ABU Superior 3000SH spinning reel review - less than £100

I knew absolutely nothing about these “budget” ABU Superior spinning reels until somebody I know at Pure Fishing (which now owns Savage Gear) sent me a message to suggest I had a look at one because they continued to get a lot of positive feedback from the tackle shops they were dealing with. I duly asked somebody at Pure Fishing and back in February this rather smart looking ABU Superior 3000SH spinning reel arrived…………….

I had no idea what to expect and I can’t pretend that I have had a lot of experience with the more “budget”, say up to £100 spinning reels over the last few years. The Penn Slammer IV 2500 has become my go-to spinning reel, but when I’m fishing with generally lighter lures on lighter lure rods I will most likely turn to a Shimano Vanford because they are outstanding. None of those spinning reels are remotely budget though, so I was really interested to see what this ABU Superior 3000SH spinning reel which I can find for well under £100 online might be like.

At 267g loaded up with braid it’s not ridiculously lightweight like a comparable Shimano 2500 or 3000 - this 3000 size ABU reel is basically the same size as a Shimano 3000 - but you know I don’t obsess about the lightest possible rod and reel outfits anyway. I haven’t yet put this ABU reel on a lure rod and worried for one second that it weighs a few more grams than something else. You might though because we are all different and I am thinking of identifying as a gazelle. Stop it! I grabbed these specs for the reel off the internet:

• Japanese market lure reel

• Saltwater capable

• 4 stainless steel HPCR ball bearing + 1 roller bearing

• Salt Shield ball bearing on inner pinion gear

• Water shield carbon matrix hybrid drag system (stick that in your pipe!)

• Rocket line management (absolutely no clue what this means!)

• Aluminium machine cut handle

• Soft touch handle knob

• Tough Dura-Metal integrated body

• Silent oscillation

• COG design for smooth rotation

• 2WAY drag system

• Always-ON Instant anti-reverse (without ON-OFF lever)

• Rocket spool lip (sounds good!)

• Gear ratio: 6.2: 1

• Maximum drag force: 5kg

• Recovery 96cm

• Line capacity (m) Nylon / Braid: 0.235mm (8lb)/110m – PE1.2/150m

• Weight: 268g (but I weighed it at 267g filled up with braid)

I plumped for the excellent red coloured Berkley Sick X8 braid in the 24lb version and I was pleased to see that I got a flat line-lay right out of the box (the reel requires some backing if you load up with a typical 150m spool of roughly 20lb braid). I loaded the reel up to the point you can see in the photos and I haven’t changed anything about that since February. No line management issues at all. I did what I always do to a new spinning reel out of the box - oiled and greased a few specific areas and then hose the reel down after every fishing session. I can’t tell you that this ABU Superior 3000SH spinning reel is going to last forever because I haven’t had it forever, but what I can tell you is that - so far - I am seriously impressed by how good this thing is.

Pure Fishing/Savage Gear don’t pay me to say nice stuff about their fishing tackle and nobody within the company has ever asked me to review an item of gear. For sure I can get a reel like this for nothing, but then there is no actual need for me to go out fishing with a budget spinning reel when I can also fish with a Penn Slammer or Penn Authority for nothing. I have been doing so because I am genuinely interested to see how a sub-£100 spinning reel might or might not work for me, and if I could get my hands on a similarly priced Shimano or Daiwa I’d be just as interested. I think it’s pretty bloody amazing how good a lot of the cheaper fishing tackle is these days, indeed it has to be increasingly important with how scarily expensive life is getting.

The simple fact is that I think this ABU Superior 3000SH is really good so far. It’s smooth, there is absolutely no hint of any “grindiness”, the handle is fine (but if the world was perfect then I’d like every single spinning reel to have the same handle as the Penn Authority 2500), and the drag feels incredibly smooth but you know how little interest I have in spinning reel drags for our bass fishing. I have looked after the reel as I would any other spinning reel. I lent it to one of our anglers on my recent Ireland guiding trip and from time to time the reel got splashed and washed over by saltwater. I expected this to cause at least a lack of smoothness (grindiness) a couple of days afterwards, as indeed I would expect on many of the more expensive spinning reels which don’t handle salt water ingress very well, but I am rather happy to report that this ABU Superior 3000SH continues on its merry way every bit as nice as it was straight out of the box back in February (if my spinning reel gets properly splashed or dunked then I take it off the rod and give it a proper wash in freshwater - I simply tighten the drag right down, immerse it fully in a sink of warm water, turn the reel handle say thirty times, shake the reel off, loosen the drag off and let it drip-dry, I have saved a number of spinning reels like this and I know the tackle companies would say it’s the wrong thing to do but it works).

Which I think is very impressive, and especially for less than £100. I am liking the reel that much I am now going to ask to see the larger ABU Superior 4000SH with what looks to be a good looking handle as well. There is also an interesting looking 2500S version which looks like it has a shallower spool and also a slower retrieve ratio. I can’t tell you that this ABU Superior 3000SH is going to last forever because I simply don’t know, but what I do know is that I am liking it as much as any other non-Slammer or non-Authority type reel I have been fishing with. Okay, so it’s not quite that type of buttery-smooth on something like the Shimano Vanford, but I am always going to argue that twiddling a spinning reel at home is a bit different to actually being out fishing and turning the handle.

There’s not much more I can tell you about this reel other than I will continue to fish with it and I will report back if something goes wrong. Ten years ago I would not have expected a “budget” spinning reel to feel quite so accomplished as this ABU Superior 3000SH. I accept and understand that Shimano and Daiwa spinning reels are top of the tree when it comes to uber-smooth lure fishing and what anglers seem to desire the most, but this ABU Superior 3000SH has opened my eyes up made me really interested to see if I can get enough meaningful fishing time with a sub-£100 spinning reel in a harsh saltwater environment. I don’t actually know what “enough meaningful fishing time” should be with a reel that costs less than £100, but this ABU Superior 3000SH spinning reel is doing me proud………………….

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