The Plowman 507 - the best closed face reel ever produced

[Butdim]

Here is a brief explanation of why I believe the Plowman 507 is the best closed-face trotting reel ever produced.

Dave Plowman is widely acknowledged as one of, if not the, finest centrepin reel makers in history. On the very rare occasions that one of his centrepins becomes available for sale, they command extremely high prices. The quality of his engineering workmanship is indisputable.

Dave selected the ABU 507 mk I to work his magic on for a number of very important reasons. Primarily, these are the increased spool diameter over other models, the extremely high quality of its original componentry, and its spool oscillation ratio of 1:1.
A detailed explanation of why the spool oscillation ratio is critical might be necessary.

The spool of a closed face reel oscillates in an up and down motion to achieve even line lay, much like any fixed-spool reel. On the ABU 507 mk I the spool moves up and down once for exactly one turn of the handle. In order for the line to spill most freely from the spool whilst trotting a float, the spool must be in its bottom-most position. There is considerably less friction on the flowing line with the spool in this position. On a standard closed-face reel it’s impossible to be sure when the spool is in this position, for the simple reason that you can’t see it! Dave makes a number of modifications to the standard 507 so that the spool is in its optimum position when the handle is pointing directly downwards. He also ensures that the handle returns to this position of its own accord, so that the angler doesn’t have to remember to manually do this prior to each cast.

Here is a brief outline of the modifications that Dave makes to the standard 507;
1) Hand craft a replacement shallow spool from a non-hygroscopic material (delrin or aluminium). Note that some replacement spools are made from nylon, which is hygroscopic and therefore unsuitable, because they will swell when damp. Dave’s replacement spool is shallow to avoid line bedding, is backed top and bottom to prevent line trapping, and is ventilated to prevent air trapping between the spool and main body of the reel.
2) Replace the main gear and the handle gear to greatly increase line retrieval speed.
3) Modify the line release cap to prevent line trapping, which is an issue on the standard reel.
4) Remove the anti-reverse mechanism.
5) Remove all internal heavy grease and instead lubricate with light oil.
6) Realign the handle to obtain the optimum spool position for casting (bottom dead centre).
7) Hand machine the main shaft to remove excessive play, another issue on the standard reel.
8) Replace any worn components.
9) Modify or replace the cowl to prevent the ingress of dirt.
10) Tune the reel for optimum performance.

The sum total of these various modifications transform what was a really good trotting reel in its standard guise, into what I believe is the best closed-face reel ever produced. In addition to the vastly improved overall performance, the annoying line-trapping issues of the standard reel are completely eliminated.

[Tengisgol]

It has never ceased to amaze me why one of the reel manufacturers hasn't taken the excellent concept of the closed face reel and combine that with the incredible advances in gearing and engineering to create an optimum product.

I adore my centrepins etc. but there are times, on a windswept Wye or Avon (or similar), when you want to put a big float down the far bank, that a closed face is the only option. Boy is it a nightmare though when you need to rely on the engineering to crank a fish back upstream.

[Butdim]

Boy is it a nightmare though when you need to rely on the engineering to crank a fish back upstream.

I don't really understand. Care to expand?

[BeechmereLake]

OK all sounds great, big question, where would you find such a reel? or how much would it cost for this work to be undertaken if we supply our own reels?
I guess then if the man can do the 507 he could also do the 508 right?

[Butdim]

OK all sounds great, big question, where would you find such a reel? or how much would it cost for this work to be undertaken if we supply our own reels?
I guess then if the man can do the 507 he could also do the 508 right?

Hi. You can find one on the for sale section here.

If you supply your own reel I can't give a fixed price, because until Dave takes the reel apart he can't be sure what parts will need replacing, but it will be from £100 for a reel in very good original condition. Extras would include having the body repainted, for example.

Sorry, he can't do a 508.

[Dave Burr]

Boy is it a nightmare though when you need to rely on the engineering to crank a fish back upstream.

I don't really understand. Care to expand?

