21farms

no thanks...in fact, last night i sent off my redemption form for a second XL sweatshirt. i was waiting for my first one to arrive so i could see how it was sized and the XL is nice and roomy plus i think it will shrink some.

just wanted to provide a follow-up on this since i received my sweatshirt yesterday. verdict: it is quite nice! it is just as fontana finesse man described: fairly thick, warm and very comfortable with embroidered logos, not iron-ons. the embroidered "abu garcia" logo on the back is large and white part looks almost reflective. i'm 5'8" and 190 lbs. and got the XL...it's big on me now but i think after a few washings, it'll be just about right. the hole for my head to fit through is tight and i'd estimate the sleeves would fit 35-36" arms (i have 33" arms).

the current carbonlite already employs duralumin for the drive gear, wormshaft, crankshaft and spool so the bulk of the additional 0.8 ounce weight reduction must be coming elsewhere.

i have the 7' medium/moderate-fast veritas and have used revos, curados/citicas/chronarchs, zillions, etc. on it with no problems. the locking nut on those rods are bare aluminum and, when cranked down on your reel foot, can be hard to undo. the trick for mounting/unmounting a reel is to stand the rod on its butt end and push down on the reel while turning the locking nut. now, as far as the rod itself, i love it...just about perfect for 1/2-ounce lipless cranks and 3/8-ounce lipped cranks. i weighed mine and it comes in at 4.1 ounces...very light. i'm considering adding the veritas winch to my collection but i already have the dobyns 705cbmf and lamiglas 705R and think it may be superfluous.

i have two of the high-speed TPSSs (not the TSS) and also a curado 50E. the 50E is a great caster with plastics and, after i put in a set of boca bearings, became absolutely incredible. my problem with the 50E is the smallish knobs on the handle and i would've preferred a faster gear ratio...the difference in observed retrieve rate is quite noticeable. as for the lew's, i like mine plenty...i wasn't sure i'd like the paddle knobs at first but they feel quite nice on the water. i think you'd like them both.

the abu-garcia vendetta rods are "factory-balanced" (i'm pretty sure there's a counterweight in the back). according to abu-garcia, they're designed to be perfectly balanced with a revo SX (8.9 ounces) mounted. not saying i like this though because i don't...

thanks for the reply...exactly the sort of response i was hoping for.

just wanted some feedback from those of you who have participated in the current ABU-garcia promotion for a "free" hooded sweatshirt. how thick is the fabric? how's the quality? is it worth the $12 for shipping and handling? i got one of their long-sleeve tees and the fabric is itchy and the collar very tight although the rest of the shirt was oversized and have never been able to wear it. i once sent $9.95 to pflueger for a "free" long-sleeve shirt and it must have had 38-inch sleeves on it that would fit an ape.

actually, the price for cabela's club VISA members is $149.99 for either the zillion or the fuego. if you don't already have a cabela's club VISA, they're free and they'll instantly add another $25 worth of points to your account to use immediately.

actually, this line was ready to go last year but was held up because of a lawsuit over potential patent infringement regarding the 8-weave braiding process (from sufix no doubt). i hope they keep power pro "classic" around too.

hooligan brings up a good point in that fluorocarbon main line is different than fluorocarbon leader material. leader material is stiffer, "grippier" (not as slick), and costs a heckuva lot more than main line. to the OP, i think you have it slightly wrong. fluoro gets very weak when it is KINKED...it stands up to knicks very well.

don't worry at all about the 7:1 ratio...the reason being that you should work your baits with the rod, not the reel. the reel is just to take in slack line and to bring in the fish. the faster ratio is really the way to go for the majority of soft plastics techniques. cheers!

i don't have any experience with the winch handle other than fishing with a winch a few times and the only thing i remember is that it is longer than the standard revo handle...my guess is 90-95mm. replacing the handle nut assembly is not mandatory...in most cases, you can reuse the nut/plastic retainer cap/screw that come on your SX on other abu/pflueger/BPS handles. i'd recommend asking the customer service rep before ordering to make sure. i personally don't like the off-balance look of the plastic retainer cap and always swapped it out for the exposed finished nut. as for the premier, the part number for the handle is 1196832 (also $37) and the other parts are the same as the SKT. however, it is only 80mm long so you're no better off than with your stock SX handle except for the better-shaped foam knobs. the gold highlights would really clash with the black/red motif of the SX though. if you want to order the SKT and XT handles, you can order everything from either ABU, pflueger or pure fishing as they all carry all the different parts and you can save on shipping. however, be forewarned—-and this comes from someone who has ordered a lot of parts from pure fishing companies—-they will most-assuredly be out of stock on at least one of the items you want...and they won't do backorders. good luck.

