Hanging Out With Jordan Lee – The Reel
By: Phil Foo
Jordan Lee is a Pro angler in America. He is the first-ever MLF Bass Pro Tour winner. He is also one of only three anglers to win the Bassmaster Classics back-to-back. Last year (2020) he won the Heavy Hitters and Bass Pro Tour Angler of the Year. Now I have his reel in my hands.
[ I then picked it up and, wow! I felt the nerves in my hand extending themselves into the reel… ]
Hanging out with Jordan Lee was awesome. It was the first reel I used on my first fishing outing when the government of Malaysia lifted the ban on fishing due to crazy numbers of Covid related infections. Oh, I didn’t hang-out with Jordan Lee the pro angler. I hung-out with the Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel. What an awesome reel to restart my fishing with.
The magnetic control of the Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel.
When I first saw the Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel, I noticed that its colour is not the usual colours that reels come in. I have seen a few reels with colours schemes that stand out. This is one of them. It comes in matte grey side plates, matte black frame, gloss black star drag and spool control, gloss black spool, matte black thumb bar, black carbon fibre handle, and orange handle knobs. For some reason Robotech comes to mind. Don’t know what that is? Google it.
In My Hands, Finally
With the fishing ban lifted, I got my hands on the Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile reel. It looked different in real life. It looked so much better. I then picked it up and, wow! I felt the nerves in my hand extending themselves into the reel. The Jordan Lee low profile reel fitted so well. It felt light weight, and size wise; fits better than a glove, in my hands. I had this hankering to give it a cast. So I setup the reel and proceeded to cast.
Out on the water at long last and I did so with the Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel.
The Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel was paired with a prototype rod, the Abu Garcia Max STX fishing rod. More on this awesome rod in another article. Pairing the Abu Garcia Jordan Lee baitcasting reel and the Abu Garcia Max STX rod is a marriage made in fishing heaven. There is an Abu Garcia Jordan Lee rod in America. If the Max STX rod fits the Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel so well, I can only wonder what magic we would get should the Jorden Lee rod and Jordan Lee low profile reel be paired.
Super smooth cast…
With everything setup and ready, I walked to the edge of the pond and started to cast. First cast was just ok. I was getting a feel of how the rod and reel reacted. On the second cast I felt the rod and caught how its tip reacted. Third cast onwards, I was having fun, and enjoying every cast. The Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel cast so well. It certainly is a high performance reel; smooth and sleek. The Abu Garcia Max STX rod shot the softbait out effortlessly. With a twist of my wrist I was sending the 3 inch Powerbait Pro Grub to the other side of the pond.
[ With confidence, the Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel battled like the pro angler it is named after… ]
Cranking the reel, I felt its smoothness thanks to its 11 bearings. The 7.1:1 gear ration made managing the 3 inch Berkley Powerbait Pro Grub and jig head, easy. It is a fast reel which provides more options to anglers. It is a fantastic reel for fishing groupers and snappers on softbaits with. The Jordan Lee low profile reel cranks confidently, with as much effort as one would need to exert when breathing.
Casting distance is awesome. In this cast I wanted to see just how far I could cast. I actually cast my softbait into the other pond.
After a few casts I felt a tug on my line and the pressure started building up. I set the hook and a battle ensued. The Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel had plenty of drag power to handle the hard fighting fish. The fish took the grub near a waterwheel and was swimming towards it in an attempt to free itself. But the drag of the reel managed to turn its head and it swam in a different direction; away from the waterwheel.
Awesome and smooth drag; fantastic when handling these hard fighting groupers and snappers.
The smoothness of the drag is incredible. I had the reel set to about 90% drag strength. No sticky feeling. The pressure was on and I can feel the fish fighting hard. With confidence, the Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel battled like the pro angler it is named after. It did not take long for me to bring the golden snapper up for photos. After landing a few golden snappers, I decided to go fish groupers instead.
Plenty of hard fighting snappers and groupers landed during our test.
Every cast was effortless. Backhand cast, side cast, overhead cast, etc. the bait just shot out and flew really good distances. To cut a long story short, I fought and landed a good number of groupers without fuss. The Abu Garcia Jordan Reel felt refined, operated incredibly smoothly, and had plenty of power to subdue these hard fighting fishes.
A Note To Reel Designers
After spending hours fishing I noticed one thing. This is very important when it comes to the small details of reel design, and also designing of sporting equipment. The Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel’s matte finished side plates and frame provides a much better grip compared to reels with smooth glossy finish.
As we fish, reels tend to get wet. Reels with smooth glossy finish tend to be a little slippery. Matte finish on the other hand is much less slippery. In terms of the Jordan Lee low profile baitcaster, I didn’t find it slippery at all. This adds confidence to every cast and to every battle. With that added advantage I must say that I had an awesome day field testing the Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel, and the Abu Garcia Max STX rod.
The awesome Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel.
To summarize my experience field testing the Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel; I had an enjoyable time fishing with it. Every cast was confident and with little effort. Casting distances were really good. Adding a little more force to the flick and the bait would land on the other side of the pond. The Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel is easy to managed, is really smooth, and has enough drag power to subdue all the hard fighting fishes during my field test. I am impressed.
*For more technical information on the Abu Garcia Jordan Lee low profile baitcasting reel, click here.
