HDAV Posted July 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Thanks chaps will try a couple of local places might ask at work one lad seems to have everything in his shed I kid you not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggysreels Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 In my opinion ABU GARCIA are the best quality gear out there all of there products are brilliant Sorry to disappoint, but current Abu are far from the best rods for price, likewise their current reels fall into this catagory ... Abu only exist in name now .. it was dismantled piece by piece, intially by a American owner, and thereafter by a sports conglomerate ... they dont exist as it was originally known ... it started off as a taxi meter manufacturers, that moved into reel manufacturing .. a german company creeped into the swedish companies market "taxi meters" so Abu in turn moved into what the german company thought was their domain "fishing reels" ... so though it was likely to have happened anyhow, it could be said Abu's first reel production was a reaction sparked by the german company ... the garcia bit was added much later.. that was a link with a dustribution deal in America. Imho the finest Swedish Abu reels ever, ever made in "ltaly" though some might not agree. And it was only a limited run off reels ... today the stuff sold under the brand name Abu is at best value for money. The best rods Abu made, and you would have to go back 30 odd years were designed for the american market. So though good in quality, even those were poor for our waters. People that own current Abu gear, in all honesty think they are the bees knees, but they are far from the best. I have a couple of Abu prototype rods, l got them midway through development. They tend to be better than the final product . After the design is finalised, cost comes into it. Thereafter, savings are made, which invariably compromises the final finished article. But the ones l have are quite good ability wise, though rough round the edges, they were never intended for public release. As a mass produced rod, Scottish made Daiwa rods beat Abu hands down .. so l'd lean toward those being about the best mass produced rods regards ability verses cost .. the best rods available, now theres a question !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strangford wildfowler Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Hoggyreels you are correct, the old Abu gear was better but I'm an abu fan so still have there gear and all there lures imo it's still good gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berettacocker Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Sorry to disappoint, but current Abu are far from the best rods for price, likewise their current reels fall into this catagory ... Abu only exist in name now .. it was dismantled piece by piece, intially by a American owner, and thereafter by a sports conglomerate ... they dont exist as it was originally known ... it started off as a taxi meter manufacturers, that moved into reel manufacturing .. a german company creeped into the swedish companies market "taxi meters" so Abu in turn moved into what the german company thought was their domain "fishing reels" ... so though it was likely to have happened anyhow, it could be said Abu's first reel production was a reaction sparked by the german company ... the garcia bit was added much later.. that was a link with a dustribution deal in America. Imho the finest Swedish Abu reels ever, ever made in "ltaly" though some might not agree. And it was only a limited run off reels ... today the stuff sold under the brand name Abu is at best value for money. The best rods Abu made, and you would have to go back 30 odd years were designed for the american market. So though good in quality, even those were poor for our waters. People that own current Abu gear, in all honesty think they are the bees knees, but they are far from the best. I have a couple of Abu prototype rods, l got them midway through development. They tend to be better than the final product . After the design is finalised, cost comes into it. Thereafter, savings are made, which invariably compromises the final finished article. But the ones l have are quite good ability wise, though rough round the edges, they were never intended for public release. As a mass produced rod, Scottish made Daiwa rods beat Abu hands down .. so l'd lean toward those being about the best mass produced rods regards ability verses cost .. the best rods available, now theres a question !! . You're right hoggy, I've 2 x Abu 7000 c reels made in Sweden from the 80s caught 1000s of fish on them over the years and would never part with them. But there reels which are probably made in China now, don't last very long at all now. Agree daiwa make quality gear. I do own a Abu suveran though which is a great rod. None of this matters to HDAV as none of it would be in his budget anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vole Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Shakespeare Ugly Stik . Tough as old boots and responsive tip . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggysreels Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 (edited) The very first production Uglysticks are far and away the best, picking the early models up are difficult. Those in the know, wont sell them .. a battered one fetches £50 then you can put £30'ish on top of that for a rebuild, or if you fit a lightweight butt section, add another £30 .. 15lb class is the one to go for .. parabolic action beyond belief .. lift power not great, its a tire them.out job .. fun factor ! ... 100% Edited July 8, 2014 by hoggysreels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark L Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Me personally I would not use a boat rod for mackerel fishing , a light spinning rod is more than enough 30-60gram would be plenty, I use my salmon spinning gear for mackerel and cod from the kayak. I've landed cod and pollock to 8lb on the kayak with my ugly stick and 30lb braid it's way much better sport than a heavy boat rod. Multipliers can be good if your in a bit deeper water but I mostly fish in about 30-40 feet of water close to shore it's great fun with light tackle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted July 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 One of the guys in work has a couple he said I can borrow so ill see what he has Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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