I think Tengisgol is implying that a short handle and a slow gear ratio can make hard work of reeling a weight in. I have some Fox fixed spools that lack that 'crankability' but get over it by pumping - lift the rod then reel in under light pressure. If you look at distance reels they all have long handles and a higher gearing.

This wouldn't be much of an issue on a small river but on the Wye or other big rivers, a trot can go for 50 yards or more.

[Butdim]

Boy is it a nightmare though when you need to rely on the engineering to crank a fish back upstream.

I don't really understand. Care to expand?

I think Tengisgol is implying that a short handle and a slow gear ratio can make hard work of reeling a weight in. I have some Fox fixed spools that lack that 'crankability' but get over it by pumping - lift the rod then reel in under light pressure. If you look at distance reels they all have long handles and a higher gearing.

This wouldn't be much of an issue on a small river but on the Wye or other big rivers, a trot can go for 50 yards or more.

Ah okay, this is the reason that Dave changes the gearing.
I use my Plowman 507 primarily for winter river trotting, mainly for grayling on the Test and Frome. I'm regularly trotting 50 yards, and for this fishing it excels.

[Tengisgol]

Boy is it a nightmare though when you need to rely on the engineering to crank a fish back upstream.

I don't really understand. Care to expand?

I think Tengisgol is implying that a short handle and a slow gear ratio can make hard work of reeling a weight in. I have some Fox fixed spools that lack that 'crankability' but get over it by pumping - lift the rod then reel in under light pressure. If you look at distance reels they all have long handles and a higher gearing.

This wouldn't be much of an issue on a small river but on the Wye or other big rivers, a trot can go for 50 yards or more.

Ah okay, this is the reason that Dave changes the gearing.
I use my Plowman 507 primarily for winter river trotting, mainly for grayling on the Test and Frome. I'm regularly trotting 50 yards, and for this fishing it excels.

Hello, that's it exactly. It's the gearing, clutch and perhaps also the line lay (on a 'standard' 507 - the one I have is the 'Gold').

When I used to fish the Avon a lot, mainly for roach, in the worst winter conditions I would turn to my 507 (because of the wind) to send a four or five swan float over to the far bank. A big roach could obviously give you a tough moment (rarely happened to me I hasten to add!) but often I would be getting four pound plus chub at seventy to eighty yards, occasionally the odd rogue silver tourist as well! The clutch, gearing and line lay was a nightmare on the standard issue 507 pulling this back upstream.

Then, when I started on the Wye there were swims (bottom of beat four Dave, into the trees!) with massive shoals of chub to over four and sometimes five pounds. I enjoyed fishing bread at them with an even bigger float and would trot over 100 yards distance (used to listen to the 100m knot going out throught the rod rings!). Really big catches of chub were possible back then but the 507 I found was really limited.

It just surprises me that a modern manufacturer hasn't combined all the best bits of current fixed spools into a suitable lightweight engineered closed face.

When I get home though I am going to look into the Plowman suggestion because it sounds like these mods may have cracked some if not all of these issues - would you say that is the case?

(Having said that, nowadays, I am more likely to go somewhere else where is can use my pin!)

[BeechmereLake]

Boy is it a nightmare though when you need to rely on the engineering to crank a fish back upstream.

I don't really understand. Care to expand?

I think Tengisgol is implying that a short handle and a slow gear ratio can make hard work of reeling a weight in. I have some Fox fixed spools that lack that 'crankability' but get over it by pumping - lift the rod then reel in under light pressure. If you look at distance reels they all have long handles and a higher gearing.

This wouldn't be much of an issue on a small river but on the Wye or other big rivers, a trot can go for 50 yards or more.

If you look at the 507 as you said D.B the early reels from the 1970's came with the short handle so they fitted inside the polystyrene box which was then placed inside a tall green or blue cardboard box, Green was for the Svangsta 507 and the blue box for the abu 507, around 1974 they went over to a different box allowing for a bigger, longer handle which does assist you when cranking a larger fish

[Tengisgol]

May I just ask please, if I were looking to aquire a 'best of the best' 507, which model do you think I should go for and how would I then contact Mr Plowman to seek the modifications?

Many thanks.