22 hours ago, Gera said:

lol... are you talking about Dodge/jeep?? 

 

That is a great analogy 

 

Mercedes ruined dodge jeep

2 minutes ago, dodgeguy said:

Mercedes ruined dodge jeep

My dad was an engineer for Chrysler when that merger happen, everyone felt that things would go great after that.. I think I still have the Swatch watch they gave everyone in the organization. 

I still love company, but will never buy one of their vehicles at their current prices.. they are completely out of reality. 

21 hours ago, Johnbt said:

"their higher end reels are as expensive as Japan Made Shimanos and Daiwas"

 

I just looked at some casting reels on the TW site. ABU has a $550, but Daiwas run up to $750 and Shimanos up to $600. It's all play money past about $250 or $300. Play, as in it's a hobby and I'm blowing my play money budget on it (if I actually limited myself to a budget.) I could be down at the bowling alley every week spending $75 on three games, shoes, a burger and a pitcher of beer, but I don't. Or maybe it would be $100 these days from what my wife spends to take our 2 little grandsons bowling once a month.

 

I bought 3 ABU Premiers in 2012 and they are still fine reels. Meanwhile I have purchased more Daiwa Steez than Shimano Metanium and certainly prefer the Steez variations more than the Metaniums even with the brass gears I added.

Honestly, who cares about what's on TW? Everyone in the know purchases their reels for the cheapest price possible, not the inflated ones on TW. If you're buying from Japan, those $750 reels are significantly cheaper, and much closer to Abu offerings. Not to mention that over half a grand for an Abu is 😆

3 hours ago, Gera said:

My dad was an engineer for Chrysler when that merger happen, everyone felt that things would go great after that.. I think I still have the Swatch watch they gave everyone in the organization. 

I still love company, but will never buy one of their vehicles at their current prices.. they are completely out of reality. 

Agreed. Stellantis totally  destroyed what was left.

3 hours ago, dodgeguy said:

Agreed. Stellantis totally  destroyed what was left.

Not Stellantis, Tavares.

"Honestly, who cares about what's on TW?"

 

Lot's of people I know. You start with their price and then shop for deals, both here and overseas.  And honestly? You said, ""their higher end reels are as expensive as Japan Made Shimanos and Daiwas""  And honestly, they aren't. Maybe Japan Tackle or Digitaka will have an ABU prototype that costs more than the higher end Daiwas or Shimanos, but many of them are never sold in the states. 

 

If you have some additional pricing info to share, well, go ahead. I'm glad I'm in the know and buy the cheapest things I can from Japan, but I'm always on the lookout for a better supplier. The reel dealers in Japan have been great to deal with.

 

 

1 hour ago, Johnbt said:

"Honestly, who cares about what's on TW?"

 

Lot's of people I know. You start with their price and then shop for deals, both here and overseas.  And honestly? You said, ""their higher end reels are as expensive as Japan Made Shimanos and Daiwas""  And honestly, they aren't. Maybe Japan Tackle or Digitaka will have an ABU prototype that costs more than the higher end Daiwas or Shimanos, but many of them are never sold in the states. 

 

If you have some additional pricing info to share, well, go ahead. I'm glad I'm in the know and buy the cheapest things I can from Japan, but I'm always on the lookout for a better supplier. The reel dealers in Japan have been great to deal with.

 

 

I mean, you're right, i'd say most people do care about TW. But that's only because almost all of them don't order anything from Japan. People that do order reels and most tackle from Japan, the only thing TW serves them for, is to be reminded how many hundreds of bucks they've saved by ordering abroad😁

      I order both from Japan and TW. Now TW is running a 20% off sale and if you purchased a gift card before Christmas and got a 10% off on it.  Then you buy something that is on clearance from TW w/20% off and the 10% reduced price on the gift card plus the clearance reduction you can get some very sweet deals that are at least 30% off if not closer to 50%.

I've got a 7'4" MH regular Diawa BLX limber rod coming for just over 200 outlay and a 600 yrd spool of 30# Sunline Xplasma Asegai for $55. Those rods went for $400, OK 399.00 retail.  Now they are being discontinued and there are some pretty good bargains for a very nice rod. I have two other BLX's that I really like.

     One piece rod buying from Japan comes with that shipping kicker but it isn't taxed.  They also have some very fine travel rods that the shipping is free.

     I hunt for good deals on quality equipment and tackle. That's my .02 cents.

FM

 

On 1/21/2025 at 6:06 PM, A-Jay said:

As of now, I'm undecided.

But it's looking pretty good.

Btw, how's that Electroconvulsive therapy going ? 

A-Jay

“Electroconvulsive therapy”?? 😂

7 hours ago, MediumMouthBass said:

Not Stellantis, Tavares.

Same poop different toilet.

