Abu Garcia Reels: Interesting Tidbits

[Rebel9921]

After being given a 6600CB/Eagle II Musky Rod combo from Cabela's for christmas... I decided to do some more research into Abu Garcia baitcasters, especially the 6500 and 6600 series, so I could make few more purchases to improvise my musky arsenal...

From what I have found out, the designation "CB" is a C4 packaged in different color (gloss dark red) and made exclusively for Cabela... You cannot find CB at any other retailers... You might find them on hsolist, but they originally came from Cabela's...

Now as for the 4 number designation such as 4600, 5600, 6600, and on... the first number (4,5,6) usually denotes the size of the reel... higher the number, bigger the reel... second number (5,6) usually denotes whether its a push-button or a thumbbar for line release...

Currently, I have three musky combos... all reels are Abu Garcia... All three are 6600's (with thumbbars)... I got the 6600CB for christmas, then bidded on a 6600C3 (brand new, no pictures,) on hsolist thinking it was a 6600C3 Lever Drag model, then went to Gander Mountain and purchased the 6600C4... at that same time, I noticed Gander Mountain had 6600C3...It was not the lever drag, but a "6500C3 upgraded with a thumbbar", exactly what I had won on hsolist... I did some more research online and found that if I had wanted to purchase a 6600 with C3, the closest thing I could get was the 6600SSC3... I have tried to disginuish the difference between 6600C3 and 6600SSC3 but to no avail, I couldnt... except that the 6600C3 is silver, like its brother, the 6500C3 series... and that the 6600SSC3 is flat maroon... So if you wanted the 6600C3 you'll only be able to find it at Gander Mountain, otherwise just purchase the 6600SSC3 which can be found at Thorne's, Rollie & Helen's, Patiskas', etc etc..

You also might have noticed 6600CL, which also is called 6600CL Rocket... this is also a varation of the 6600C4, this time orange, and from what I learned, was made exclusively for Wal-Mart...

One major difference between the C3 and C4 reels is the extra ball bearing and the gear ratio... C3 has the gear ratio of 5.3:1 and C4 has the gear ratio of 6.3:1... I do not know of any C3 that comes with 6.3:1 nor do I know of any C4 that comes with 5.3:1... I did find one auction for a C4 with gear ratio of 5.3:1 but the seller admitted that he swapped the gears out of a 6500C3 and into the 6600C4... It does seem that the parts for 6500 series and 6600 series are very interchangable... I do not know if this is the same for 5500 and 5600 but Im fairly sure since I have seen several postings indicating that some parts can be interchanged btwn 5500/5600 and 6500/6600... Now for the C3, C4, D5, D6 designations... I have not discovered the meaning behind the letter C and D, but the number after the letter designate the number of ball bearings in the reel... But I have noticed that the spool seems to be smaller in the D series than it is in the C series regardless the number designation...

I have also discovered that not all 6600 are made with 3 or more ball bearings... I have found one model number (it seems to be discontinued, but I could be mistaken) 6600 Brute... this model seems to only come with one ball bearing (roller) and the rest are just bushings...

Some of you might would want to bring up the 5000 and 6000 series... I did check into those and found out that they do not have ball bearings, but bushings instead... Basically, the 5500/5600 and 6500/6600 are improved version (with ball bearings instead of bushings) of the 5000 and 6000 series...

I hope this information is helpful for all of you who swears by Abu Garcia... or for those who would recommend Abu Garcia...