Are these good reels? I wanna put one on my gander mountain vortex rod.

I have two Cardinal 101 reels and love them. Have them on a drop shot rod and a jig rod and have had them in active service for over 3 seasons not. Dependable reels, good drag.

I used the cardinals for many years, not sure if the quality is the same but they were dependable back then.

I haven't owned a cardinal since the one i bought on the mid 90's but i used it for 7-8 years and it still worked when i accidentally kicked it off the boat one day while fighting a fish on another rod. I dont know if they are still made the same but abu has some pretty durable reels in my opinion

I've had mine for I think 5 years now and it's still a great reel. My favorite thing about it is the consistency in the drag!

I bought a small one back in high school for a panfish rig. I still use it from time to time and it has not let me down once. Like everyone else has already mentioned- I don't know how they are making them now, but they were really solid as of 8 or so years ago. Great reel at a modest price point

Add me to the list of satisfied long-time Cardinal owners.  Bought a Cardinal combo in 2006 and it was my favorite light spinning outfit until about 2011 when I loaned it to my wife.  It hasn't been back in my end of the boat since.  I think her new Daiwa T/Aird rig will supplant it as her favorite, but mostly for heavier applications.  I looked at newer Cardinals a couple of times, but I got a strong sense that the variety/range of the model may have diluted the overall quality...or at least confused the issue a bit. 

I've been using the same Abu Cardinal for just about everything, for the last 10 years. As a matter of fact, I just popped it open and greased all the gears with Ardent Reel Butter. Feels like a brand new reel again.

very pleased with the cardinal i bought about 5 years ago. never had a problem out of it.

Are these good reels? I wanna put one on my gander mountain vortex rod.

 

I bought a factory reconditioned cardinal 302 that lasted 6 years of being the crap out of it. Parts started falling off (cosmetic) and it never skipped a beat. Retired it last year, but its still usable. 

 

My father bought the cardinal 402 combo and his reel lasted 2 years of babying it before it wore out. 

I still own and use a Cardinal UltraCast 62 from the mid 80´s, back then Abu made really good stuff, as for modern ones --->