A Monkey Tale. (Pics)

[BigBassin144]

Alright, I haven't said anything about this, other than on the chat. I was waiting for it to get here. But here is the result of my most recent fight with the money (monkey: too high to count, me: 0 (if not a negative number by now))

I got home from school and it wasn't here yet. Had to run an errand, and when I got back, I find a tube and a small box sitting in my garage!

I quickly opened everything up, and mounted my new reel on my new rod.

Then I figured I'd better take some pics for you guys or I'm gonna get yelled at.

First impressions:

First, the Vendetta.



I was a little worried about this one. I hadn't held any of them over 7' in the stores, and honestly chose the 7'6" on a whim with no real good reason as to why. The first thing I saw when I opened the tube was that nice red aluminum butt cap with the Abu emblem, a very nice touch. The next thing I noticed was how big around the blank was, and I thought to myself, great this is gonna be a lot heavier than the shorter rods. To my surprise, it wasn't much heavier, at it was still balanced nicely.



Looking over the rod, the guides look fine, and nothing is damaged (takes a lot to get damaged in those thick cardboard tubes TW uses). The wraps are kinda sloppy, but I wasn't expecting them to be absolutely wonderful. The split grip is nice, but I wish the rear part was a bit bigger in diameter.

Next up, the Fuego.





Before today, I had never even HANDLED a fuego, only looked at them. First thing I noticed was it is light. It terms of magnesium reels, it's not the lightest, but it probably is the lightest in its price class. Gave the handle a few turns, engaged the reel a few times. Gave the spool a nice spin after loosening the spool tension a bit. A picture's worth a thousand words, and I think this one sums up how the reel feels:



Daiwa uses a simple handle and clicking dragstar.



I don't care for the goldish colored spool, and think it would've looked better with a black or silver one.



The Fuego is one of the most comfortable reels I've ever held, being so similar to the Zillion, it doesn't surprise me.



The Combo: It's all fine if they feel good separate, but the real test is how they feel together. I like how the Fuji ACS reel seat feels without a reel on it, but this is my first time holding it with one. Not bad at all. I don't know if I'd say it's more comfortable than a Fuji ECS, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy another rod with one. Like I said before, the Fuego is a VERY comfortable reel to palm, even for people with small hands.



One complaint I had right away was the lack of padding on the metal hood Abu uses to hold the reel down. When I took the reel off for the photo shoot, the front of the foot was already scratched from tightening it in. The aluminum hood looks great, but I think i'd prefer the gentler surface of a plastic one to keep the reels from getting scratched as easily.



One thing that surprised me was the Fuego is a darker red than it shows in most photos. But it still makes a great looking combo with the black and red Vendetta. I can't wait till the ice is melted and I get to try these out, and write a full review.

For those of you haven't been beaten by the monkey once already (or many more times for some of us), beware, he's hungry this winter.