abu is short for "ambassadeur" ... instead of saying ambassadeur it's easier to say abu but the company name is ambassadeur. here's a little trick though ... recently ambassadeur was purchased by "Pure Fishing" which also purchased Shakespeare a while back or way before they acquired ambassadeur and they've switched all their real and rod making over to China and have recently done the same thing with abu also ... the trick is to buy the reels that have "Made in Sweden" stamped on the reels ... the newer ones at walmart and other places with the plastic levelwinds are made in China and probably not worth a plug nickel. When Shakespeare was acquired by Pure Fishing they outsourced everything to China and now converted all their reels to throw-a-ways because you can't order parts for any of them any longer and this is probably what's going to happen to abu also or at least all the reels made in china anyhow ... they still make reels out of Sweden I think but they're the higher end reels but watch out for the new "Made in China" reels and don't purchase those ... I've not heard any bad reviews on them because I don't think any catfishermen or many have purchased any of the China made reels but here's the kick in the head ... the china made ones are Higher priced than the older sweden made red 6000's by about 10 bux, ain't that a lick upside the head! Anyhow, I purchased all the red ones I could find around here when I seen them stocking the newer reels from china and I got 8 of the red 6000's and purchased bearings for them to change out the bushings with so they're basically identical to c3's but just red in color ... they also all have power handles on them too so they're some dandy reels. When i first got them I wasn't taking care of them properly and let a few of the levelwinds mess up on me before I took them off my guide boat and switched to spinning gear. I got about a mile of dirt road that those abu's don't like ... the dirt goes up from my pickup wheels right into the boat where I've got my rod n reels standing up back there so the spinning gear holds up a lot better to dirt than the abus but I've got plenty of abus for personal use and take them with me sometimes guiding also but I make sure to take them off the rods and store them so that the dirt can't get to them now. Anyhow ... just be sure to buy the ones made in sweden and you'll have a great reel and when you're done fishing take them off the rod and road them in camera bags so that they don't get dirt in them and they'll last forever. I've got three 7000 series reels that I've had for over 15 years now that I used to competition cast with when I first got into competition casting and even with the levelwinds I could cast them well over 725 ft on the breakaway 14 ft surf rods.

you'll have to let us know what kind of fishing you're wanting to do with the abus before we can suggest a rod and know what reel you're wanting to get because it makes a lot of difference because if you're limited to bank fishing only, then you'll probably want a surf rod since you may be wanting to fish below dams and what not so distance is important and if you're going to get a 6000 series reel you could spool it with 15 lb test ande or big game or better yet get some breakaway line at www.breakawayusa.com ... their 25 lb test mono is the same diameter as 12 lb test big game and stands up to surf rod fishing really well and ya need shock line material ... like 50 lb test big game to attach to the smaller mainline so that you can cast heavy weights ... or if you're just going to use it as a boat reel you might want to just get a good uglystick catfishing baitcaster rod ... I've had 8 of those since september of 2006 and haven't had one failure ... not even an insert to pop out of them or anything and they've took a lot of abuse from me and my clients banging them around. and they're only $29 so it'd be hard to find a better rod at that price. for a surf rod that'll cast further than most I'd recommend a basspro oceanmaster rod at 12.5 ft long.

I have a two 6000's. What turned me on to these reels was their baitclicker. I also have two Penn No. 09 reels. While I love the Penns, I was looking for something JUST a bit lighter. The baitclicker comes in handy because I get distracted doing whatever, but I only use both the Penn's and the Abu's for bottom fishing. I've been really satisfied with both types of reels. I think it's a blast to have these reels rigged for bottom fishing and hear that baitclicker go off. Haven't had any trouble with the Abu's, but I will take everyone's advice and stick to the Sweeden models if I decide to buy more. Just my two cents.
Steven

does academy have the real ones?