ABU Garcia recently unveiled its fourth generation Veritas range. The veritas has been a popular rod for Abu over the years. Its signature white blank and great value for money has understandably appealed to many Aussie fishos.
I’ve owned several Veritas rods and still use them regularly. The performance and durability, not to mention price point, makes them an ideal choice for much of my local estuary fishing around Sydney.
Just recently, I had the opportunity to test a new Veritas during a week fishing the Kimberly in Western Australia. The rod of choice was a three-piece travel rod. The VRT4TRL-S 703H is a 7’0” three-piece 6-10kg rated as “heavy”. Broken down in three pieces, it measures about 70cm. That’s about the same as most four-piece fly rods and other travel rods. It’s also very useful because my trusty fishing travel bag fits this size rod perfectly. What it means is there’s no need for a rod tube and that saves a lot of hassle (and excess baggage fees). In the past I’ve had rod tubes lost and broken, so these days I’ll do anything to avoid them. A multi-piece travel rod such as this Veritas is the perfect solution.
Abu Garcia markets these rods as sensitive and strong. It’s an accurate description in my opinion. This rod is light to hold, sensitive and responsive while fishing and, importantly, easy to cast. While it’s rated as “heavy”, it’s light to hold and really punches above it weight while fighting fish. It’s also strong and durable. During my trip to the Kimberley it was used and abused. We fished three people, plus a guide on a fairly small boat. There were rods everywhere and mayhem most of the day. As a result, a few other rods were broken, but the Veritas made it through unscathed.
It was a pleasure to use and I caught dozens of hard fighting fish, from mangrove jacks and fingermark in the creeks, to trevally and solid queenfish in the blue water. I had it matched to a Abu Garcia Revo ALX 3000MSH. It was a super smooth and great casting reel, a perfect match for the Veritas. I had 20lb braid and mostly fished with 60lb leader.
The new Veritas is built using 30 Ton Extra High Density graphite blanks and quality Fuji Stainless Steel KR Series guides with Alconite inserts. It also features a custom designed reel seat and closed-cell EVA grips for sensitivity and weather and wear resistance.
The full range, designed specifically for Aussie lure fishing, has 22 spinning, 6 casting and 5 travel models.
Check out the full range at abugarcia-fishing.com.au and Abu Garcia’s Facebook page for videos and more.
