Abu Garcia Black Max Series

Low qaulity – The bait casters may be ok but i got a Blackmax rod and reel in the spin versions. The reels line roller wouldn't budge so I returned it unused. Kept the rod. Today I was spooling up another reel on the Max rod and after doing it tried the drag to make sure the line wasn't turning and was bedded in on the spool properly. The Max rod is rated at 4kg. Had just 1 kg drag set and was nowhere near high sticking it, nice gentle angle, I've fought big fish at more aggressive angles, and at just 1kg drag the rod snapped just below the fourth guide. So the reel was a failure as well as the rod. In all my 30 yrs fishing I have never had a rod do that whilst doing what I did which was a simple drag test at low tension. In effect it would have broken simply fighting an average fish. They are both the worst fishing gear I have ever owned, both failed without ever seeing the water. Can't get any worse than that.

Abu Garcia Black Max baitcaster – Abu Garcia has long been known in the fishing world for making Quality products. While I have used several of the competitors reels over the last 30 years, none have held up or performed as well as the Abu Garcia Black Max reel. While they are not the cheapest reels available on the market, there are no others that are made as well while being reasonably priced. Next time your in need of a new baitcast reel, pick up a Abu Garcia Black Max.

Great Priced Reel – Purchased this reel last year and used it for both river fishing for Murray Cod and also for Snapper and whiting in the bay. No problem pulling in over 60cm Murray Cod or hard fighting Snapper. I filled the reel with 30lb braid and it has been a good combination. The drag is very good for the price and it fits in the hand well for pulling in the big ones. Only thing I noticed was when I got snagged to the extent of breaking the line I had to glove up and break it by hand as it was too much for the drag. It took me a while to get used to a baitcast reel and I had several over-runs resulting in tangles. However it was more my inexperience than the reels fault. It has magnetic and manual adjustment to prevent this. The side cover is easy to remove to help untangle the mess. All in All a great first up baitcast overhead reel Cost, smoothness, quality for the money