Gear Review: Abu Garcia Zenon

What is it?

Abu Garcia Zenon

What sets it apart?

Abu Garcia’s engineers integrated the insights and understanding of its Japanese design team to create a reel ideally suited for the finesse-specific Japanese market. Billed as the lightest spinning reel ever made, Abu Garcia’s Zenon offers supreme sensitivity and all-day comfort when paired with a light spinning rod. To eliminate empty spaces, Abu Garcia made the Zenon’s magnesium body smaller than the spool and rotor; designed a one-piece gear box with no sideplate; added a hollow, soft-touch handle knob; and integrated the frame into the stem.

How do I use it?

The size 20 Zenon weighs 4.9 ounces and holds 185 yards of 6-pound monofilament, while the 5.4-ounce size 30 holds 225 yards of 6-pound line. Both have 6.2:1 gear ratios with 11 bearings and a maximum drag of 11 pounds. The reel’s advanced design optimizes light-line finesse presentations by ensuring smooth drag across all settings. Advancing this objective, the Zenon includes low-inertia, silent-rotation rotors and an ultralight hybrid spool.

How much?

$499.95

More Information

www.abugarcia.com

Angler’s insight:

Clearly focused on providing finesse anglers with a reel they can hold for long periods of time and trust for fool-proof performance, Abu Garcia’s design features minimize the Zenon’s overall footprint and weight, while providing a rigid system for the gears. The magnesium body, contoured for hand comfort, further reduces weight while providing greater durability than the advanced plastics commonly used for lightweight reels.