Why does this happen on my ABU66?

[Julian]

What is the line called Julian?

Its Preston's Reflo Power

I have used it for years for float fishing and for surface fishing and don't have this problem on any modern reels or on my 1956 Mitchell 300.

The line I spooled on that 66 was Daiwa sensor cheap rubbish for sea fishing and it seemed to sit OK.

Another quick question is how much play do you have if you hold the reel in the left hand and pull on the spool with your right? Just curious

Not clear what you mean??

[Julian]

The old ABU reels have awful line lay and I had a similar problem with my 44. The smaller capacity match spools are better or try and find a cork arbour for the spool to save putting too much line on..

Wal.

Thanks Wal - helpful, that may explain why I have never had the problem with the Mitchell which has a smaller shallower spool.

I think the problem lies in the reels rapid oscillation. The spool travels in and out like a fiddlers elbow leaving voids between the line wrapping in each layer of line. The deeper the spool the softer this line wrapping becomes and a good pull on the line will bed it into half a dozen lower layers and tries to lift them out as you try to take line.
The slower oscillation of the Mitchell gives a neater and tighter line lay and although still not perfect its a ton better than the ABU as a fishing tool.

Wal.

That definitely seems to make sense and explain the problem. Thanks Wal

[BeechmereLake]

Like you Dave I'm more than happy with my Abu Cardinals and the line lay, never had what our friend has had here before with any reel accept a Mitchell 410A, and if you had seen the abuse I gave my Cardinal 55's fishing places where hit and hold tactics were needed you would think they would need replacing weekly, 36 years on they are still usable bar the spools which gave up the ghost when the line got heavy and the plastic had whitened and got weak, hooked a good fish and bang, it went off like a shotgun, the second spool was binned for new one, thats about the only problem I have had with any ABU other than the spool bottoming out on my 33

[Julian]

Welcome to the world of old fixed spools Most of them had awful line lay which all ended when variable oscillation was introduced along with an anti-twist mechanism on the bale arm. Nowadays even cheap and nasty reels can have decent line lay.

I found with old reels, Mitchell and Abu included that even having the join knot of your line in the 'wrong' place could start the line lay off kilter which, by the time the spool was full, would be conical and absolutely horrible to fish with. I always tried to get the knot wound onto the back of the spool with a couple of turns to bed in the loose tags, this usually did the trick.

But a bent bale arm or a problem with the spool's oscillation will all put everything out of line so it may be an internal fault with the reel.

Either way, I love my 66 and have had no real problems with the line lay on it.

Thanks Dave. The line lay appears to be fine when I have loaded 100 metres of 12lb ( 0.26mm) line on to the spool, but the reel may need attention. I am hoping to have all my four vintage fixed spool reels ' serviced' at some point - hopefully next winter.

[SeanM]

Just to add to what has already been said, I suspect the problem lies with your backing line rather than your main line. You need to get a really firm base for your main line especially with low diameter lines like Reflo Power Line. These lines are thin and have less stretch than normal lines so if the backing is at all soft they will tend to dig in under tension.

It might be worth getting a bulk spool of 8 or 10lb Diawa Sensor and refilling your spool, leaving enough space for the Power Line. As BL said, place the Sensor spool in a bucket of water and wind it on using a fair bit of tension so that it beds firmly on to the spool.

[BeechmereLake]

What I should of also said Julian is the spool I loaded does have a spool arbor on it which does make a difference, on the 66 you can have them in cork or red plastic, this spool has red plastic one fitted.

[Wallys-Cast]

Just a word of warning when loading line on an old deep plastic spool, if you put too much tension on when loading it up it can distort or even burst the front off the spool.
I was reminded of this last week when I fully loaded a Hardy Altex Bakelite spool and as the line neared the full amount I heard a crack then the spool front cracked open and came away from the rest of it. Why oh why didn't I make myself an arbour of some sort, apart from saving line it would have saved a nice spool.

I think I'll stick to the aluminium spools whenever possible in future..

Wal.

[Julian]

Just to add to what has already been said, I suspect the problem lies with your backing line rather than your main line. You need to get a really firm base for your main line especially with low diameter lines like Reflo Power Line. These lines are thin and have less stretch than normal lines so if the backing is at all soft they will tend to dig in under tension.

It might be worth getting a bulk spool of 8 or 10lb Diawa Sensor and refilling your spool, leaving enough space for the Power Line. As BL said, place the Sensor spool in a bucket of water and wind it on using a fair bit of tension so that it beds firmly on to the spool.

Just to note, although the Reflo Power line is marginally lower diameter, in the 11lb And 12 lb breaking strains it still has a great deal of stretch. I' m quite amazed at just how much it still stretches.

[Julian]

What I should of also said Julian is the spool I loaded does have a spool arbor on it which does make a difference, on the 66 you can have them in cork or red plastic, this spool has red plastic one fitted.

Where can I get spool arbors from?

[Northern Eel]

What I should of also said Julian is the spool I loaded does have a spool arbor on it which does make a difference, on the 66 you can have them in cork or red plastic, this spool has red plastic one fitted.

Where can I get spool arbors from?

Insulation/electrical tape is what I use (im getting ready to be told im doing it wrong!)