Fresh out of retirement. Round 2 for the Abu.

[T-Billy]

I've decided to start doing some muskie fishing beyond the spring and fall Bama Rig bite. I've been buying some gear and while looking at reels I was reminded of the Abu C4 5601 I had laying around collecting dust. I went and found it in a tote full of fishing stuff in the garage. Crusty, rough feeling, and just generally in a sorry state.

I gave it a complete tear down and ultra sonic bath. Straight simple green did a fine job of removing that old grease and crud. Reassembled, gave it a 120mm power handle, and spooled it with 65# 832. 

 I spent some time with it this morning, and it did a fine job of burning a 2oz bucktail with double 8's. It's smooth as new, and will outcast my new Daiwa Lexa 300 HD by a bit.

Unfortunately we went 0 for 2 this morning. Had a 40"ish hit on the 8 and quickly shake free first thing this morning, then lost a giant about an hour later. That fish hit mid retrieve and came unbuttoned after wollering on the surface about 30' from the boat. High 40's for sure. That one hurt. Would've been in my top five had I netted it. The rod I had it on is rated 3/4-3oz and will throw those bucktails fine, but lacks the needed backbone to drive that 7/0 treble home. It'll get it's new home on an Okuma Guide Select H swimbait rod tomorrow. It's nice to see this fine old reel get a new lease on life. 

 

[Hulkster]

really cool! I'm still chasing my first muskie. so far I have only caught pike lol 

[T-Billy]

The old Abu and the new Okuma stick are on the board. This 37" absolutely smoked a black/nickle bucktail about 15min into this mornings outing, right off the end of a lighted dock. Then all his friends started teasing me. TEN follows between 05:00 and 10:30, and zero takers. LOL. They wouldn't even follow it into the 8. They'd just turn off and leave the scene as soon as they saw the boat. Super spooky.

 Gonna get an earlier start tonight. Couldn't get on the water until after 04:00 this morning because of storms. I've got a bunch of fish located, hopefully they'll be more aggressive tonight in the dark. Fingers crossed for some toothy slimy mayhem.

6 hours ago, Hulkster said:

really cool! I'm still chasing my first muskie. so far I have only caught pike lol 

Keep after 'em. It'll happen. Fall's just around the corner. They'll be putting the feedbags on, and they'll be FAT by November. 

[bulldog1935]

We need to get some bass on this cool thread before it gets skated off to OFS.  

These are my short river kayak rods made for close fishing and for round reels.  

The old-style rods are new, JDM Smith Ltd. and Bright River, but they're made like old school bass rods from the 70s, with separate offset handles and rod blades that you can swap, like old Fenwick/Champion.  

Top to bottom, my frogger is Ambassadeur 4600C on graphite Smith GFO-60MH, 1/2 to 1 oz;

The 4500C in the middle is on a 5' Bright River Concorde MM, composite glass, 1/4 to 3/4 oz; 

The 5'6" S-glass ML on bottom, Smith FO-56, is matched with a Smith Plugger, small-frame synchro reel, bench-made by Isuzu Ind.  I have one other Smith graphite blade, ML that swaps best into the lower combo, making it 6'3".  

[T-Billy]

VERY nice @bulldog1935. Glad you chimed in. You have some sweet vintage and vintage looking gear. Exactly what I was hoping folks would add to this threead. I believe @TnRiver46 is still hauling fish with his old Ambassadeur's too. These great reels are built to last, and easy to maintain. 

 I have a couple C3 4601's also. @bulldog1935, would converting those C3's to 6 speed be as simple as replacing the main and pinion gear, or are the idler and worm gears a different ratio also?

[bulldog1935]

Hi friend, 

My 4600C3 is a 6.3-geared Royal Express - one reason for the long 90-mm handle.   I picked up spare 6.3 main gear and pinion along the way (either ebay or Dad's Ole Tackle website, also Mike's Reel Repair in BC) - stashed them because I knew I'd probably want them later.  

I ended up using those gears when I built a custom 4500CT (non-level wind) entirely from parts for salt use - shore microjigging.  And yes, the answer to your question, you only need those two gears to speed up your reel, and the parts are out there.  

Reel width decides the worm gear, and there are only two idler gears in all Ambassadeur history - all the recent ones are the same.  For both of these parts, there are ball-bearing upgrade aftermarket parts that pop right in.  These reels are a blast to work on, because all the parts are big, and everything makes sense.  

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

These reels last lifetimes and generations. 

[bulldog1935]

@Delaware Valley Tackle

In 1954, Isuzu Ind. (not the car maker, but a family-owned machine shop) took apart an Ambassadeur.   They were already bench-making fishing reels.  They've been bench-making their own version since expired patent rights let them.  It's an underground market, even in Japan.  They built Megabass Pagani.  (Bright River builds the Pagani rod handle).  

