Bought a gen 5 Abu Revo Premiere at a show awhile back in 8.1:1. I had it paired with a 7'2 medium fast rod I use for squarebills and I was having all kinds of backlash issues with it today. This was my first time using it. I had it spooled with 12lb. Sunline sniper. I don't have issues fishing baitcasters and have been fishing them for 30 years. Supposed to be able to handle lighter baits with no problems but I was throwing a Rocco balsa squarebill and I had to tighten the spool tension way over what I felt it should be and had to turn the brakes all the way up. ANY ADVICE? I feel like I'm missing something but I can't figure out what it could be since I am very familiar with using baitcasters. I really want to like this reel but it is driving me crazy.

Do the brake pins lock and unlock on that model? Take a look.

45 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

Do the brake pins lock and unlock on that model? Take a look.

I'll take a look in the morning. I am at a hotel tonight and the boat is all locked up and covered and it would take me a bit to get into it.

You might be over filled for Abus brakes. All it takes is an 1/8th of an inch over spooled to cause over runs. I remember when I first got some MGXs I ruined 2 spools of sniper blowing up the spools all day. I have a Gen 5 SX which has the same brakes and it casts pretty well. I just made sure not to over fill the spool. 

14 minutes ago, msgf91 said:

You might be over filled for Abus brakes. All it takes is an 1/8th of an inch over spooled to cause over runs. I remember when I first got some MGXs I ruined 2 spools of sniper blowing up the spools all day. I have a Gen 5 SX which has the same brakes and it casts pretty well. I just made sure not to over fill the spool. 

This seems most likely the cause as I tend to fill my spools pretty full. The Spool on the premiere holds a ton of line so I'll take off some of the line.

@IYAOYAS What rod are you using?  

10 hours ago, FishTank said:

@IYAOYAS What rod are you using?  

It's a cranking rod. From Native Rod Company. I think they went out of business a few years ago. 

That’s a lot of rod for a balsa square bill unless it’s a giant square bill. 

5 minutes ago, VolFan said:

That’s a lot of rod for a balsa square bill unless it’s a giant square bill. 

I did not have any issue when I had a Revo X on there throwing a balsa square. I wouldn't imagine that changing the reel would make a difference in how the rod acts would it?  Or could it?

17 minutes ago, IYAOYAS said:

From Native Rod Company. I think they went out of business a few years ago. 

Nice rod!!! I'd use that for larger Cordell Big O and Bagley mid and deep divers!!

48 minutes ago, IYAOYAS said:

It's a cranking rod. From Native Rod Company. I think they went out of business a few years ago. 

Going to guess that the 3/8oz bait you are trying to throw will not let that rod load correctly. You will probably end up using more arm than rod in order to get the bait out there. That to me is a heavy rod. You would probably need a Med or ML to cast that balsa bait. They are like casting a kite.

 

A 3/8oz balsa bait is like casting something that is around 3/16oz or less. To me it is the most difficult hard baits to cast even under the best conditions, with Rapala Shad Raps coming in second.  

 

My advice is to find a different bait to throw or a different rod. 

 

 

Gonna swap out the rod since I'm kind of a goober an didn't realize it was a medium heavy. lol I usually use medium moderate for all my light crankbaits. I have a 13 fishing Black 7'1 med/moderate that will fit it nicely. Gonna put that Native rod on my large cranking setup that handles DT 16s and 20s for regular duty. I'll confess I'm not the most well versed person in rod selection sometimes. 

Why FC? Suggest 10 lb Big Game it behaves a lot better on the spool.

Tom

30 minutes ago, WRB said:

Why FC? Suggest 10 lb Big Game it behaves a lot better on the spool.

Tom

I only use mono on topwaters. 12 pound Sunline sniper lays very well and has low memory. Just not a big fan of mono for any other application except crappie or catfishing.

I use sniper FC and it has a memory and needs constant lubrication* to behave well.
Tom

* Tangle Free👍

1 minute ago, WRB said:

I use sniper FC and it has a memory and needs constant lubrication* to behave well.
Tom

* Tangle Free👍

Agree to disagree I guess. I've been using it for years and never had any issues on any other reel.🤷‍♂️

1 hour ago, IYAOYAS said:

Agree to disagree I guess. I've been using it for years and never had any issues on any other reel.🤷‍♂️

Then it’s your reel.

Tom

Problem solved. I moved the reel to a medium moderate rod and it was night and day. Plus I was using too much muscle because the rod wasn't loading with that light little bait(Just like somebody mentioned above). Now that I've got the kinks worked out this Revo PRM is SOOOOO SMOOTH! I did however go with a bit longer rod to give me a little extra oomph on the cast. Thanks to everybody for their input. This may be one of my favorite reels from here on!

On 4/27/2025 at 9:46 AM, IYAOYAS said:

Problem solved. I moved the reel to a medium moderate rod and it was night and day. Plus I was using too much muscle because the rod wasn't loading with that light little bait(Just like somebody mentioned above). Now that I've got the kinks worked out this Revo PRM is SOOOOO SMOOTH! I did however go with a bit longer rod to give me a little extra oomph on the cast. Thanks to everybody for their input. This may be one of my favorite reels from here on!

This was my guess as well. Glad you got it figured out.