Top rated salmon and kahawai/surf reel

Many anglers will be familiar with the Abu Garcia range of high-quality free spool casting reels made in Sweden. Salmon anglers who prefer to fish the surf, in particular, will be aware of the excellent long distance casting qualities of the Abu 7000 and 7500 C3. Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 7500C has long been a popular choice with salmon anglers looking for long distance casts at the mouths of the Hurunui, Waimakariri, Rakaia, Rangitata, and Waitaki Rivers.

These two very popular reels differ in that the 7000 has brass bushes, where the 7500 has ball bearings. Although many anglers replace the brass bushes with ball bearings from the 7500. Most parts are interchangeable between the two models. Line capacity for both reels is 300m of 10kg monofilament. This makes the reel, at 585 grams, a bit large for river fishing, but perfect for fishing the surf where the extra line capacity can be put to good use. When you are casting a hundred meters of line you don’t want the spool diameter to drop markedly or your casting distance will suffer.

Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 7500C has great line capacity for salmon/surf fishing

If a big salmon takes at long range with the Abu 7500 you still have 200 meters of “insurance” left on your spool. The 7500 C3 has a retrieve rate of 5.3:1 meaning that you can wind in 28 inches (72cm) of line for each turn of the handle. This is a useful feature when fishing in the surf where you must wind at sufficient speed to keep the ticer up in the water column.

The Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 7500C offers the experienced distance caster several options for getting that extra few yards out to those salmon on the other side of the bar, or in a distant”hole” off the beach. Aside from keeping the gears, bearings, and other working parts very clean and well lubricated with light oil, it is also possible to get extra distance by removing two of the four casting brake blocks. Some anglers take out all four but this makes the reel too difficult to cast with consistently.

After all, you are better to cast a few yards less than spend all day picking out birds- nests. The Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 7500C is one of the best salmon/surf reels on the market. Amazingly prices have come down recently on this top of the range Abu, making it incredible value for money! This still one of the very best salmon reels you can buy.

These reels are great value for money. They work ok with braid too. Spare parts are readily available in New Zealand. Highly recommended.