With the rod now on the doorstep and at such a cheap price I did wonder to myself what kind of rod I would get for the money paid as it was only £21.99 but to be fair Abu generally have a good name and make decent rods that will last. It was well packaged and on undoing it all it comes standard with a black Material rod sock, the rod is in two sections and when pieced together it is 7ft long. The handle section is distinctly shorter it had a shaped EVA fighting grip which is good and thick so anyone with issues like carpal tunnel or arthritis/ joint problems would like this rod as you don’t have to grip it so tight. The reel seat is an Abu seat and is solid and doesn’t move at all. Looking up the rod towards the tip the first section of the rod is a shiny black gloss effect with GT30 written on the rod in gold. Moving farther up the rod all of the whippings are in black and silver and have a glossy high build over them which makes them stand out a bit more as the rest of the rod is finished in a matt black, some areas of the high build was a bit sloppy but nothing outrageous as there were a few drips onto guide frames which are SIC guides but nothing that would hinder the rods performance at all its just aesthetic if you’re fussy but then at £21.99 you really can’t complain. I know it is a 30lb class rod but the thickness of this rod made me wonder if the bite detection would actually be any good? Or would it just be a poker? I hold the tip and give it a flex and its surprising supple and should give bite detection just fine! I was due to go out on Lorna Doone with Tommo out of Watchet marina later in the week so would give it a go chasing some hopefully lunking cod! Saturday was here and out on the ocean the sea wasn’t rough but it was far from calm! We were fishing over the reef systems outside Watchet and another area of mixed ground running onto mud. The rod was teamed up with wit a fathom 2 multiplier which happily sat there doing its thing. I was pinging out five and six ounce leads of the back of the boat about 30 yards away to make benefit of the scent trail of all the other baits as well. I had hit into the usual dogfish you always get and the bites showed a lot stronger than I thought they would and pulled them in with very little bend and my confidence in the rod was growing as at the back of my mind i was thinking it was only £21.99! A couple of small rays and strap eels later there was nothing of size coming onto the boat until right near the end of the day when we had the first and only cod of the day on the boat and it was mine! It was s solid two thumps on the rod tip and showed the bite really well, lifting up into the rod it bent over on the tip section until it hit the top of the middle power band, I could feel all that was going on, and it hauled in the cod with no issues whatsoever the rod didn’t even break a sweat when weighed it was 5lb 6oz. The largest fish it had to haul in was a 9lb conger but also took it all in its stride. I feel there is nothing to worry about with the rod although its cheap and there is good wear in the spigot so won’t go anytime soon. GOOD POINTS: - Absolutely solid rod and does what it should and all for only £21.99 it won’t let you down at all
- Looks good and has a good bite registration for such a thick rod. BAD POINTS: - Some of the high build was sloppy with globs around eyes etc but didn’t affect performance.
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