Isuzu's motto is, "Born in Europe, Perfected in Japan"

Isuzu sells their own marked reels by lottery, and they mark more reels for lure shops across Japan - most of those are sold in reserve when the model is announced.  They come off the bench with full BB LW.  

Last year's version of Smith Plugger was the 50th Anniversary model. 

Here's their drive, and my '21 small-frame Smith Plugger.  

  

To get one across the big pond, you have to bird dog Yahoo auctions, and buys I can live with only come up about once or twice/yr.  

[newapti5]

It looks awfully similar to the one I sold on eBay, down to the knobs. I had to pull out my photo for comparison to make sure it's not the same one. 

 

[TnRiver46]

Did someone say round ambassadeur???

 

mine are working much easier now thanks to some parts from @bulldog1935

[gim]

17 hours ago, T-Billy said:

TEN follows between 05:00 and 10:30, and zero takers. LOL. They wouldn't even follow it into the 8. They'd just turn off and leave the scene as soon as they saw the boat. Super spooky.

That is wild.  Not only because of the amount of fish seen, but the fact that zero of them bit.  Exciting and frustrating at the same time.

[Further North]

3 hours ago, gimruis said:

That is wild.  Not only because of the amount of fish seen, but the fact that zero of them bit.  Exciting and frustrating at the same time.

We have seen 45 muskies on a local river since July 17th.

Only a handful have eaten. 

Somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 have followed.  I don't really keep track.

Part of it is low, clear water - we're running over fish before we can reach them with fly gear.  Using regular gear and being able to reach out further from the boat seemed to help on Saturday, I caught and landed the first one we saw.

I believe another factor is water temps...muskies just don't seem to want to eat when water temps get above the low-to-mid 70s in these rivers.

I'll be back at it soon...

 

********************************

 

I have a couple of the old round Abu Garcia reels...I can't recall the last time I used them.

I should make an effort to get them to someone who will use them rather than let them collect dust.

[T-Billy]

5 minutes ago, Further North said:

Part of it is low, clear water

I'm thinking the same thing here. Visibility is 6-8 feet currently, and not much in the way of wind. They were in a little better mood today. Caught two, lost one, and had a high 40's miss the bait in the 8 twice before it bailed. 

[Further North]

5 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

I'm thinking the same thing here. Visibility is 6-8 feet currently, and not much in the way of wind. They were in a little better mood today. Caught two, lost one, and had a high 40's miss the bait in the 8 twice before it bailed. 

We have visibility past that in some places, and nowhere near that much water...The absolute deepest pool in the river at this water level is just over 6 ft.

 

[T-Billy]

Ordered two gear sets today to convert my 4601 C3's to 6 speed. I'm happy that they'll be going back into service. They were my flipping/pitching reels years ago. Soon they'll be winching muskie. ?

[Eric 26]

@T-Billy Curious if you converted those reels to 6 speeds yet? If so would be cool to see them and hear how it went, maybe you’ve posted them and missed it.

[T-Billy]

3 hours ago, Eric 26 said:

@T-Billy Curious if you converted those reels to 6 speeds yet? If so would be cool to see them and hear how it went, maybe you’ve posted them and missed it.

I haven't. The gears are backordered at Abu. I cancelled the order. I've decided to just leave them 5 speed.

[Eric 26]

@T-Billy Thank you for responding. Although I don’t fish for musky nor do I have any round Abu Garcia or any other brand round reels currently  I really do love seeing all of you guys who do love them. I will not get into why but I should have possession of a 80’s era red round Abu myself but I digress. At 54 years of age I feel blessed that I have more than many, as much if not more than most and don’t care if ever get as much as some so if the opportunity arises I’ll grab ahold of one of those round reels and enjoy the heck out of it . In the meantime again I feel blessed to have found this site which @Glennhas put together and I’ll enjoy looking at photos of many of the members including but not limited to @TnRiver46, @redmeansdistortion, yourself and someone whom I consider a friend in @bulldog1935 . I know this is off topic as was most of my response but I love my Abu Garcia Revo X Winch and I’m disappointed they seemed to discontinue it as I was hoping they would update the Revo X lineup or at at least offer a lower price point than the current winch series. Looking forward to seeing what you catch next on those bad boys.

[bulldog1935]

There are very nice stainless 6.3 gears machined in UK - yes, they're proud of them.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/126043533006

Another place to check for the brass 6.3 gears is Mike's Reel Repair in BC

https://www.mikesreelrepair.com/6-3-1-high-speed-gears-for-abu-ultracast/

 

another finesse '77 4500C recently off my bench - don't take finesse the wrong way - this reel will fish 1/8 to 1+ oz.  

