The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Here is an interesting find:





I've just got back from aq trip to Canada and the USA. The reel was given to me by my brother-in-law and it originally belonged to his father. He was unsure of how old it is, but I'd place it as late 1950s. My understanding is that Record made the early models of Abu's fixed spool reels before Abu took manufacture in-house. Record (a Swiss company) continued to sell the original design.


The reel seems to have had very little use although there is some paint damage from rattling around in a tackle box. It still had the original grease in it which had turned to a wax. Once stripped and cleaned it works well, with a good drag for its day. It doesn't go backwards, but for the life of me I can't work out whether this is intended or a problem caused by wear or misalignment.

Does anyone know any more than this?

And through the magic of the internet I now find that the "anti-reverse" is a friction brake of sorts. Screw the knurled knob on the handle tight and the reel will rotate backwards. screw it out a little and there is an anti-reverse. That explains what the little circlip thingy was in a groove in the handle!

More info! I think that this was the original Abu 600 reel.

I really like that Sean,

What a cracking little reel and I would imagine of high quality if Abu had anything to do with it. Its the sort of reel that would sit on my desk and get played with every once in a while! An unusual colour too but a nice colour. I like it very much indeed thanks for showing it to us Sean.

Nice looking reel Sean, what is the big knurled cap at the bottom of the reel for? a lubrication port perhaps.

It's the drag knob. Under it is an oiled felt washer. The spool is bakelite.

Thanks to some helpful people on Evert's Facebook site I've found out that the reel is a version 2 dating to 1948/49. It was in fact the reel that was to become the Abu 500 fixed spool which was eventually assembled by Abu in Sweden. You can see the design cues for Abu's later reels in the rear drag and gearing that looks a lot like that of the 444.

Even after 70 years the reel runs smoothly and, other than a bit of paint damage, looks like it was made recently. It feels a generation newer than the Ambidex No 1 of the same vintage. I've fettled the drag, worked out how the anti reverse works and loaded it with some line. Time for a bit of trotting!