Real World Tests: We have been fishing the Zenon reels for over a year both in Florida at Lake Toho with a number of Abu Garcia's prostaff and on our home water of the California Delta and surrounding lakes. Our test subject is the SP20 which comes in a hard nylon case similar to that of the MGXtreme which it essentially replaces. Within that case are two spool options - both metal - a shallow spool for light line applications, and a deeper spool with slightly more capacity for larger diameter lines.

  
Cal casting the Zenon on our home water of the California Delta

The first thing that struck us as we inspected the Zenon SP20 is just how light it feels in hand. Indeed, a trip to the scale revealed a weight of five point three (5.3 ounces). Not quite as light as the specified four point nine ounces (4.9), but still super light for a reel of any configuration be it casting or spinning. Abu Garcia achieves this with a new frame design (something they refer to as asymmetric) built from magnesium. Next, the rotor is built with C6 carbon which is designed to minimize startup inertia. Everything else from the handle, to the knob is carefully conceived and executed to reduce weight while maintaining rigidity. The reel features aggressive porting and hollowing out wherever possible in an effort to reduce weight and achieve better balance.

A look at the Zenon with the spool in the lower position

In Florida we fished the reel with Spiderwire and fluorocarbon leader and on our home water we spooled the reel with a base layer of ten pound (10lb) Soft Steel Eminent Braid topped with a leader of six pound (6lb) Soft Steel Instinct Fluorocarbon (connected with a Uni to Uni knot). We fished the Zenon reel with the company's new Zenon rods and because it is so light we decided to test it in a travel configuration with the new Megabass Triza F0-68XSTZ Hibali.

Notice how far the spool extends during the line lay

Next Section: Fishing the Zenon coast to coast...