Customer Reviews

Abu Garcia 1-Piece Silver Max Combo, 6-Feet 6-Inch, Medium Heavy

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Outstanding buy on a quality rod a reel combo. Use with cajun 17lb test line and the casting is excellent. Getting the always fast Amazon free shipping and no tax makes the buy even better. This combo is best used with 3/8oz lures/baits and larger. For smaller baits use a spinning combo.

I thought he would pass out when he opened it on Christmas! He can't stop showing me how smooth the reel is! He's loving life with this setup!

Great price on the combo. Was just looking for the reel but saw the combo and couldn't really pass up what was essentially a free rod. Reel is very smooth operating and rod seems like a pretty good rod, a little on the stiff side but good nonetheless.

I was very disappointed in this combo. I have a high regard for the brand. I have four other ABU Garcia bait casting reels, and I was reluctant to try any other brand.
Design issues: 1.) It backlashes too easy. I gave it a fair try, and I am very good with this type of reel -- I have been using them for 30 years. Right or left thumb, I cast a variety of ways, I still could not get this one dialed in for the casts I needed without a high rate of backlash. It was not the line, as I put the other half of the new spool on one of my round ambassadors and it worked flawlessly. 2.) Poor finish -- parts had different shades of silver with uneven color at edges.
Quality issues: 1.) There were scratches on reel body. 2.) Rod eyelets were bent slightly and needed to be aligned. 3.) Rod has a section near the labeling that looked like factory rework where the glass pattern was blotched yet the finish matched so it must have been done at intermediate manufacturing step.
Packaging issues: This was shipped by Amazon. They just put the combo in a box with a little packing paper. The box arrived bent in the middle, and I was amazed that the rod was not broken.
At the same time that I received this combo, I bought a similar Pinnacle Platinum Plus combo from WalMart that performed much better and was $20 cheaper. The Pinnacle reel handles much better, but the rod is 2 piece and medium action (instead of medium heavy). The rod worked out better for me as I now have this one set up for lighter baits.
I am still an advocate of Abu Garcia, but I will stick with their Swedish built reels.