Solid all around performer, good for everything from catfish to muskies. Fair line capacity, fair drag. thumbbar release is much better for constant casting.

Ive had this for awhile now and fished it for hundreds of hours. I have landed many nice bass and a few 40" muskies with the reel.

the other reviews stating constant maintenance are correct. This reel is unfortunately a hunk of junk breaks 1x a year, full of cheap plastic gears. Have to open and clean a watch like compartment full of sensitive parts just to keep it working. Does not live up to the hype in any way. Note that Dick's Sporting Goods no longer sells this product - it's that bad.

One of my buddies turned me on to this reel. Initially I didn't want to use it because I am terrible casting a conventional reel. But I was able to cast this one with a little practice. We use it to pitch to stripers with a med/fast 7' rod. I probably would not have purchased this reel if I didn't have an unused ugly tiger stick conventional rod.

Constantly having to clean this reel when used in saltwater, sometimes it wont make a days worth of fishing with out the thumbar seizing. I had a c3 bought years ago and that holds up much better than this one. Disappointed...

I've got a buddy and his father that are reel collector/hoarders. its ok to use but requires regular maintenance to work properly in a saltwater environment.

I've used Abu reels for years - the uc 6500. This 6600 is a faster retrieve and has a thumb bar. Not sure if I like that thumb bar for casting. I always feel like I might accidentally trip it when retrieving. It's been great for casting spoons in the surf. I have it paired with a St Croix 8 ft Tidemaster and the first time out caught several blue fish and a sea trout. We'll have to see how this holds up under harsh surf fishing conditions.

Size 5000 is a mid-size among Abu Reels. I would reccomend this one for thossing heavier lures , 1/2-2 oz