 

Even setting up with 8-lb YZH, I'm consistently getting 90' casts on 3-g JH.  

If you do the math, this compares to new LP reels.  

[Glenn]

At one point, all of my baitcasters were 4500C's.  I think I had 12 of them.  They were inexpensive and built like tanks. Bullet proof.  I caught hundreds of fish on them.  I think they were 5.3:1  or 4.6:1 gear ratios or something like that.

 

Then low-profile, higher-speed reels came out and I systematically replaced all of them as budget allowed.  I kinda wish I had a few of them still. It's hard to find a reel these days below 6.1:1.

 

 

[ElGuapo928]

I just dug out one of my old 4500C’s today and gave it some (long overdue) attention. Also got plans to spend a few bucks over the winter and hop up my 1500.

[redmeansdistortion]

5 hours ago, ElGuapo928 said:

Also got plans to spend a few bucks over the winter and hop up my 1500.

Be careful, the rabbit hole has no bottom with the small Ambassadeurs.  Every part, save for the side plates, can be had in the aftermarket.  Avail now makes a pinion yoke for them, which is great because Abu stopped making them a few years back and as the supply dried up the prices skyrocketed.  What used to be a $3 part was going for as much as $50 at the very high end, but usually around $20 or so.  Depending on what you want to do, you will be looking at spending anywhere from $300 to $1000.

 

[bulldog1935]

Japan is the place to look for BFS parts for Ambassadeur, Avail, Kagawa, Valleyhill.  Mike's Reel Repair in BC makes his own line of full-BB level wind, light alloy LW rider, and zirconia pawl for mid-frame Ambassadeur.  

There's also AMO on Express website, spools and alloy frame (BR won't link this website, but pm-me if you're looking for a BFS spool for C3).  

ereplacementparts sources all the parts that Abu still supports, and their customer service is tops.  

@redmeansdistortion and I have each built reels from scratch, entirely from parts.  

You can get a small-frame Ambassadeur down to 6 ounces with the light alloy parts, and slick enough to fish 1/16 oz.  

Left is a CIAR drive conversion using Avail parts.  Right is '77 4500C with Mike's BB-LW parts and Avail internal mag brake (only needed on light end).  

 

 

UK and EU build the heavy duty aftermarket parts aimed at surf and tournament casting.  RocketReelCo., Akios, Zzeta, and many small shops, Black Dog, ManFish.  

My customs, 5500CT on the left, 6500CS Rocket on right.  The CS Rocket has full-BB LW, and a 5-mm-deep Avail spool for PE#2.5 braid (45-lb).  

 

SurfCastProShop in MD tries to source all the Zzeta parts, but lately, he's been OOS, waiting on the Italians to deliver.  

As far as the rabbit hole goes, I've filled every niche that I need in LP reels, and anything I add from here on will be round reels with offset-handle rods.  

_____________________________

Editing in this information.  Yes, you can spend $1000 to get to a fully raced 6-oz CIAR - the biggest part of this is getting the reel frame and drive weight down (beyond the spool swap, about $200/oz). 

But every place you reduce spool/LW inertia, beginning with just the spool, improves cast distance and reliability.  A spool swap is $40 - $90.  A 5-mm-deep spool has working capacity for 12-lb mono, uses your same centrifugal, and changes the nature of the reel.  

Jun Sonada at JapanTackle is the smartest guy in the world at this stuff.  Here's his link of Tackle Topics essays.  

In this chart, he prioritizes the possible cast inertia upgrades, and ranks their effectiveness.  You can improve your reel step-by-step.  

 

[ElGuapo928]

5 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

Be careful, the rabbit hole has no bottom with the small Ambassadeurs.  Every part, save for the side plates, can be had in the aftermarket.  Avail now makes a pinion yoke for them, which is great because Abu stopped making them a few years back and as the supply dried up the prices skyrocketed.  What used to be a $3 part was going for as much as $50 at the very high end, but usually around $20 or so.  Depending on what you want to do, you will be looking at spending anywhere from $300 to $1000.

 

I don’t think I’ll go too crazy with it, new bearings, drag washers, and maybe some cosmetics - but that can change depending on how much time I get stuck in the house.

[Bankbeater]

I have a 5500c3, 5600c3, and a 5600c4 from back in the mid-90s and early 2000s.   They get rotated in and out of the lineup.  I use them for punching and fishing for cats.  Those reels are built to last and will probably be used long after I'm gone.