ABU GARCIASuperior Spinning Fishing Reel, for freshwater fishing, Predator Fishing, Pike, Perch, Zander, Trout

I already owned one of these so knew what I was getting, a decent spinning reel at a good price

This reel was an impulse buy and obtained at a very cheap price so on that basis it was very good value. I just tested it and managed to catch two 5lb plus inshore pollack and a heap of smaller fish. Essentially this is Abu's attempt to catch up with Shimano and Daiwa whose fixed spools are generally very good indeed. The Superior's name is a bit optimistic, though it is superior to the last two Abu fixed spools I owned - not difficult! It is a handsome reel and very smooth - however there is one thing I would change: the gear ratio. So many reels these days are just too fast - this is 6.2:1 which means it winds in lots of line quickly, but lacks power. It struggled to bring in a 2lb cod whilst using a 3oz lead for instance. I feel manufacturers are all overly influenced by US black bass fishing, which seemingly consists mainly of skimming tiny fish over the surface of the water. Other anglers catch fish that pull back, other anglers fish deeper water, other anglers use weights bigger than 28 grams - so why not make a model with 4.8:1 gearing too?