framey Posted March 26, 2021 Report Share Posted March 26, 2021 Does anyone know if the newer Abu reels are any good or are they just pony plastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Paws Posted March 26, 2021 Report Share Posted March 26, 2021 Abu reels were the dog's danglies years ago, I owned 3 Cardinal 57's I used for pike fishing and then a 54 for barbel fishing. The 55 was the carp anglers dream reel but I never owned one. They were solid and dependable and their second hand price held really well. Sweden is a fairly expensive Country to produce in due to their tax system and production switched to Bangladesh. Needless to say, the quality and reputation took a hammering and they went into the doldrums and the likes of Shimano quickly filled the void in the market and dominated it for a good few years although Daiwa and other manufacturers have increased their share. I couldn't give you a definitive answer but they have a hill to climb if they want to re-establish themselves as market leaders again. welder 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
framey Posted March 26, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2021 It says the internals are stainless steel on say the 174 i’m Wondering if they have just fallen out of favour because they are cheap rather than quality Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Paws Posted March 26, 2021 Report Share Posted March 26, 2021 If a reel was high quality and cheap, it would sell by the bucket load! https://abugarcia-fishing.co.uk/collections/fishing-reels I've had a quick look at the Site but most reels are either described as for spinning or saltwater. No mention of Carp which is probably a huge omission due to it's popularity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B B Posted March 26, 2021 Report Share Posted March 26, 2021 In the past ABU were the reels for sea fishing I had all multipliers 7000c 6500 with the level winds removed and a 9000c and I won a 12 in a comp, must of the reels came in a drawstring leather bag a spanner and reel lube. Haven’t a clue what the quality of the reels made now are tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouchthathurt Posted March 27, 2021 Report Share Posted March 27, 2021 Whereas I haven’t used Abu reels since I replaced my (new version) cardinal 55 reels for baitrunners in 1999, I did have a set of 3 Abu 6500 open cage multipliers for beach casting. One bent the spindle trying to land a bass in the tide race in Poole harbour, it was its first outing so I wasn’t too impressed! I went to Afghan a few weeks later for 7 months then didn’t get to sorting it for over a year after getting home from Afghan. I sent it to Abu with a letter explaining the circumstances and asked for a repair, they sent me a brand new reel, free of charge, nearly 2yrs after I broke it! Excellent customer service, the reels were good as gold afterward. My first “proper” carp rods were Abu Delta carp rods, 11ft 2lb tc (loved them!) with Abu cardinal 55 reels, (my tackle dealer was an Abu dealer) but that was back in the mid 90s. They have a good reputation on the sea fishing scene, but for carp fishing, they seem to have slipped from view somewhat. Golden Paws 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salokcinnodrog Posted March 30, 2021 Report Share Posted March 30, 2021 Abu reels! The 6500 multipliers were what almost every beach angler wanted, either the rocket or the mag version. The Cardinals were another reel ahead of their time, and it is probably only the Shimano Baitrunner that pushed Abu out of favour. The Ultra cast Cardinals were the last Abu reels I had, loved them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
framey Posted March 30, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2021 (edited) Exactly everyone and their dog seems to have a good say about Abu reels but no one uses them anymore Maybe they just ain’t trendy any more rather than no good Edited March 30, 2021 by framey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouchthathurt Posted March 30, 2021 Report Share Posted March 30, 2021 Abu 6500 rocket multis, best casting reel ever! Closely followed by Penn 515s, how I miss my beach casting! similarly, I had a set of Ryobi big pit reels that I used for a while, until the roller in the bail arm jammed and I was too lazy to fix it... (lazy teenager!) it grooved and started to damage my mainline, that’ll learn me. don’t here much about Ryobi anymore, remember Silstar?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.