name gets run down.
They also keep slapping colors or logos on the same reels without changing things. And the value w/the round reels just isnt as good as it once was.
Poolshark reply :
Round reels as a whole are on the decline. Some of us can appreciate them, but there's is simply too much fun stuff out there to fish with that is more ergonomic and well performing to justify buying another c3 or c4.
I always saw Abu as an iconic reel maker. I always interpreted their slogan as... We stand behind and support our products for life as they do with the the c3's, c4's etc ... My problem with the modern stuff is that they are are simple doyo clones. No different than the stuff from lews and bass pro.
This is where they lost what differentiated themselves to me from the rest of the market. This is my perspective on the current company anyways. Its probably not even practical to support reels forever, but if they did, I'd use them exclusively.
zell_pop1 reply :
Their ads make me laugh "Swedish engineered". Ya right like others said same reels as Bass Pro or Lews.
jtesch reply :
They still make some really good reels in my opinion. The Premier and MGX are both solid reels, same with the winch and the rocket. I just don’t think you can compete with Daiwa right now when you can buy a Tatula SV for $140 or the CT for $100. Never a huge fan of their rods but I’ll take the Villain 2.0 over just about any rod at the $200 price point. Daiwa obviously made a huge effort to dominate the $100-$200 price range for rods and reels and they’re doing it. Even Shimano’s mid range rod lineup kinda sucks right now. One thing is certain. In 2 years everything will change again. Wasn’t very long ago I thought the world would end because the OG Zillion was discontinued.
related Fishing Rods Reels Line Knots topic
most viewed Fishing Rods Reels Line Knots topic
© 2025 - fishing.qciss.net. All Rights Reserved.