You know us anglers have one problem, that is if we cannot go fishing after a period of time we start to feel itchy, you know like a seven year itch ha ha! You know what i am talking about. We start to play with our gears, clean them up, open them up, put them back together, change set ups, read fishing magazines, watch fishing videos etc just to get us in touch with the world of fishing but short of going fishing. Eventually we end up in a tackle shop just to see what are the latest gears hit the counter and so on. Then we start to drool when we see some new sexy reels with new technology, materials or colors we wish we could own but stop short of buying due to the astronomical price tags attached to the reels. That sort of thing happened to me all the times. Most of the times i tried to resist and kept telling myself that i have more than enough after so many years of collecting fishing tackles to the point that the room that i use to store my tackles look like a tackle shop, no joking!
I already have 6 low profile and 3 round baitcaster reels of which three are low profile Abu Garcia reels, but i do not have an Abu Garcia round baitcaster reel. I have a very good Shimano Culcutta TE GT 101 round baitcaster reel which performed well in my previous fishing trips but it is so beautiful in gold color that i do not have the heart to make it my workhorse and end up scratching all over it. My Okuma round reel did not last very long and start to make a grinding sound when reeling the line while my Tica Caiman is too big for casting and light jigging. What i need is a robust and well designed reel with quality and yet affordable and a proven performer.
After doing some research and reading a lot of reviews from anglers i decided to go Abu Garcia way instead of Shimano or Daiwa or other high end brands because they are more affordable than those guys and not to mention their experience and tradition in designing high quality reels which last very long and easy to maintain. Abu Garcia produces top round reels of which the Record, C4 and C3 round reels are their best sellers. These reels go way back with the Record being one of the earliest round reel produced by Abu Garcia and they have kept the tradition and original design largely intact. Some people say why buy these reels as they are old school but i could not be bothered as i think there is value in good old things especially if they still last this long and still selling well.
So, on last Saturday i went to my favorite local tackle shop in Kuala Lumpur with an intention to buy three reels actually( did i say three reels? ha ha), a Pflueger Patriarch low profile baitcaster reel because of its awesome chrome finish, an Abu Garcia C4 and C3 round reels. Unfortunately( or is it fortunately ?) only the C3 was in stock for a left hand model. Of the three models available - 4600,5500 and 6600, i do not like the 5500 as the thumb knob is missing and was replaced with stainless steel switch on the side which is awkward. The 6600 model can hold more line but is too big and heavy for casting all day long, so i decided on the 4601 model which is for the left hand version. It is not expensive as it only cost RM410 (US128). Compare this to the Shimano Culcutta TE GT101 which i paid RM1050 the C3 4601 is a steal! I intend to put a Stren 10lb fluorocarbon lines and match it with 12-25lb medium heavy baitcasting rod that i have for the purpose of casting lures and light jigging and see how it goes.
Abu Garcia gave three stainless steel bearings for smooth operation of the reel during casting and retrieving. The C3 4601 has a 5.3:1 gear ratio for a slow retrieve of lure ( 65cm retrieve per turn) at the mid to bottom level and comes with a 7kg or 15lb of drag which is better than some bigger and more expensive reels out there in the market. Most of the reviews i read mentioned the drag as being very smooth and strong which handled big fish quite well. The reel is not that heavy at 265gram or 9.3oz but is heavier than my latest Abu Garcia Revo 03SX low profile reel at 6.66oz. It can hold 195yards of 10lb mono line or 155yards of 30lb braid or more if you use a 10lb braid.
The reel was supplied with a bottle of Abu Garcia lube oil to help keep the reel in tip top condition. Other items are the warranty card, instruction manual on brake settings and the other usual stuffs.
The C3 4601 reel is made in Sweden instead of the third world countries as OEM which is common nowadays due to the cheaper production cost compared to the cost in Europe. So the quality of the reel is assured and the reel feels very solid. The reel has only one control knob for casting located next to the star drag. That means it is simpler to use unlike the new reels which have the control knob plus either a magnetic brake knob or centrifugal brake adjustment or all of them. I like the reel metallic hairline steel finish because eventhough it is an old model it still looks high-tech.
 |
| Synchronized level wind system |
I am very excited to try this reel in the next fishing trip and hopefully i got good story to tell in my next post along with photos of my catch to show. Until then, happy fishing.
No comments:
Post a Comment