The Search For One… Abu Garcia’s Vendetta Is Anything But Cold

Total Score: 8.33 - BEST VALUE AWARD!

Introduction: In our continued slow economy, consumers are seeking the best bang for their buck and the fishing industry is not immune to this syndrome. It’s no surprise then, that at ICAST 2009, battle lines were drawn early and it was obvious the theme of the show amongst the mainstream rod manufacturers was value. One of the more impressive value driven rods debuted at last year’s show was by Abu Garcia. The Vendetta has since made its debut and to very good fanfare across the country. Presenting our review of Abu Garcia’s VTC69-6 Vendetta.

Impressions: When I first laid eyes on the Abu Garcia Vendetta prototypes at ICAST 2009, I thought for sure these sticks were a new, high end offering from Abu. The styling cues and materials were very modern and the rod felt very refined off the display rack. My review specimen was just as impressive although the rod does feel a tad heavier than what I remembered from ICAST. Perhaps I was just caught up in all the excitement of this new, stylish, eighty dollar ($80) rod from Abu Garcia!

At last, our take on the Abu Garcia Vendetta.

Lab Tests: First stop for our VTC69-6 was the lab and an appointment with the RoD WRACK where we discovered this stick’s RoD value is almost spot on with our TSFO baseline rod, the MBR783C GLX2000! Of course, while similar in overall value, the actual deflection curves show a bit of a difference. Additionally, while the VTC69-6 is just a little heavier than the GLX2000 (5.1 ounces for the Vendetta versus 4.8 for the GLX2000) it is quite a bit more tip heavy despite being touted as designed for balance.

Fig 1: This chart illustrates the deflection characteristics of the Abu Garcia Vendetta VTC69-6 as compared to our The Search For One baseline rod, the GLX2000. Note how the VTC69-6's curve (yellow) matches that of the GLX2000 until about 20 ounces of load is applied where there is a slight jump. The VTC69-6's backbone then sets back in and its rate of deflection is constant again.

Of course, off the rack and without our baseline rod for comparison, the VTC69-6 feels like a very nice stick with a balance point of 7 inches above the midline of the reel seat and a balancing torque of 0.25 foot pounds. For comparison’s sake, the GLX2000’s same numbers are five inches and 0.11 foot pounds.

Field Tests: The VTC69-6, as are all the Vendetta casting rods, was designed with a specific reel in mind, and that’s the tuned for 2010 Abu Garcia Revo SX. Of course, we here at TackleTour always mix things up and while I did fish this stick for a while with a Revo SX, my new Quantum Tour Edition KVD casting reel also spent a lot of time on this stick. The new Tour Edition KVD shares a similar color scheme albeit a bit more flashy than the Revo SX, and is a half ounce lighter than the SX as well.