I had been thinking of getting a baitcaster reel for quite a while as I had heard and seen people being able drop a bait on a 5c piece. The one thing that had put me off was that it was so easy to get a 'birdsnest' in the reel which could take forever to untangle
Since returning from Brisbane last weekend, I had in my possession a rod which had a pistol grip and was just screaming out to get one of these reels onto it. The top runner required replacing but this was a minor consequence as I had had a top runner replaced previously for about $5.00 on my Barra rod.
I took little Matt along with me as he likes to see the little Barras that they have in the tank in the tackle shop. When I walked in I went to the rear of the store where the rod repairs are done.
The rod is an old one that I picked up in my teens in Brisbane for around $20.00.
I wasn't sure if it was going to be of any use for anything as it was a cheap and nasty one from memory; I asked the question and they had a look advising that the rod was in good nick essentially and that the pistol grip was a rare item today and that it was definitely worthwhile to get it repaired.
At this point I enquired about a suitable baitcaster to go with the rod advising him that the reel would be going on the rod that I gave him and that I had to learn how to use them being a total novice with baitcasters. He walked me to the reels section of the store and advised me that there were probably two reels that would be suitable for the job.
The first was the 'Abu 5600 C3 tribute' and the other was the C4 model.
I will admit that Bransfords have been my favourite store for purchasing bait and that I had only bought one other item there; Courtney's combo outfit which I got for $49.00 about 6 months ago and it was a excellent purchase which we've never regretted.
What I feel sets Bransfords apart is that they could have said the rod was a piece of crap and tried to get me to purchase a combo outfit that they had for around the $169.00 but they didn't; another reason in my books to support your local tackle shop with the locals who know their stuff. Instead he gave me some quality advice and I ended up taking the Abu Ambassadeur 5600 C3 tribute reel for $139.00.
The rod tip cost me $6.00 fitted and Bransfords also spooled the new baitcaster with 135m of Amnesia braid for a further $49.00. All up I spent a total of $175.45 on the new reel, braid and rod tip. Yes I could have got a new combo pre spooled for around the $169.00 mark as previously mentioned but they were right as I later found out by keeping the pistol grip rod.
While this was all being put together, I took Matt around to watch the 4 new little Barra that Bransfords have in their tank. Keith Graham came round and spent a few minutes talking to Matt about the barra; good to see that one of the guys that is a true pro in the area giving a few minutes of his time to speak to a little kid that doesn't know him from a bar of soap. Something else that you don't get from a major chain making the local tackle shop a worthwhile place to visit.
Road Test:
So off I go to "Spot X" which shall remain nameless to give the reel a road test.
Spot X has a nice wide area that is about 40m wide at a guess and minimal mangroves to get caught up on. I've never caught a fish at this section but then again; I wasn't there to chase fish today, I was there to try out the reel!
After about 8 casts I managed to get the brake setting on the reel right in regards to the lure that I had on, a medium sized silver minnow. That of course didn't include the 7 birds nests that I had to clear and I was beginning to curse spending the $139.00
By the tenth cast I managed to get a cast happening that didn't result in me having to untangle about 10m of line. I managed to understand that you have to let the reel and rod do the work for you and not to flick my wrist and things started to come together to the point that I could get a good idea of how the reel was performing.
I still get birdnests every now and then but the reel was real nice and smooth in it's operation and I can see why hard core lure fishermen like these reels. Casting (when I got it right) was a dream; 30m with next to no effort and the ability to get the lure into the zone in the mangroves was impressive.
Retrieval was equally impressive as well; a nice smooth retrieve and with a nice deep diver on the other end of the line I can see several fish falling victim to this combo come the warmer months. The lure that I had today was only a shallow diver and as such was probably not suited to the environment I was using it in; whack a gold bomber on the end and I reckon things may have been different.
I did see a good sized fish jump twice over the 2 odd hours I was road testing the reel; although I didn't get a good look at it I could almost have sworn it as a good size Barra. Yep - that's right a Barra jumping in July; I can't wait for the summer months, it's looking good!!
Back to the pistol grip issue; in hindsight I was so glad that I listened to Bransfords and kept the rod. Trying to cast this reel with the pistol grip feels so natural it's uncanny; I can't contemplate trying to cast the reel with a normal rod now that I've used this rod. The more I think about it a "normal rod" would be so much more difficult to cast this type of reel; I shudder how many more birds nests I would have had to untangle as well!
In summary, if you're itching to give a baitcaster a go, then the Abu 5600 C3 Tribute reel will not disappoint. Main features on the reel are as outlined below:I am not employed by, have no affiliation with, nor was I paid by Bransfords for this story; they provided good advice and friendly service hence why they were named in the post.
- 5:3:1 gear ratio
- 3 ball bearings
- Instant anti-reverse
- Line out alarm (ratchet)
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Originally Posted by Wahoo
