Well, I have finally used Abel SD 4/5 this past Saturday and its first fish was this fine, female, brown trout which rose to a Hendrickson dun. One thing that surprised me a little was I am accustomed to having to acclimate myself to a new piece of equipment but SD felt so organically a "fly reel" that it seemed as if I'd been fishing with it for years. It's proportions, Abel solidity and fine tuned, linear drag felt entirely natural...like what a fly reel should feel like. Only the slightly but pleasantly mechanical sound of the in and outgoing click emanating from a pair of spring loaded pins in the spool rotating through closely spaced detents in the base of the drag module mounting hub sounded different from any of my other reels. There is a slight hint of resistance incoming to preclude counter rotation during casting which will be increasingly relevant as larger sizes of this reel are introduced. I try to avoid dunking reels in the drink on general principle but inadvertently did get SD submerged a few times while trying to pose for this attached image (shot by my wife) and wetness should not and did not effect this reel at all. Everything about it, as we have learned to expect from Abel reels, is tight and solid...zero wobbles or flexing...and each little click of the detents in the drag adjustment knob (hand painted in a brown trout pattern appropriate to its first fish) produced a small, predictable increment of dag setting. I had some concern upon initial examination that there was inadequate rotation in the knob for super fine tuning but that was not the case in use; it is very fine tunable and if there is a "problem" it is that there is far more drag headroom than a sweetwater angler could ever utilize.
I know Abel has put a lot of time and effort into this important departure from and addition to their traditional cork, draw-bar reels and it shows in this just right, first generation reel right out of the box. I will always treasure my user maintainable, draw-bar Abels but sealed, stacked drag element, maintenance-free reels like SD are the wave of the future and this reel is a brilliant addition. I cant wait to get my hands on a near future SD 8/9 and attach it to a bonefish!
NRX#4, Abel SD 4/5, RIO Gold #4.5, Braided Butt Leader and W.Br.Delaware Brown