Abu Garcia

Rev4 Beast

The new Abu Garcia Rev4 Beast low profile reel that was introduced in an earlier article looks good but modest. Don’t let its looks fool you. It is like the little kid that beats up big bullies; the kind of YouTube video that most folks want to see. Karma at its best. The Abu Garcia Rev4 Beast is one freaking badass reel.

The Abu Garcia Rev4 Beast awaiting action.

The Rev4 Beast comes in a small package. It is small like most of its later siblings. It fits comfortably in the hands. It feels refined and is smooth. It looks sporty. It feels solid and rigid. It also feels light. It is like a small jackhammer made to destroy big rocks.

OK, feeling and caressing aside; we took the Rev4 Beast to a pond to see how good a beating it could dish out or how badly it could get beaten up. Having come from a “greasy line” of giant killers, I was expecting big things but it is just so small and cute a reel unlike its more intimidating older brother; the Abu Garcia Revo Toro Beast. It is like the adorable mouse deer brother of the reindeer. So, I started confidently lost. I don’t want to hurt a mouse deer. They are just so cute and adorable. I know that the Rev4 Beast is a good reel but perhaps this time I have overestimated a reel’s capabilities but then again, the specs on its sheet looks good. Anyway, it is a test. Mouse deer or reindeer; if it breaks, it breaks. No two ways about this.

Side profile of the Rev4 Beast.

The Time Of Reckoning

We usually torture Amazonians or get tortured by them but this time we went for something far worse. We decided to up the game and pointed our crosshair at big groupers. To do so we headed out to another gladiator hangout called the LS Pond in Jugra, Selangor. The pond is stocked with dragon groupers and tiger groupers. Both of them hard fighters in their own right and are hungry for action.

The Abu Garcia Beast rod; a good partner for the Rev4 Beast.

The Rev4 Beast was paired with the Abu Garcia Beast rod. Yes, same surname, same family, and same badassity. We used half a fish as bait and cast it out into a pond stocked with these giant fighters. Within minutes we were in battle mode. The finned gladiator flipped a switch spraying Nitrous Oxide into its engine and shot straight out bending the rod, stripping line off the little Rev4 Beast with only one thought in mind, “to demolish the opponent on the other end of the line.”

Muscles in a small package; Abu Garcia Rev4 Beast.

Slowly I increased the drag and the fished slowed down and I can feel the power of the fish straining my arms now with the pressure pushed up. First round I lost. The fish gladiator won. The hook came off and the fish got away. I then handed the rod over to Retsyl from the Sabah Anglers Association. It did not take him long to lock onto another gladiator. The guide at the pond advised us not to push the drag up as high as I did. But it’s a freaking field test… Duh.

Retsyl on to a gladiator.

Anyhow, Retsyl was in battle and the little Rev4 Beast wrestled the giant hard. However, despite the battle, the reel looked calmed, relaxed, and poised. It did not look like it was being tortured. In fact it seems to be enjoying itself pretty much the way I would have enjoyed a massage. After a good battle up came the finned gladiator for a round of photos. I believe that the angler actually got more of the torture than the reel.

The Abu Garcia Rev4 Beast having fun with the gladiator.

The gladiator is almost in. The Rev4 Beast is holding on really well.

Retsyl and his gladiator beaten on the Rev4 Beast.

Another grouper; this time a tiger grouper made it for the camera. The Rev4 Beast is an overkill.

I went again after the customary photo session and again got hooked onto another fighter. As the battle ensued I pushed the drag up as I did during my first run and I could again feel the pressure in my arms. I needed the workout anyway and this is like doing bicep curls with the rod as my dumbbell. The Rev4 Beast has power to control the runs well. It certainly made it very difficult for the fish to sprint. All it (the fish) could do is to jog at best, at the expense of my blistering bicep. It did not take too long for the gladiator to be brought up for photos. Again, I don’t think that the Rev4 Beast broke a sweat. It was like going on a stroll at a park.

In battle in another brute.

On my last cast I did not even have to wait for a minute before a big barramundi took the bait. I took a few minutes to land it. The barramundi was clearly in a different league, a league of high school cheer leaders. The pressure was on but there was no acrobatic jumps. Just a very hard sudden pull that caught me by surprise. Darn, the Rev4 Beast! It let out a little line and decided to just hand me the job of winching it in. I was surprised but happy to oblige.

A big barramundi but clearly too easy for the Rev4 Beast.

From this test I conclude that the saying “never judge a book by its cover” holds true. The Abu Garcia Rev4 Beast looks too cute to be a giant slayer but it certainly is one. Being this small and still an overkill when it comes to battling these hard fighting big groupers just proves one thing; small things can be deadly too. Case in point the darn mosquitoes that spread diseases, freaking deer ticks, the evil red back spider, cute tiny but deadly blue ring octopuses, and now… the Abu Garcia Rev4 Beast. I blardy want one.