Abu Garcia Promax Reel.

[msdstc]

I recently decided to take my freshwater fishing a little more seriously, so I decided to invest in a baitcaster. I bought the promax combo at 100 dollars, which was a great deal. The reel casts like a dream, and reels in smooth as ice. However with my first reel, I began to notice a few problems. The crank would sometimes stick, and the gears would start to get a little squeaky. I decided I may have got a lemon so I want to the store and exchanged it for a new one. Went out and I was casting like a dream again. A week later the same thing started happening again. So I went out, bought some abu garcia grease and decided to grease up the gears. I thought maybe I was flushing the grease because after each trip I give my rods a good cleaning. This worked for maybe a half hour, and now it's back to grinding. Is there something I'm doing wrong? Is this a common problem with this particular reel?

[rockchalk06]

Lube it back up and just wipe it down afterwards with a damp cloth. Have you taken the side plates and spool off to lube it?

I have no experience with Abu reels but I do have a 35 dollar loaner Shakespeare sigma bait caster that after living works like a champ. No Grinding at all. Just a pain to set up.

[Bluebasser86]

Send it to a professional for a good cleaning and get it supertuned if you want it to really perform well. Some companies pack their reels bearings in tons of grease in the factory and they need to be flushed and regreased when you buy them to get them to perform better. The other unfortunate truth may be that lower end equipment is usually aimed at people who aren't going to use it often. A 50 dollar reel may last for years for someone who fishes twice a year but if you're fishing every week during the summer months it may not make it through the summer. I've never owned a promax but a friend of mine that works at Cabela's in KC told me they are constantly getting returned because they aren't functioning right.

[j.bruno]

Take it back and get a Revo S or a Citica.

[Jig Meister]

Take it back and get a Revo S or a Citica.

for a 100$ you can get a Revo S GenII right now, it is a no-brainer, Revo's are the standard IMO as far as Abu reels go.

I would spend the extra for a SX, they are epic in use and style and bass care about style

[j.bruno]

for a 100$ you can get a Revo S GenII right now, it is a no-brainer, Revo's are the standard IMO as far as Abu reels go.

I would spend the extra for a SX, they are epic in use and style and bass care about style

Id stay away from the SX as a first bait casting reel. I did it. And it was frustrating as all get out. Way to finicky. Still is too finicky for my taste. Centrifugal brakes or im not buying ( from here on out)

[MT2]

For $100 I would of suggested a Revo or Orra S if you like Abu, or a BPS Pro Quailifer(Centrifugal Brakes!!!). However with that said, take it back and get you a Abu Black Max at $50 I beleive these are the nicest beginner reel on the market. I have 2 of the new ones and 1 thats a little older, while I plan on switching to STX's in time I wont be selling what I have because for the money Ive got invested in them they are to good of a reel to give away and you can throw it in your bag and have a back up for when you do get that nasty blow up.

[smalljaw67]

Did you ever get snagged or set the hook on a fish hard? The reason I ask is that reel has a graphite frame, I stay away from those kinds of reels because if the frame flexes a little bit it throws the gears out of alignment and then they grind and grease will only help a little bit and it will wear off in an hour or so depending on how much you cast and retrieve. If you don't want to spend to much look at getting a reel with an aluminum frame, you can find pretty good reels right at the $100 dollar mark. A lews Speed spool can be had for less than that if you look but stay away from the laser speed spool as it too has a graphite frame. Look at the Shimano Citica, the Quantum Kinetic PT, the Abu Garcia Revo S, those are all solid work horse reels that will perform well and last plus they aren't disposable, if a bearing goes bad or a gear gets messed up it is more than worth it to have it serviced.

[BASSHUNTER1961]

For $100 I would of suggested a Revo or Orra S if you like Abu, or a BPS Pro Quailifer(Centrifugal Brakes!!!). However with that said, take it back and get you a Abu Black Max at $50 I beleive these are the nicest beginner reel on the market. I have 2 of the new ones and 1 thats a little older, while I plan on switching to STX's in time I wont be selling what I have because for the money Ive got invested in them they are to good of a reel to give away and you can throw it in your bag and have a back up for when you do get that nasty blow up.

I have the Black Max and it's one heck of a reel for $50.00 I have been fishing the life out of mine, and it is as smooth and quiet as day one. My BPS Qualifier has been taking the back seat to the Black Max, go figure.