VERITAS = VERI TASTY! There are just some products that I know I’m going to buy the moment I see them. As a massive soft bait and lure fishing fan, I love catching decent fish on relatively light weight spinning gear, and when the opportunity arises to upgrade or replace broken gear, it’s a no brainer.
There are a lot of great spinning rods on the market now, from just about every brand, and at reasonable prices we once upon a time would not have dreamed of.
Over the last six years or more, the Abu Garcia Veritas Rod, recognizable immediately by its love-it-or-hate-it signature white blank, has given me a lot of pleasure, caught a lot of good fish, and been through a number of significant redesigns and improvements.
Enter the fourth, and most recent iteration of the rod, not surprisingly sold as the Veritas 4.0.
The original Veritas rods always had a nice blank, with a good crisp action and a very light weight feel.
Suitably matched light, single foot guides ensured the casting and general feel of the rod was not overpowered by the added appendages.
However, earlier models did have their drawbacks, with inferior guides having the tendency to easily bend and break, and some of the reel seat and grip layouts questionable, in particular the reversed rod seat that put your grip hand directly on the reel seat thread instead of the actual foam grip.
By the Veritas 3.0 model, this was mostly sorted, with Fuji guides, and a good range of options to suit, these rods are still a great buy for my money.
Available in several models, you’ll find one just right for your purposes.
Speaking of which, I am not paid or rewarded in any way by the manufacturer here, so the opinions here are my own entirely, with the rods purchased using my own hard earned.
So then. I’ve just recently purchased and tested two of the new spinning rods, a lighter weight 2-4kg 7’spin, that matches perfectly with 2500 size reels (Daiwa Certates in my case) and a medium 7’.6” 4-8kg that is a weapon strapped to my Daiwa Certate 3000.
A couple of sessions inshore soft baiting proved very successful, landing some nice spring snapper from 20 metres, and giving a really good feel for how the rods perform under the ultimate test in action.
So, what is different or better about the new 4.0 Veritas. Well, quite a bit.
Here’s first impressions.
The look, to start with, has changed quite a bit. Previously gloss blanks with black bindings, the Veritas always looked quite smart to me, although there are a few fisho’s out there that just do NOT like the white. Hey, each to their own, I quite like my gear to have a bit of attitude. White blanks are also great for fishing in low light or night too.
The new rods come with a matt white blank, finished complete with white bindings. Light grey closed cell Eva grips, custom reel seats, and some really cool graphics round out the new look.
The blank is 30 ton extra high-density graphite, so super light and minutely sensitive paired to good braid line.
I also really like the single foot, genuine Fuji guides, still a stainless-steel construction but now in matt silver with alconite (ceramic style) inserts.
Moving on from the looks, I hear you say, what about the performance?
Here, I’m pleased to report, the new rods do not disappoint. The blanks are all new, and feel slightly stiffer than previous, retaining their absolute feather weight and trademark sensitivity.
The 2 – 4 kg (VRT4-S702L) two piece is significantly stronger than my older 3.0, and matched to a 2500 sized reel, is easily capable of wrestling as big a snapper as you will find. It snaps out a standard ½ oz jig head with ease and never feels too light working the lure and setting the hook.
I really like the super short grip handle that does not catch on your body when fishing from small craft like kayaks, and the new design of the Eva grips and customized white detailed reel seat is strong and comfortable.
The manufacturer claims the rod has been ‘tuned’ for lure fishing, so for what that is worth, the action is medium bend and very smooth, with no discernable stiff spot where the seamless two-piece join connects, and plenty of oomph in the butt section for when the pressure needs to come on. On big fish, I found myself managing the rod butt against my body for more leverage, but those with gorilla forearms won’t feel the need.
The other rod is considerably different. A 7’ – 6” ‘medium’ (VRT4-S762M) feels far more like a ‘heavy’. It’s extra 6 inches is mostly in the butt section, and I wouldn’t pair this reel rod with anything smaller than a 3000 reel (Daiwa Certate is brilliant).
This rod is stiff but sensitive and light, particularly in the tip section, and really beefs out in a big way toward the reel seat. It shares the same smooth, medium to fast action taper and equally impressive seamless join to make it a two-piece.
Where you need a bit more grunt, this rod is a beast, and I can see it being superb not only from boats and small craft, but for flicking lures and light gear from the shore.
The one thing I just don’t understand, is how these rods are priced. They are truly Champaign on a beer budget. In fact, at around $170 (which is what I paid online) I just can’t believe the quality, and performance you get. The blank alone would not feel out of place on a custom-built rod.
At such light weights, breaking rods in transport, or storage, is not uncommon. And many a rod has continued service with a couple of inches missing from the tip, and a new tip guide glued on.
At the price these rods sell for, it’s not a black-armband day if you have to replace the whole thing.
My advice, bear in mind these rods fish a little gruntier than their designated specifications, and start working out what reel you can now afford to put on now that you’ve got such good value in the rod.
More money at the engineering end of the reel will balance out the rod nicely and give all round great performance and reliability for years to come with a little TLC.
Don’t skimp on the quality of the braid, and don’t over-braid them.
For absolute perfection, use Japanese Gosen casting braid DETAILS HERE
It costs half the price of the rod ironically, but it makes a huge difference to casting distance, line drag in the water, and smoothness through the runners.
As long as you’re using good quality line go with 4-5kg on the light, and 8 - 10kg on the medium, comfortably.
Veritas. Veri-veri-tasty.