collegfishing12, i totally agree with you about those 80mm revo handles being too short. some people replace them with the longer 95mm handles from the skeet reese revo which is not a bad way to go. i like those better than the winch handles because of the black knobs and i don't like the plastic nut cap abu uses on most of their revos. some people put on the carbon fiber handle from the pflueger patriarch XT (85mm and lighter and looks awesome). skeet reese revo handle handle: $17, part no. 1141289 handle nut: $4.50, part no. 1132928 handle nut retainer: $2.72, part no. 1132929 handle nut retainer screw: $2.50, part no. 1132930 order from abu-garcia customer service at (800) 228-4272 (here's a cool tip: order more than $50 worth of stuff and they'll take 20% off your entire order) pflueger patriarch handle handle and nut: $37, part no. 1200025 handle washers: $0.35, part no. 1185798 (2 required) handle nut retainer: $3.50, part no. 1200030 handle nut retainer screw: $0.35, part no. 1200031 order from plueger parts at (800) 554-4653 and ask for michelle who really knows her stuff

y'know, i was in the same boat...i had seen the cumaras at the tackle shop for years and bought every rod BUT the cumaras. they just didn't capture my imagination for some reason even though, when i first got back into fishing, i bought three of the shimano crucials and thought they were excellent. finally, last winter came and i was still sensing a hole in my lineup, i bought a cumara and after getting to fish it this spring, i'm finally almost completely happy.

i've bought dozens of rods the last few years, including g.loomis, powell, dobyns G1 and G2, abu's, zillions, etc. and the cumara 7'2" MH/F is my favorite of all. if i would've bought that one sooner, more of my rods would be cumaras.

if you get any kinks in the line, cut it off right there as it will break very easily from that point. otherwise, fluoro is great for any UNDERwater presentation.

by the way, a certain online retailer with the initials TW has the curado's on sale right now...$140 for the 200e and $160 for the 50e.

i put 5-inch yamamoto hula grubs on heavy 3/4-oz. football head jigs and drag 'em along the bottom in the early spring.

actually, the 6-inch BPS stik-o and senkos are not similar. whereas the 6-inch senko is both longer and thicker than the 5-inch senko, the 6-inch stik-o is exactly the same diameter as the 5-incher, only longer.

if you're tossing squarebills into the heart of thick timber, you want at least a medium-heavy with a fast to extra-fast tip for banging into limbs and such. this same rod would also excel for ripping lipless cranks in grass and is excellent for 3/8 to 1 ounce spinnerbaits as well. otherwise, in more open water, you're better off with a moderate/fast action to better keep your fish pinned.

i had two 200E's and recently got a 50E. lemme tell ya, the smaller curado is a zinger! it will throw pretty much any lure as far as you want to and it pitches like a dream. i would only change three things: 1) the knobs are too small...the 200-series' knobs are much beefier and feel better, 2) i wish it came in 5:1 and 7:1 gear ratios...there's a noticeable dropoff in retrieve inches-per-turn going from the 200E 7:1 to the 50E's 6:1, and 3) i wish it came in a different color. otherwise, it is sweet...fits my palm better, casts better and line capacity is more than adequate.

ah, okay i understand now. yes, there are a few insecure and/or closed-minded people that believe their brand floats on water and that everything else is garbage but that sort of thing happens for everything, not just tackle...i'm into photography and you should see the arrows the nikon and canon users shoot at each other...it's almost comical. people buy what they like but it is also true that 'people like what they buy', hence the product evangelism. cheers.

vaft, i went back and reread every single post in this thread and don't see one instance of what you're talking about. can you elaborate?

i was very tempted to get the regular lew's tournament because cabela's has a combo deal on them now where you basically get the lew's rod for free (regularly $209.99, now $139.99). i didn't because i wanted a 7:1 reel and the combo TP's are only 6:1. i paid full retail on my second lew's because i had a cabela's gift card but shipping was only $5 flat and i didn't have to pay sales tax.