ABU GARCIA REVO ROCKET 30 SPINNING REEL PLUS

Read Next: Best Drop Shot Rods Where the Abu Garcia Revo Rocket Spinning Reel Can Improve

Abu didn’t cut corners-the bail opens and closes securely, the handle has no wobble, and the spool oscillates cleanly on the retrieve. Despite being light, this reel feels solid. With all of that speed, historically something has to give, usually cranking power or drag efficiency, but I winched decent-sized bass out from the deepest depths of boathouses, around pilings, and through brush without any slippage. I’d be likely to use something slower in the cold weather months, when fish tend to be more lethargic. But, 7.6:1 is still in a sweet spot where it can be used for those techniques. I’ve found that the fastest baitcasting reels-those in the 8:1 to 10:1 range-are simply too speedy for moving baits like spinnerbaits or crankbaits. Furthermore, when a hard-charging fish comes directly at the boat, it enables the angler to make up ground quickly and keep the line taut, which prevents lost fish. If you’re making a lot of casts in a day, the cumulative savings should produce more fish over the course of a year-it’s not always discernible how many, but the savings exists. The additional speed is a time-saver.Ī post shared by Outdoor Life Gear it helps even more when you have a lot of line out, like dropshotting in 40 feet of water or making long casts with a shakey head on gently sloping points. Would I have been able to do that with a 6.2:1 reel? Possibly, but there’s no guarantee. I got it back into the boat quickly, rerigged, and had the lure back in the sweet spot while the bass was still hot and bothered.

When I fished with OL’s gear editor, Scott Einsmann, I had a bedding bass swipe at a soft plastic stick bait and mess up the rig. Obviously, in that case faster is better. The goal is to get the lure out there into the strike zone, see if there’s a willing taker, and then get it back in for another cast. Most of the spinning applications I utilize are presentations where the rod does most of the lure manipulation-dropshots, wacky worms, Ned Rigs. The 7.6:1 gear ratio is a sweet spot for a wide range of techniques. Read Next: Best Spinning Reels for Bass What the Abu Garcia RKT SP Spinning Reel Does Best The largest fish I landed on this setup was a 5-pound largemouth that ate my Senko under a boat house. I tried it with various line combinations, including 8-pound test fluorocarbon, 10-pound test copolymer, and both 10- and 15-pound test braided main lines with fluorocarbon leaders of various lengths and strengths. It balanced well with a number of medium-light to medium-heavy rods already in my possession and I was anxious to get it out on the water. Still, I have to admit to being wowed when pulling this reel out of the package. Also, if you get tired by a day of casting a reasonably light spinning outfit, you need to go back to the gym. On some past reels where manufacturers have tried similar strategies, the result has been all sorts of sharp edges and nooks and crannies that catch both line and fingers in awkward ways. I’m all for stripping away weight where possible, but not at the expense of strength or function. It’s right on par with the Shimano Stella (7.4 ounces) and Daiwa Certate (7.4 ounces) at more than $200 cheaper than the Daiwa and $600 cheaper than the Stella. The size 30 RKT weighs in at a light 7.6 ounces, which a generation ago would have been unthinkable.

They also look somewhat like the company’s premium Zenon models, which cost over $500 apiece, more than twice as much as the RKT. The first thing I noticed when I took the RKT reels out of the box was the “race car red” coloration. Testing the Abu Garcia Revo Rocket Spinning Reel in the Field The Revo Rocket’s red color is as striking as its specs.

ABU GARCIA REVO ROCKET 30 SPINNING REEL PLUS

Nine stainless steel bearings plus one roller bearing.

Abu garcia revo rocket 30 spinning reel