Help please, how to set the clutch on the 1970 505.

[JimmyR]

As above guys, i lost a great fish when the clutch was set wrong by me, and just could not release the clutch in time before the hook pulled from the Barbel.
Thanks for any help, sure this will be of help to others as well.

Jim

[Tinca Tinca]

Hi,the 505 doesnot have a syncro drag I suspect.In fact of that you have to set the drag that the
streaming of the river is not able to take line and its enough closed to set the hook.But it should
be so wide opened that the fish is able to take line.If it is too loose you only have to click a little up
to have more tension.....

[Chavender]

you'll need a little bit of tape ,thread the line through a rods rings and tie it to something solid ,(dont touch the cranking handle) wind the star drag wheel towards you (tighten up) until just hand tight .lift your rod upwards (~45° or so ) until its under real tension & hooped over 80-90° ,now (dont touch the cranking handle) with the rod under tension .turn the star drag wheel slowly forwards whilst whatching the rods tip .the line should remain taught but the rods tip should start to relax .this is the hard set slipage point (mark the upper most prong on the star drag wheel with your bit of tape ) and someware near 80% of your lines breaking strian ,now every quarter turn will reduce this ,(wind the crank handle forwards a turn or two) then try a quarter turn and feel how much line is given as you lift the rod again see where the tip is bent to before it gives line if your rod is bent over about the same ,then another quarter turn maybe required.from the hard set point you want to be able too pull the rod back under tension but smoothly without straing yourself which should be around 60% of your breaking strain .you'll know how smooth you like the pull too be .

the abu drag system doesn't like fine lines or going too slack .thats why i prefer to leave it at the hard set point for the star drag ,which will be probably too strong for all but the bigger fish ,but don't worry thats just a safeguard against breaking the line or rod ,the abo 505 is a syncro model so has the secondary drag ,this will reduce the hard set slipping drag by about 25% ,by winding ¼ turn backwards the cranking handle locks against the anti-reverse and then operates the reduction /saftey drag .crank forwards again to reapply the set drag .

you'll have to rely on your rods ability to flex too handle all but the bigger fish ,the pre-set star drag will kick in under maximum load and you have the option of the ¼turn saftey drag if required which should give more than enough saftey margin .

i prefer other abu's in the range as i don't like the syncro drag system ,prefering too backwind so i can disable one or both drags

[JimmyR]

Thank you Tinca Tinca for taking the time to reply.
Steve, thanks for this matey, have been using the reel on the last couple of outings to the River, but was not confident after losing the Barbel when the clutch had been set by myself wrongly and the hook pulled.
I do have a early 506 not the M, but cannot find it anywhere for some reason.
What reel in the 500 series do you yourself favor Mate.

Jim

[Chavender]

i have two 507's mk1's (one is backwind only no drags used/main drag done up tight ,the other has the main drag set but not the ¼ backturn drag ) .a 506 (perminant backwind ,no drags fitted ) a 706 modern version which is switchable i .& half a 704 (just the body & gears)

i've dissabled the ¼ backturn drag on my reels ,as i prefer to backwind ,although i do set the main drag on one but its quite high virtually at the point of something breaking ,but i also have a couple of trick cowlings that allow for pressure to be applied to the rotating head rim as you would a centrepin.

[JimmyR]

Thanks guys, most Helpful.

Jim

[Tinca Tinca]

I use a 506,501,507 and a 704 premier.But I prefer the 506 for most coarse fishing.The 507 I sometimes use for Carp and Barbel.On this reels I love the syncro drag.With my 501 Iam not
really familiar because I own it only a couple of weeks.For me it is strange because the handle
goes backward while fighting a fish.