Abu Garcia Revo X Rod

Test Drive

Abu Garcia Revo; the brand series name “Revo” certainly is a well established series in Abu Garcia’s stable. It is like walking into a Star Wars convention and going; Revan… Jar Jar Binks… Boba Fett… Ahsoka Tano…Padme Amidala… Count Dooku… Qui-Gon Jinn… and… ahhhh! Darth Vader. Some fans of Star Wars would probably not know some of them. Folks who are not fans of Star Wars will probably not know most of them. Yet, I am pretty sure whether you are a fan of Star Wars or not, you probably know Darth Vader.

The Revo name is such. Fans of Abu Garcia of Abu Garcia very certainly know of the name Revo and non fans of Abu Garcia will most probably know of the name Revo; at least have heard of the name. This is why branding is important. The Revo name is associated with high quality, reliability, and good performance. This brings us to the Abu Garcia Revo X rod, a rod that we introduced in the previous issue of The Angler.

High quality Fuji components such as the Fuji O-Ring guides makes the Abu Garcia Revo X a formidable rod.

Rod Model

Brand: Abu Garcia

Series: Revo X

Model: RXC632M A

Action: Medium

Length: 6’3″

Weight: 1/4 – 3/4oz.

Line Weight: 8-17lb

Blank Type: Carbon Graphite

Blank Class: 30 Ton

The Abu Garcia Revo X comes with a 30 ton graphite blank.

Field Test 1 – Jugra Golden Snapper Pond

This is one rod that I was very eager to field test. Being a medium action baitcasting rod I decided to bring it to some of the fishing ponds in a place called Jugra in Klang, Selangor. They have a variety of ponds that houses some hard fighting fishes. My target fish species to test this rod out is the hard fighting Golden Snapper. So I gathered a few testers and we headed out to torture the Abu Garcia Revo X rod and a few other fishing tackle.

Tackle Used During Test

Rod: Abu Garcia Revo X

Rod Action: Medium

Reel Brand: Abu Garcia

Reel Model: Salty Stage Concept-Free

Main Line: Spiderwire Dura-4 Braid (Moss Green)

Line lb: 15lb

Leader Line: Berkley Vanish

Line lb: 17lb

Baits / Lures: Berkley Powerbait Power Grub

Size: 3 inch

Hooks / Jig-heads: Owner Ultra Heads (Jig heads)

Test Conditions: Sunny with consistent winds

Casting the Abu Garcia Revo X rod is good, gaining good distances.

Casting Capabilities

We paired the Abu Garcia Revo X with the Abu Garcia Salty Stage Concept-Free low profile baitcasting reel. With everything set up and ready, I did my first cast. With the need to cast into a constant wind I gave it a hard cast. I then felt the softbait, jighead, and lines leave the rod. The next thing I knew, they were sitting the bank at the side of the pond. My eyes are not as good as they once were and all it took was a little smudge on the lense of my glasses for me to misjudge distance. Damn.

For those of you who are wondering how good the Berkley Powerbait Power Grubs are; I dragged the grub into the water and started reeling it in. Bang! I was onto fish. A Golden Snapper took the grub some three or four feet off the bank at the other side of the pond.

In the heat of battle with a hard fighting Golden Snapper. The Abu Garcia Revo X has more than enough power to handle these brutes.

Harrowing First Run

Apart from being some three to four feet off the bank on the other side of the pond, a waterwheel that was spinning creating splashes around the area was also some three to four feet away. I automatically pressed my thumb on the spool of the reel and yanked the rod in the opposite direction of where I want the fish run (away from the waterwheel), and thank God it did. All these happened within a second (probably).

You know the saying that practise is very important? I believe that it is the amount of fishing that I have done that has created a program in my mind. This program is like muscle memory. When in that situation, do this. It is like driving a car. A lot of it is autopilot. You see, my subconscious mind clearly was at play and did what it did to get out of that situation. I wasn’t consciously thinking. O was actually saying “Oh F*&#,” and I did what I did. After that my conscious mind return to continue the battle. So, if you have been away from the water and not fishing; it is time you go do more fishing.

Ok, back to the field test. As the fish ran, the rod bent and I could feel its power. For some reason it did not really feel like a 30 ton graphite blank. It felt a little softer. Anyway, the drag of the reel was set at about 60%. Together with the friction from the rod (rod guides); the tension was ample to allow the fish to run and have loads of fun battling them. After landing a good number of Golden Snappers we felt that the Abu Garcia Revo X can certainly take a lot more beating and we were being bullies here.

Hard fighting Golden Snappers are easily defeated with the Abu Garcia Revo X rod and Abu Garcia Salty Stage Concept- Free low profile bait casting reel.

Field Test 2 – Natural Exotic Sports Fishing

Our second field test for the Abu Garcia Revo X rod was at the Natural Exotic Sports Fishing pond in Behrang, Perak. Now, this pond is a pond where hard and heavy fighters call home. The fishes here fight really hard and I have seen tackle “die” here. This place is home to fishes like the Mekong River catfish that is a super hard fighter, the Chao Phraya catfish of which is another super hard fighter ranking perhaps a point below the Mekong River catfish, Amazon Redtail catfish which is also a very hard fighter at perhaps a point below the Chao Phraya catfish, etc. Oh ya! there are arapaimas in here as well.

Tackle Used During Test

Rod: Abu Garcia Revo X

Rod Action: Medium

Reel Brand: Abu Garcia

Reel Model: Salty Stage Concept-Free

Main Line: Spiderwire Dura-4 Braid (Moss Green)

Line lb: 30lb

Leader Line: Berkley Vanish

Line lb: 30lb

Baits / Lures: Fish Meat / Chicken Innards

Size: N/A

Hooks / Jig-heads: Owner

Size: 7

Test Conditions: Sunny with slight wind

The Abu Garcia Revo X found its match. This battle was certainly a torture on the Revo X rod.

Here at the Natural Exotic Sports Fishing pond we cast out baits of which are chicken innards and fish meat. With heavier lines on casting was not as good as when we were fishing in Jugra, and that is expected. Still we got our baits to our intended fishing zones with ease and it did not take long before we were on to fish.

With the drag set high at about 80%, the Abu Garcia Revo X took a bow. Not just a bow but a very hard bow. I could tell that the Abu Carcia Revo X was going through some torture. Anyhow, the fish didn’t bother how I felt or what the Revo X rod was feeling. All it wanted to do was to free itself and if the rod or reel breaks; a bonus.

I maxed the drag and I could feel the Abu Carcia Revo X rod barely holding on for dear life. It clearly has used up almost all its power storage. The backbone was still holding on and one certainly can feel that it is just holding on. But as all these are happening, the gladiator at the other end of the line is feeling the stress and tensions too. After a while of battling it out up came a lovely Amazon Redtail catfish.

We landed a good amount of fishes on the Abu Garcia Revo X rod and most of the fishes we battled fought very hard. After numerous battles the Abu Garcia Revo X remained the standing victor; losing only one fish. That wasn’t its fault really. We did not get a good hookset and the managed to drop the hook halfway through the fight.

A big hard fighting Amazon Red Tail catfish subdued.

Conclusion

The Abu Carcia Revo X rod is definitely a good rod. It bullied the Golden Snappers of Jugra and put up a good fight with the gladiators of Natural Exotic Sports Fishing pond. The Abu Garcia Revo X was certainly out of league at the Natural Exotic Sports Fishing pond yet it survived well. Good rod but it does still feel a bit odd to me personally.