Abu Garcia Pushes Rod Technology Further

By The Angler

A few years ago I saw a video of a Volkswagen parking on its own. I was intrigued but brushed it off as something unreal. Maybe they have this idea to make a self parking vehicle and they are sharing that idea. They should do it since there are companies trying to make self driving cars such as Google.

Then one day I popped into a Mercedes Benz dealership and test drove an E class. The salesperson sat in the car with me, told me where to go, what features to turn on and off, and it was not bad. The not bad part stopped when he told me to look for an empty side parking bay that was on a busy main road and try out the self parking feature. I was like, “what?” Seriously? Amazed at this, I did as I was told. The car steering wheel started to turn on its own in different directions and then a beep. Nope, we were not parked yet. Tried again; the car did the same thing and then another beep. Not parked yet.

At this juncture the cars behind started honking. “Ignore them and try again” said the salesman. Easy for him to say. He was not the one behind the wheel. On the third try the darn thing parked itself in the lot. Three tries may be quite rubbish as I could have done it in one go, and if the guy in the car behind me was a road bully, I will have a hard time explaining to the police officer why I had to beat him up, roll him over, and kick him in the crotch as if trying to score a goal midfield. As crappy as that experience was, the darn machine did park itself (I had to handle the brakes) and that is a good feat. Technology in car parking ability has reached a new high.

The Abu Garcia Virtual rod bring rod technology into the “Tech world.”

That’s cars. What about a cylindrical pole that is used to catch fish? How far can we push technology in this simple pole? The most we have seen is the improvements in material such as graphite standards and nano technology, improvement in the ceramic rings that are on the guides of fishing rods, and that’s about it. Well, during my time as a product manager in Pure Fishing I did design a rod with a built in MP3 player but it did not get approved. What got approved and produced were rods with adjustable rear handles under the Concept X series of Abu Garcia Ikazuchi rod series. But no bar raising technology there.

Going “Techy-Techy”

This time Abu Garcia broke that threshold and came out with a tech infused rod called the Abu Garcia Virtual rod. No this is not a virtual rod or a rod made for fishing in the virtual world or in virtual reality. No, it is not a rod for a game console like Xbox or Nintendo PS4 or is it 5 now. Hmmm, maybe Abu Garcia should design a rod and a fishing game for these consoles.  

What the Abu Garcia Virtual Rod does is that it links to your phone (or mobile devices) via Bluetooth and helps you record your location, catch, weather, water information, etc. into your private log book in an app called Anglr. These data helps you to analyse and get a better understanding of the conditions that were at play when you caught your fish. And, all these is done just by a click of a button that is located at the butt end of the rod. Amazing, feature to help make you a more successful angler.

Pairing the Abu Garcia Virtual rod to your mobile phone.

Yes, impressive. But how does the rod perform? The rod itself is blardy darn good. It comes with a 30 ton graphite blank which is lightweight and provides great sensitivity, comes with stainless steel guides that hold Zirconium inserts for smoothness of cast and reduced damage to line thanks to great heat dispersion properties, lovely reel seat that is extremely exposed so that you can feel the vibrations on the super sensitive 30 ton graphite blank, and it looks good.

The Abu Garcia Virtual Rod certainly pushed rod building and designing to a whole new level. With this new game in play, I am excited to see what other fishing rod brands bring to the table. For now, I just cannot wait to get my hands on this Abu Garcia Virtual Rod. When we talk about new toys, this here is one heck of a new toy.

Logging your catches. 

Features

  • 30 Ton graphite for a lightweight balanced design
  • High density EVA gives greater sensitivity and durability
  • Stainless steel guides with Zirconium inserts
  • Extreme exposed reel seat for increased blank contact and sensitivity
  • Micro click reel seat hood design allows for improved reel fit
  • Connects via Bluetooth to the free ANGLR App on iPhone and Android
  • Click to record catches complete with automated weather, water, and location details. Your phone’s camera will be ready should you want to add a photo.
  • 2x Click to drop editable waypoints at your exact location
  • Press and Hold (2 seconds) to indicate a change in tackle
  • All recorded fishing data is 100% private by default
  • No charging required. 2 Year Battery Life
  • Designed for use in the wild. Works outside of cellular service
  • Integrates with Lowrance Wireless compatible units

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