Best in Class - The Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 4600
This little reel is in a class of its own. I use it when fishing for crapie. I am a huge fan of Abu-Garcia reels. When I first made the switch over to bait-cast reels(and it took some practice to be able to effectively use one, as you well might or might not knowfrom your own experiences), I tried all of the different kinds of baitcasting reels. Even though there are some good quality reelsout there like the Shimano and Quantum, they just couldnt hold up to my Abu-Garcia Ambassadeur. I mostly use the 5500 series reels since they are slightly bigger than the 4600 models, therefore they can hold more line of a lower test size or an equal amount at a higher test size of the 4600. They seem to balance off better with 6 foot 6 inch rods or longer.
Why Should I Use Light Line?:
1 The first reason is to it use in clear water, so as to not spook the fish.2 The second reason to have it handy is to use it on extremely elusivefish. 3 And the third is to use light line on small lures. It is very tough to cast a light lure with any distance with heavy line no matter what the reel is. Both of my sonsfound that out on there own by stringing their reels early on with 20 and 30 pound test line for light fishing because they didnt want them to get away, only to find that they couldnt cast but ten feet! I am talking about using lures such as Flukes and basically anything in your box that is less than a 1/4 ounce including spinnerbaits. The rule goes as follows, use the biggest line that you can get away with. This is to prevent break-offs and abrasions on the line. If you are fishing for catch and release you owe it to the fish to use heavy enough line to get him in after you hook him. If you dont then he is swimming around with ten feet of line and a lure sticking out of his mouth and will probably die because of it.
Why use this Reel With Light Line?:
I have been asked this question several times before. Other questions I have been asked are why not use the 5500s with light line and just get another 5500? I use two 5500s and only one 4600 and the 4600 is often times the most important reel that I am not afraid to use. Unlike the 5500s, this reels release mechanism is directly under the spool, in the middle of the reel. This makes it easy to click the release and simply slide your thumb up to stop the reel. It is much quicker. The spool is more narrow than the spool on the 5500 as well. It handles the same amount of line at 6-8 pound test as a 5500 handles at 12-14 pound test. Therefore the spool spins equally as much and the guide goes from left to right as much on both reels for the same distance of cast increasing accuracy and comfort by 100%. It also balances out with a smaller rod much nice than a heavy and big reel. And it fits perfectlymaking finessing much, much, easier. I prefer to do my finesse fishing with the reel completely in my hand, ready to set the hook at any time because unlike any other way of fishing, you provide all of the power in the hook set, you are not reeling constantly like a spinner-bait, or buzz-bat, or crank-bait, where the fish is already caught by the time you know he is on. Having a smaller reel that fits into your hand makes all the difference in that split second that you know he is on and you set the hook.
Feel:
As I mentioned already, this is a great little reel and fits perfectly in any grown man or womans hand for a finesse reel. If you dare initiating a son or daughter on a bait caster or think he or she is ready to move up to one, this reel is just about the right size and the same equivalent compared to the average size adult bait-caster.
I like the handle on this reel. It has gray soft rubber grips which are very comfortable to use on a long day of fishing or a tournament. They are not slippery, this is very important during a tournament when every fish counts, you dont want your hand slipping off the reel or the whole thing might end up in the water.
Looks:
This is a nice looking reel, it is all silver and is shiny out of the box, but if you use it enough you can wear that shine off within a couple years, that is a good thing. I would say it is one of the better looking reels on the market. When you look at this reel you think durability, and you thought correctly.
John Thompson is an author, blogger and established Internet Marketer. Visit Abu Garcia Fishing Reels for more information.