Abu Garcia Rod Reviews

[VinnieT]

Hello everyone, I was looking into getting a new rod for christmas, but Im a little confused about the selection. The two I was deciding on are the Abu Garcia Vandetta gen 2, and the Abu Garcia Vengeance. Does anyone have any experience with these rods? Are they good? Any problems? Also, what action and power would you recommend for bassing with primarily crankbaits and a bit of soft plastics? One more question. what is taper? Is it the same as action? On tackle warehouse, it doesn't tell the rod's action, but it tells the taper. What is this?

[Arv]

Action and taper are the same thing. If you are primarily throwing crankbaits I would not recommend an Abu Garcia rod unless it was the Veritas Winch series (which is for cranking). Abu Garcia rods, while I like them, tend to be pretty stiff. I like a moderate action rod for treble hooks, and since this is the primary type of lure you plan on throwing, I would look for something with a moderate action. TW has the Rick Clunn Reaction rod on sale for the price range of the other two rods. I don't have experience with it, but if you are trying to stay below $100, that might be a good option. If your price range is around $100 you will have a lot more options, especially with some of the sales that TW has going on right now. You can get a steal on some rods. Also, what type of crankbaits will you be throwing on this rod? Around what cover/structure will you be fishing? Information like that will also help to determine which rod will be best suited for your needs.

[VinnieT]

I will be throwing 1/2 oz medium diving crankbaits. I will also be throwing some texas rigs and soft plastics. What's wrong with the Abu Garcia rods? I've heard they are good for crankbaits?

[Mike__D]

There is nothing wrong with AG rods, but the fast and extra fast tapers tend to lean on the stiff side (not much flex in the tip). However any of the Moderate action rods are very well suited for crankbaits. If it were me I would take a vendetta hands down over the vengeance. I would take a serious look at VNTC70-5 model.

It is a 7 foot rod rated from 1/4 to 5/8 and has a moderate fast action. It will be soft enough for treble hook baits as well as single hook texas rigged plastics as well. Just my 2 cents

Mike D

[Arv]

There is nothing wrong with AG rods, but the fast and extra fast tapers tend to lean on the stiff side (not much flex in the tip). However any of the Moderate action rods are very well suited for crankbaits. If it were me I would take a vendetta hands down over the vengeance. I would take a serious look at VNTC70-5 model.

It is a 7 foot rod rated from 1/4 to 5/8 and has a moderate fast action. It will be soft enough for treble hook baits as well as single hook texas rigged plastics as well. Just my 2 cents

Mike D

IMO, that's an excellent suggestion

[VinnieT]

Yeah, I was going to get the medium action one anyway. Also, what power would you recommend? Is this just preference?

[Arv]

The power of the rod will most determine how heavy a lure you can throw with the rod. The rod Mike D suggested is a medium power rod rated from 1/4oz to 5/8oz. I think this sounds perfectly suited for what you plan on throwing. It should handle cranks up to 1/2oz. And I'm assuming you won't be expecting to throw any plastics with weights over 1/2oz either. I would stick with that rod.

[VinnieT]

Ok

[Christian M]

St Croix's Rage series makes a 7'1" MH w/a nice moderate tip for shallow cranking, its super sensitive & the tip has just enough give so that you dont rip the treble hooks out & get a good hookset, it also has tons of backbone to pull those big bass out of heavy cover. Either way I would take the advice on the abu rods, they definitely are under-rated & tend to be a lot more stiff than other rods in their class.