Closed-Face Abu's

[BeechmereLake]

I certainly wouldn't class the old reels as relics but they were limited to what they could do at the time, now however with different mono's and line treatments available and the eyes on rods you can remove a lot of friction which will cause problems on a cast, add to the reel Chavenders handle syconising post which was excellent by the way and you can be sure of better casting regardless of line bedding.

[CafeRacer]

Im a huge fan of my old closed face reels.When I say relics I mean that in terms of development they were left behind and forgotten about by manufacturers.After all,I cant think of any closed face reel modern or otherwise that can come near a modernish open face reel,if only Shimano brought out a Stradic closed face

[Olly]

Give me a closed face ABU 501 or 507 series against any open face reel! Double pick up on a couple of my c/f reels.

[BeechmereLake]

I do have many open faced reels infact I had hundreds not so long ago, had black ones and blue ones and even black ones with gold on them but non were as good as my ABU 33 or better still as usable as my 507, horses for courses and all that I reckon

[Olly]

Strange - that does not happen to me when trotting! Better spools perhaps that have chenille or rubber as a lip and not the deep ones without.

[Chavender]

i find line has a tendancy to bed in on any type of reel ,and c/F's are no more prone than others .you learn too deal with it ,don't fish too light a line than is needed ,if you get a big fish and suspect lines bedded in do a false cast (no hookbait) .if your trotting let your line out on a extended trot through ,if waggler fishing do a longer cast away from your catch zone .and the shallow spools do help (the 706 spools fit a 506 ,so theres plenty of cheap shallow plastic spools around) finding cost effective shallow spools for the 507 (MK1) is a lot harder.

i'd always choose a c/f reel over a openfaced reel for floatfishing ,sometimes in preference for ledgering .even over my favourite mitchell 410's .in comparison c/fs are easier too use they allow single handed casting ,no clunky bail arms ,coils of line cant be blown off by the wind .c/f's are less intrusive (big old open faced reels can get in the way sometimes) and trotting is just easier with a c/f than a open faced reel .

the only reel i'd choose over a c/f is a centrepin

[BeechmereLake]

You know maybe I fish different to others when I use a stick float, when fishing I hold my rod at 5 to 11 on a clock face and let the flow pull line from the reel, after so far I use the rod to release line by pointing the rod upstream to the 5 past 1 position and as soon as its there I use the rod on a tight line to go back to the 5 to 11 position, just don't get this bedding in problem when I am using a closed face reel not even after I have caught a brownie, I must be doing something wrong

[Chavender]

BeechmereLake ,not wrong . i fish in a simular fasion by getting the rod tip angle right ,with only a slight movement you can control the flow of line through the tip ring slightly .wether its using a centrepin ,abu c/f or a openfaced reel .if a river is flowing right too left ,then i'll cast upstream and keep the line off the water until the float passes me then i lay the line on behind the float and control the float in the usual mannor .i can easly do this with a c/f and centrepin but its slightly more tricky with a openfaced reel ,especially if its windy .i feed too bring the fish uop too me ,then move my casting zone down stream as the fish move down river .

but if the river is flowing left to right ,its still easy with a c/f but a little trickier with a centrepin or open faced reel (being right handed)

i only occasionally suffer line bedding in on my c/f reels wether i'm fishing with mono or braid (last time after catching a double figure barble),but its not a problem when it does happen

just spent the last few days servicing my abu's (2X507 mk1 ,a 506 ,a706 not much too do with this one and also my mitchell's ) all ready too go .only the 706 is factory condition ,my three abu 500's are all anti -reverse free and have the 1/3 reducing 1/4 turn back drag dissabled ,i can either backwind or set the standard drag .and i mostly only use shallow spools and 70yds or so of line and can count on my two thumbs the number of times in recent years when i've had line bed in .

[BeechmereLake]

Do you use line treatment on your lines?

Since its been about I use Turbo Juice on all my lines, swear by the stuff, you cant even here it coming off of the spool and across the steel liner in the cowling

[Olly]

I use the Leeda dry fly spray.