Abu's: 505, 704, 507's

[RoyO]

Something about these closed face reels captured my imagination when I was a kid. They looked impossibly exotic and cost much more than I could afford. I only started using/trying to use them about 20 years ago when I bought a couple of 505s, one of which was almost pristine (which is usually a clue.) They look nice on a bookshelf. The first one that I used a lot was a 704. At best it was a joy to use, particularly for trotting and float fishing in general. BUT. As users will know it has something called SynchroDrag. With anti-reverse on, when you back wind part of a turn, the drag setting is reduced (by 50%?). Resuming winding forward the drag returns to the full setting immediately. Or is supposed to - it never did, requiring several turns before the drag fully re-engages and usually too late if you have a half-decent fish on. Like all the others to that date the internals seem to be pretty ball-bearing free. "Traditional" munching noises a la old Mitchells.

Years ago someone gave me a "Gold Max 507 Mk2 - Match Edition" with a part missing from one pick-up pin assembly. I never managed to locate a replacement. The number of cannibalised carcasses on ebay tells me that the parts are worth more than a complete reel. For some reason this "Match" version omits the anti reverse. Call me etc... but this seems like an insane omission. Back winding, even accidentally, free line on a closed face reel looks like the very best way possible to jam up the entire assembly, no matter the condition of the "pipe cleaners". However the overall design, with the substantially bigger spool diameter, has always seemed like a good idea which would maximise casting distance and/or use of small floats.

Today I received in the post a new 507 Mk 2 (... Mk 2). It shares size, spool diameter etc with the, er, "Mk 2 (Mk 1)" but otherwise seems to be a substantial re-design. Single pick-up pin; ball bearings; a drag that most of us would recognise; anti-reverse; three shallow and one deep spool. One thing that I noticed is that the line capacity on the shallow spools is quoted at 110 yds @ 0.14 mm (stated as 2lb). I just put 100M of 0.18 mm (4.4 lb) on one of these spools without over filling it. I recall from the 704 that getting the line fill right was much more critical than it is on FS reels. I'm going to give it an outing on a small lake tomorrow but first impression is that it's the closed face reel I'd always wanted. Premature assessment, A bit heavy, but it looks good.

Roy

[Dave Burr]

The Alpha Romeo of reels... they are bound to let you down at some stage

[Moley]

With these reels it was always deemed better to underfill the spool a touch, as to overfill was inviting a bird's nest in the stainless steel housing.

The 507 Mk11 is not as good as the original 507 which really was great for the stick float once the anti reverse bit was removed. Many river anglers stiil seek them as the reel of choice. with many spares. The reel nerds, like me, went so far as to make better spools that made tangling and overspills more difficult.

Once the new spool was loaded 1.7lb Bayer and a soft rod, presentation became easy With the Bayer stretching a surprising amount so long as the idiot controlling the rod kept his cool with smooth considered movements rather than jerking the rod. This way surprisingly large fish could be mastered well.

Ron Lees the old 'Meat Maste'r used his 506's and 507's to land Severn Barbel in matches at Holt Fleet often beating the stick and waggler men with his method of presentation With just a few big fish.....on his day he was annoyingly unbeatable!!!

As ever,....

Moley