I'm a Florida saltwater fishomaniac, I'm out on the water at least once or twice a week, in all kinds of weather, for multiple species, Redfish, seatrout, black drum,pompano, bluefish, sheephead, spanish mackerel, snook, cobia, jack crevalle, snapper, Etc.With occasional dances with shark & tarpon. I've had a couple of these for nearly 5 years, and recently got 2 more for guests. Nice smooth action, great bait feeder function, I do wish the ratchet function was a lot louder for wave & surf use. You should get multi packs of line bearings, (uxcell SMR85ZZ Stainless Steel Ball Bearing 5x8x2.5mm Shielded MR85ZZ Bearings 5pcs ) as salt water kills them if you don't keep them lubed. But over all, a surprisingly well made and versatile reel for a great price. The bigger sizes are beefier if you want to throw down with monsters regularly, and you'll get lot's of miles out of these if you clean, strip down and re-lube every season or after immersion in salt water. Tight lines!!11/23/23 update, 2 years and lots of fish later, I discovered that Okuma specifies these reels are for "light to medium duty FRESHWATER use" but Amazon advertises them as "saltwater spinning reels", which was my primary reason for buying multiples of the ABF 55b. I contacted Amazon recently about the inaccurate advertising, and am hoping they will correct the adds, for the sake of the folks who will buy them and assume they are totally unaffected by repeated exposure to saltwater. (even reels rated for saltwater need to be rinsed and maintained) That being said, I still think these are amazing reels for the price, and with attention to the vulnerable areas, will last for years! The 3 main areas to pay attention to are,1- The handle, at the inside of the 90 degree elbow, specifically where you can see the metal shaft at the pin/swivel point. This area has a recess that retains water. After rinsing, use compressed air or a can of computer duster, followed up with a squirt of WD40, or a drop of any light oil.2- The line roller bearing, It's inside the roller the line passes over right off the spool. Remove the screw, you can see the bearing inside what looks like a mini tire rim, keep it clean and oiled. If it starts seizing up, see the bearing number above for replacement.3- The secondary bait feeder drag. When the pole is in use, it's the lowest point of the reel, It also tends to collect water. It's accessed by first removing the rubber adjuster knob cover that snaps over the knob like a stocking cap. use a guitar pick or a butter knife inserted in the small gap between the cover and the body of the reel to pry back the rim of the cap out of the groove it's snapped into, then peel it off. If the cap is not too old or stiff you can sometimes squeeze it hard enough to get one edge out of the groove. Then remove the plastic cap that's immediately in front of the drag adjuster/wheel, there's 1 screw on the side, and one kind of hidden in a small hole in the front of the stem that attaches the reel to the pole, remove both, pull off the cap/cowl. there's a small slot that you can see right in front of the adjuster wheel, that you can squirt with WD40. Rotate the knob a turn or so back and forth to work the water displacing stuff into the vulnerable works. Wipe off the excess & replace the plastic cap & rubber knob cover. After you've done this once or twice you realize it's easier than it sounds!

well made reel, bait runner function works better than other more expensive reels with the same feature. This one offers less resistance allowing your bait to swim more freely. Bought a second one for friends to use that are not used to using a conventional reel

The baitrunner works great, I just wish it was as loud as bait alerts on casting reels. With that being said, it casts and reels very smoothly. I’m probably getting 10% further casting. For the value, durability, and balance I highly recommend it.

Very nice reel for the money. The bait feeder drag is very smooth, as is the rest of the reel. My only complaint is that when I start reeling with the bait feeder drag engaged, the switch does not always fully disengage and shift the reel back to the front drag like it's supposed to automatically. So, I have to manually flip the switch the rest of the way before the front drag will engage. Trying to set the hook before doing this will cause you to lose fish. It's a flaw that I've read about in other reviews. By comparison, the Cabela's Salt Striker bait feeder reel, which looks almost identical, but with more ball bearings, works perfectly. However, it is more expensive, and doesn't come in the smaller sizes like the Avenger ABF. If you need the size 40 and above, want flawless performance, and don't mind spending the extra $20, I highly recommend the Cabela's model. When you're on the water (and "on" the fish), you want your equipment to do what's it's supposed to do.

This real is awesome for the money and features. I grew up fishing almost daily on Lake Ontario but I have not done to much fishing for the past 10 years due to a hog hunting addiction. So this year I decided to start fishing again and got the A series and B series reels in the 50/55 paired with some medium heavy ugly stik rods. WOW. These bait feeders are awesome. I don't think I could spend money on another spinning reel without it. I just bought my dad the B series for fathers day.Here is what I like about it. Flip the switch and catch more fish.-I can grab a beverage of choice from the cooler without worrying about the rod and reel.-I don't have to crank the drag tight as the fish runs with my bait.-It makes noise (the A series is louder) as the fish runs and gives me extra time to grab the rod.-I can run more rods due to having more time to get to a rod-I can drift fish up to trolling speeds with the bait feeder drag being adjustable.-I do not have to hold one rod to get the fish while it bites (letting me put more rods out)The pictures attached were only caught on the bait feeder reels. I have other people fishing with me who do not own bait feeder reels. The majority of the fish that we bring on the boat are due to the bait feeder reel. The fish don't feel any resistance and do not drop the bait after the hit. I have to cut the hook off on about 1/2 of the fish since it is in their stomach when they come in. I have only been fishing for about 1 month and have caught Channel cats, flat heads, blues, striper, wiper, largemouth, and spotted bass using live or fresh dead bait.I would feel comfortable using my setup on saltwater striper and any size freshwater fish in north america. I don't think I would need more than the 50 series on freshwater unless I was targeting trophy cats, king salmon, alligator gar, or giant musky.The only down side it that it isn't a $100 bullet proof reel. If you take care of it it should last you a long time. I plan to buy more of all sizes so that I can always set a rod down without worry that a fish will take my setup.

BADASS PRODUCT.

I have purchased this reel for my 9ft, medium-heavy fishing rod I use for carp, salmon, catfish, etc. which are anywhere between 15 to 25lbs and put up a good fight.The reel is nice, smooth and strong. It is, however, a little bigger than I needed. I wish I had selected a reel about one or two sizes smaller. It is hard to appreciate the size just by looking at pictures, and so I checked the line size/yrds info on the reel, commentaries, etc. and yet it was not good enough.The best way to do it, is to go to stores, find what you need and then get it from Amazon if the price is better. And this 'technique' applies for lots of items...but this time I was lazy, I guess...!

Used it 5 or 6 times already. Not had a problem with it so far. Works very well . A great reel for the money. Definitely recommend

Very fast delivery, just three days. Tomorrow will test for fish finder rig

It is what it is and is still really good. I lost a Diawa crossfire ands a old Okuma reel in the dark. This reel was a replacement and I was pleasantly surprised. Balances perfectly on my ugly and can be used on canal as a ledger reel.... to sum it up a good little allrounder

These little units are so well balanced and smooth operation, hauled in something oversized for this drag the other night and it handled the fight perfectly. Awesome little unit.