cnlevo

Have a Abu Garcia 5500c that I got on my 8th birthday (21 years ago) that I have fished with since the day I got it. It's been in salt water, fresh water, laid at the bottom of Rodman Resevoir for a week after it fell out of the boat while fishing,...retrieved it the following weekend. Flushed it and oiled it...good to go. As far as rods go right now it uses a Duckett 7' MH... I love these reels more then any others I fish. I believe I have somewhere around 30 5000-5500 Abu Garcia reels. Different ratio's and rods for different things but I haven't ever been out fishing and thought "I wish I had a different reel". I love them!

I actually just ordered the 7:1. I bought the 6:4 first and loved it so much I ordered another, but a little higher ratio. I'm going to put this one on a 7.5" or 8" rod for burning spinner baits and cranks. I think you will love it. For the price you can't beat it. I can't tell a major difference between it and some of the $150+ reels I have. I'm not sure how long they last (I keep very good care of my gear) compared to the more expensive...only time will tell. I would go for it. Get one..or two

THEY ARE AMAZING! I love anything made by UA. I ride amateur sportbike road course racing in the 750cc class. I have a one piece UA suit, face mask, and gloves to wear. YES! They are on the pricey side but they are worth every bit. I normally wear a pair of the gloves with it gets cold with the right hand thumb tip cut off (fishing with baitcaster)....of course with the long sleeve UA shirt and sometimes the pants, but in FL it doesn't get cold enough that normal jeans and some high socks won't keep you warm enough.

WOW! I love the bait suggested. I caught MY record bass weighing in at 9.63lbs Beat my previous big bass by 1.23lbs. Caught it on the suggested Swarming hornet with a 4.5" Magic Shad colored bait (didn't use a 3.5"). Fishing was amazing that day. I caught it Tuesday...right before a HUGE cold front came through here in Jax, FL. Me and my father caught 23 Large Mouth, 2 Strippers, and 2 or 3 junk fish. Very good day. Thanks for the heads up on the lure!

I've been fishing rodman resevoir and oklawaha river channel for 10 years now and for some reason this fall/winter I haven't been able to do as well. I've been bass fishing since I was old enough to walk (i'm 25 now). any ideas. If you don't know rodman. it's relatively shallow (10-15ft at deeper points). Light/Medium colored water. Lots of underwater and above water stumps and shrubs. The Oklawaha is about the same but with a heavy current and drop offs around 25-30' at some points. I'm having more of a problem at Oklawaha. It's not easy to fish a worm there so I've been sticking to deep diving cranks, spinnerbaits, and fishing jigs like jerk baits. It's worked very well. I am still catching fish in rodman with a 10" worm and of course my go to bait for ANY water is the 13S silver/black Rapala. Just looking for any ideas and help. Thanks in advance.

oh man....fishing in a nice summer shower is where it's at. I havn't been caught in a summer shower yet this summer (i live in jacksonville, fl and fish the st. johns river, lake george, rodman resevoir, little orange, and the oklawaha river)....even though it's still early. Last year I was caught about a dozen times and each time in little orange lake during a good rain i would catch the hell out of bass on an original f-13 silver/black rapala that's about 6 years old and it's missing 2 hooks on the treble hooks (caught over 100 fish on that lure). That's my go to lure in the rain. I don't know what it is, but they go crazy in that lake when it starts to rain....they get aggressive and hit hard. I don't even bother with rain apparel. It's always CRAZY hot so I just take off my shirt and keep on going. I always carry a big water proof duffle bag with me that i keep in dry storage in the boat.....it has 3 full size towels, 8 or so hand towels, rope, extra lighters and cigarettes (i know bad habit), and two changes of clothes just in case i need them. It's also good to have it water proof because i stick my wallet, camera, keys, cellphone, etc... in there while fishing.