I didn't realize the Revo X moved to an all carbon body.  Lol there is literally no reason to buy Abu now, especially since the SLX line keeps getting better.  I was going to say the only compelling reel was the Revo X since it offered good durability and decent enough casting for a decent price.  I mean I ended up replacing my Revo with a Curado because once you start using Shimano and Daiwa its hard to go anywhere else, but it was a decent enough reel on my frog setup.

On 1/20/2025 at 8:15 PM, ABU is overpriced said:

I don't want to say that Abus are overpriced, but i have to say that they're well overpriced😁 When Shimano and Daiwa exist, what is the point of going with Abu? They don't offer a single product that is superior to the other two, their higher end reels are as expensive as Japan Made Shimanos and Daiwas, they don't retain their value in the used market, and because of the low yen, Shimanos and especially Daiwas can be had for crazy deals.

How is Abu Garcia surviving against these two?

The only ABU I bought over Shimano was Beast 60 size for line capacity and drag power, Except that I would never choose ABU over Shimano.

When Garcia-ABU amabassador reels were made in Sweden they owned the bass reel market from the 1960 to around mid 1990’s, I used 2500C, 4500C and 5000C during that time period.

Shimano made the 1st low profile Lews BB1 reel before going into the bass reel market in the mid 80’s challenging ABU’s dominance. Daiwa refined their bass reels introducing HT series taking away another share of the market. 
For me ABU Ambassador reel died when Garcia corp started having reels made in China around 2000.

Put away my Ambassador’s and bought Daiwa HTiA’s 103’s & 105’s early 90’s and never looked back.

I tried a few Shimano early Bantam’s 100 & 1000, BB1’s and Roybi reels in the 80’s but it was Daiwa that came out with the fast free spinning spool that won me over. Shimano Calcutta became my go to swimbait reel. 
No more ABU’s all Daiwa and Shimano for me👍.

Tom

All my reels are Shimano, except for one Cabela's branded reel that came in a package deal with the rod.

I actually really like the IVCB6 brakes in the SX and STX. Also find the Abu drag to be really good in lock down situations. It’s what I run on my frog rod

 

Under $150 I don’t think you can beat Lews right now. If you shop around you can find Tournament Pros and BB1s for $140-150 and dicks marks the LFS way down several times a year it seems. Last one I bought was $52 I think 

 

Ive never owned an Abu rod but every one I’ve picked up felt funny to me

4 hours ago, GReb said:

Under $150 I don’t think you can beat Lews right now. If you shop around you can find Tournament Pros and BB1s for $140-150 and dicks marks the LFS way down several times a year it seems. Last one I bought was $52 I think 

You are absolutely right. When i got big into bass fishing i was a Lews hater, i will admit it.

Everything being sold in my local stores was their plastic overpriced Mach or Smash series junk.

And i still hate on this garbage to this day.

However Lews is now my #1 go to for rods and reels. I just picked up around $700 worth of really nice Team Lews Custom Pro rods for $200 taxed all together at DSG a few hours ago, got the LFS for $22 too (DSG's current price, since its no more after being replaced by the new Speed Spool Gen 3). The sales many websites run on Lews gear is insane, i picked up a few BB1 Pros and a Superduty for $100 each awhile ago too. Unlike Daiwa and Shimano who are often excluded from sales.... Abu used to be the exact same way, dependable rods and reels that were sold for very huge discounts. Sadly thats not them anymore.... 

I love my last gen series of SLX reels, and my Tatula/Fuego CT's too. But the new SLX's arent getting great reviews, and my last few higher end Daiwas were complete disappointments. Mainly the overpriced and overhyped Zillion and Tat SV.... In the older days i would go back to Abu, but the darn things cost the same if not more than the big 2 like the OP mentioned.

My only option left was Lews, and so far im loving it. The stuff is on sale year round for half to a quarter of the price of the rods/reels from the big 3.

And lets be honest, in a post covid world (excluding Japanese made reels) theres no difference in quality from brands anymore. All you are paying for these days is the name. And thats not a good enough justification for me.

13 hours ago, GReb said:

I actually really like the IVCB6 brakes in the SX and STX. Also find the Abu drag to be really good in lock down situations. It’s what I run on my frog rod

 

Under $150 I don’t think you can beat Lews right now. If you shop around you can find Tournament Pros and BB1s for $140-150 and dicks marks the LFS way down several times a year it seems. Last one I bought was $52 I think 

 

Ive never owned an Abu rod but every one I’ve picked up felt funny to me

I mean, the Tat 100 and Tat 80 from Japan are way under $150, and i'd say they're much better than Lews offerings.

6 hours ago, ABU is overpriced said:

I mean, the Tat 100 and Tat 80 from Japan are way under $150, and i'd say they're much better than Lews offerings.

I really want to get a 24 Tatula 100, its the only thing Daiwa has left i dont own from them that interests me. Im very temped to get one from Japan, seems like a great reel. You are definitely right about it being better than anything Lews makes around the similar non sale price. The only thing in that range would be the LFS-LFS MP, and while they are very durable reels, they arent very appealing... At all. Both kind of look like Walmart specials. So glad they just redesigned the LFS, but it still leaves alot to be desired.... Whereas the new 24 Tatula 100 Daiwa hit a home run with its looks.

