Rod and Reel preview

Preview for Grandt Industries All American Pro Series 58million modulus graphite 6ft. medium heavy rod mounted with the Abu Garcia Revo SX-l 6.4:1 low profile baitcasting reel. This rod and reel combination is the latest addition to my fishing arsenal, the rod itself was an unintended purchase that has turned out to change the way I look at rods and will most likely lead to me replacing all my rods with Grandt industries' products.

The Abu Garcia reel I had been looking at since they came out last year, knowing how good their round body reels are I knew they would be awesome machines.

Photo 1) The modulus count of a rod describes the density of the graphite strains running through the blank. Most commercial companies end the range of their rod blanks with a 58 million modulus count, Grandt begins theirs here and goes up to 70. For custom blanks, they will produce a count up to the customers specifications, even into the hundreds! With the rise in modulus count there is a rise in price. The rod I purchased has a regular retail price of $147.00 US, the 70 series starts at $267.00 US. Helping the impulse to buy this rod was the special show
price of $99.00 US.

Photo 2) The primary reason I purchased the piece was the sensitivity. As with all quality rods, the blank must run through the handle, and be exposed in the cradle of the trigger so when a fish strikes the bait, the vibration is transmitted up the line, through the guides and down the blank to the index finger that touches the blank where it holds the trigger. The more care and quality that goes into the making of a high modulus blank the more sensitive the rod. When I was looking at the rod I noticed there was a 14" to 16" piece of monofilament line tied to the tip eye of the rod. I asked the sales person the reason for this and he showed me a sweet test for the sensitivity of a rod. Holding the piece like I was fishing, my finger on the trigger and touching the exposed blank, he gently flicked the line tied to the end of the pole and to my surprise, I felt the tick!

My buddy Tim who owns seven of these rods just smiled. Suddenly I knew how it was that he had such better success fishing light plastic baits than I, he felt bites I was missing with the rods I was using.

Photo 3) The other quality I considered was strength and flexibility, while the tip is soft to the touch, which helps with casting, the tension loads up fast as the salesman bent the piece while I held it. This loading, or rigid quality is necessary to set the hook well, and to pull larger fish out of weeds, and these rods have it all, a supple top 25%, and a no- nonsense backbone for the rest. The final determining factor that won me to these beauties is the warranty. If you break the rod, either fishing or otherwise (barring blatant abuse), Grandt Industries will replace or repair it free for life. The only charge is shipping and processing. This is the kind of confidence true craftsmen have in their products, a reassurance we rarely see in commercially available fishing poles. An added bonus is your own name laser etched into the rod to identify you as owner, and when you purchase a Grandt rod, you go into their database and receive e-mails about specials and show dates.

Photo 4) Here is the Abu Garcia Revo SX-L 6.4:1 mounted on the Grandt rod. Low profile quality of the reel is made apparent here, this image clearly shows how the oversized high speed driving gear is offset to bring the center of the reel closer to the rod blank, making it a very comfortable reel to fish. The other benefit of an oversized gear is the high gear ratio, but no loss of torque. This allows one to fish a lure fast (this model recovers 27" of line per turn of the handle), retrieve a fish fast, and not lose any power. The castability of this reel is amazing, the Everslik coated spool pinion allows one to cast 1/4 oz. baits against the wind successfully (with good thumb control) and heavy baits great distances. This is not a reel for beginners because of this, backlashes and resulting bird's nests can happen easily if you are not familiar with bait casting reels.

Photo 5) Another great feature of this reel is the bearing and drag system. with 10 ball bearings, and one roller bearing the operation of the reel is surgically smooth, a dream to use. The six plate Carbon Matrix Drag System is one of the best available, generating a massive 24lbs. of resistive force, 2 to 3 times that of other reels in the Revo's class. As with all three Revo models, S, SX, STX, the drag is adjusted by the star wheel shown here. The spool break adjustment, like all controls is precise and demands practice to master. As with most Abu Garcia reels, round as well as low profile this control seems most effective when applied a little on the
heavy side.

Photo 6) Perhaps the only shortcoming of this reel is the smaller line capacity due to its lower body height, where a similar reel by another company may hold 150 to 160 yds. of 12 lb. monofilament line, the Revo series holds only 120 yds.

I do not feel this is a big concern, but there are some who will want the extra yardage. The break control is Linear Magnetic, controlled by the dial seen in the picture. This fine adjustment control eliminates backlash at the beginning of the cast and is easily operated. I usually set it at 75%, and adjust for the lure weight on the cast with the spool break.

Photo 7) In this picture you can really see well the main gear housing, and how low the reel actually sits, The gear system is all solid brass, and the frame is aluminum as opposed to graphite so there is no flex in the parts. This type of construction makes the reel strong, and very light weighing only 8.7 oz. when the spool is empty.

Photo 8) This makes the whole setup of rod and reel weigh a little more than 16 oz., but it's quality of strength makes it able to battle the largest of New England freshwater fish, and I feel that it would handle many moderately large

fish in other environments with proper line, and of course cleaning and application of oil and maintenance regularly for light saltwater use.
I hope this is a helpful review, and will update it later in the spring after the first day out on the water and let you know if the setup lives up to my expectations.

God bless, Mike.