Funny you should mention this Nigel. I bought myself a couple of extra rods this autumn one was a baitcaster, which then meant I "HAD" to have a new reel. Well, the Abu Revo Inshore arrived and I was completely gobsmacked at how tiny the things is. I have Penn 20lb braid on it at the mo. I am hoping that a certain dealer will still have the 300m of 30lb, Diawa 8 strand for 35 quid, when I get this month outta the way.
So far, I can tell you that it seems to cast SP's better with on a lighter rod than the one I have, but cast them well, it does! That said, it casts them much easier / happier with mono (Sufix Xcelon 12lb from my carping days) than what it does the Penn braid thats on it at the mo. But even then, it works better still with a lighter rod than the one I have as its 50-150g (1.75 - 5.5 ounces). On a more suitable rod, then I would imagine it'd have no trouble at all with sp's. I must admitt, its very tempting to completely re-ring my AFAW 8ft to multiplier use as I erckon this would belt the sp's out really well with a multiplier.
With a multiplier tho, I dont think you will ever cast a soft plastic (unless suitably weighted, of course) as far as you will with a fixed spool. Especially if its "braked", as opposed to properly controlled by the caster. magentic brakes will slow down the cast dramatically. Centrifugal brakes will slow the initial burst of speed when you cast. Yet without these little gadgerts, casting becomes more of a chore with very lightweight lures.
A fixed spool doesnt need to worry about over runs and as such, it can let the lure fly as fast as it wants at the start of the cast and when it hits the point where its all but falling out of the air and only going downwards, doesnt affect the fixed spool either. Watch the "pro's" on YouTube. You will see that when using multipliers, they dont really manage to cast all that far. Mind you, most of them are in boats with trolling engines etc and can basically drive to near enough where they want to be. So dont have to cast far.
Only way to really see what you can do is to go out and give it a try Nigel. I would add tho mate, if you're still getting birdsnests with mono and a 3 to 5 ounce lead, then dont give yourself the headache and heartache of filling a multiplier with braid and go flicking tiny little (weight of them) lures. You will end up filling the swear box and getting well stressed out, lol.
Final thought......
Once Norway is over n done with and I am back to fishing local waters then I will most likely remove the 30lb braid and go onto either 8lb or 12lb mono as this is what MY reel and I seem to be most comfy with. Dont like braid for uptiding or any of my fishing other than lures or very deep water work, to be honest.
a quick PS here
I paid just under the £100 for my Abu, but it did mean a lot of late nites waiting for auctions to end and praying no one else had bid yet. Even then its come from the USA - 3 days to get here!!