 

But the BB1 Pro, Custom Pro, Custom SLP, SuperDuty LFS, Pro SP, KVD, Tournament Pro that are on sale or go on sale frequently around $100-180 i would put up there with being the same as any Daiwa-Shimano i own in the $100-220 MSRP range (actually $375 since my Zillion is the US version). As from my extensive amount of time on the water with all 3 brands just hasnt really given me any reason to pick a favorite. They are all in the same ballpark to me, now one reel might do this or that better than the next for certain applications, but as a whole each brand is equal to me, theres really not one thing this one does that blows the other out of the water.... (These arent reels made in Japan, just Thailand and Korea so maybe that makes a difference?). But at this point the only thing i care about is the reels looks, comfort and price. Which is why going forward i will only be buying Lews reels on sale in the US, and Daiwa/Shimanos from Japan. Because i can get some absolute steals from both. Who knows, maybe the Japanese reels are better like everyone says, ill have to try it out myself.

 

But to stay on topic for this post you can get some really good steals of a deal from Lews buying from the US, and even Daiwas/Shimanos too (although since they are big on not letting sales happen on certain items they wont be as much off on price). Now if bought from Japan you are getting a super deal on the big 2.

Whereas Abu stopped this, for the past year or 2 they only ever let their stuff be sold for MSRP or maybe just a few bucks off at most. The sale they are having now is surprising, but thats probably because their sales dried up.

When you compare MSRP prices, Abu is more expensive than all 3 other brands. And they stuck to MSRP up till now. Again with the composite framed reels i mentioned, $50 more for a base model Abu than the base model Daiwa....

I personally use Daiwa.

 

But really there's only a handful of scenarios where the reel actually has any impact on your fishing....And even then it's nuanced and more of an "optimization" than an actual advantage or disadvantage.  

 

The trend since the 2020 wave of newer anglers has been toward "premium" gear and baits and Shimano and Daiwa definitely fit into that...But there used to be just as many "cool guy" JDM Abu reels as there were Daiwa and Shimano.  About 10 years ago I got my buddy a JDM Revo Aurora as his wedding gift, he got asked about it every time he fished.  He still uses it and it's still cool.  There's plenty of reasons someone would prefer to use Abu, they make good reels.  

 

Only thing I care about other anglers is how much weight they drop on the scales 😉.o

5 hours ago, ABU is overpriced said:

I mean, the Tat 100 and Tat 80 from Japan are way under $150, and i'd say they're much better than Lews offerings.

Can you link me to the models you’re talking about? The new 24 tw and sv tw models both say made in Thailand.

5 hours ago, ABU is overpriced said:

I mean, the Tat 100 and Tat 80 from Japan are way under $150, and i'd say they're much better than Lews offerings.

Can you link me to the models you’re talking about? The new 24 tw and sv tw models both say made in Thailand.

I bought a '24 tat 100, Amazon Japan. It is made in Thailand. 7 speed, mag z brake, great reel for the $$

I like all 3 brands. I tend to buy whichever is the best value when I need to make a purchase. I like to buy mostly Daiwa and Abu for baitcasting reels just because I have used them for years and have always been happy. 

 

I find that a $100 reel from all the major brands is about the same quality, however it is easier imo to find sales on Abu Garcia baitcasting reels on sites like Ebay. Shimano and Daiwa tend to hold their value more. 

 

I own way to many baitcasting reels and out of all the Lew's, Okuma, Daiwa and Abu reels I have along with BPS and Academy, I have to say....I tend to reach for my Abu Garcia Max Pro's and Academy Mettle more than I do my more expensive reels. Super easy to get them dialed in. The Abu STX and Pro series are a great value pound for pound. 

4 hours ago, woolleyfooley said:

Can you link me to the models you’re talking about? The new 24 tw and sv tw models both say made in Thailand.

Can you link me to the models you’re talking about? The new 24 tw and sv tw models both say made in Thailand.

I don’t want to put words in his mouth but I believe he meant as far as purchasing them from Japan.

5 hours ago, woolleyfooley said:

Can you link me to the models you’re talking about? The new 24 tw and sv tw models both say made in Thailand.

Can you link me to the models you’re talking about? The new 24 tw and sv tw models both say made in Thailand.

They're made in Thailand, its a Tat, you ain't gonna find one made in Japan. I was referring to where you should be buying them for sub $150, which is always in Japan.

I’ve owned about a dozen Tatulas and my one issue with them is quality control on gears. You either get a smooth one or not. I’ve chosen to replace several gear sets. They do not fail though and are workhorses. I have a love/hate relationship with my Elite. It’s a great performing reel but I have to tear it down about 3-4 times a year to keep it running smooth