Any Abu 5600 collectors out there?

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Jay Lucas
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Any Abu 5600 collectors out there?

Post by Jay Lucas »

Recently started going through my inventory of Abu round casting reels, cleaning and lubing the same, and I note that I have 10 different reels of various vintage, one of which is not common, but what 5600s are actually rare? I guess presentation models would be rare. Anyway, I am kind of at a crossroads as to whether I should sell these out, sit on them, or actually pursue some of the models I don't have? Recently came into possession of a grandson, and would like to leave him some fishing tackle but on the fence as to whether I really want to saddle a kid with reels, or just a box of old lures. I would like some information and guidance from another collector who either collects these reels or is pretty well up on the market for them? Any help appreciated, thanks.
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Ron Mc
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Re: Any Abu 5600 collectors out there?

Post by Ron Mc »

I just finished converting one for a tournament-fishing friend for his big 3-oz swimbait reel.
All BB LW, deep, wide, lightweight spool, and 6-pin brake. He bought all the parts he wanted and sent it to me.
Swapped to 5500 side plates for centering the spool.
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5600 and 4600 still have a lot of fans - to fish more so than collect.
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Jay Lucas
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Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2022 7:44 am

Re: Any Abu 5600 collectors out there?

Post by Jay Lucas »

LOL! Not even sure how to address a Frankenstein, but admire people that can do that with a reel. Since I finally got one reply I will ask a quick question, why are there so many Ultra Cast reels for sale listing Japan as their origin? And why are the ultra cast 5600 models posted with such outrageous prices?
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Ron Mc
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Re: Any Abu 5600 collectors out there?

Post by Ron Mc »

Hi Jay,
The whole BFS (bait finesse system) concept for casting UL weights began with stream trout fishing and Hiroyuki Motoyama in japanese print, c. 2000. The first stream trout reels were the mini Ambassadeurs.
This will get you in a fisticuffs on Bass Resource forum, and Mr. Moyoyama's following books were about shore bass fishing.
The "System" is a low-mass spool, low-inertia micro spool bearings, and threadline braid.
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Of course Don Iovino was tuning the mini Ambassadeurs and finesse fishing through the 80s in the US.
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Every continent and coastine has its own "origins" of threadline fishing.

In the past decade, the Japanese have moved this to the salt, and many of us are junkies for imitating winter glass minnows, this 18" hopping snook caught on a 38-mm stream trout plug, with the hooks swapped to salty singles.
The Japanese salt finesse rod and braid-raced Daiwa will cast 2 g to 130'
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You can't fish these lures on spinning tackle, without the hooks fouling on the line 4/5 casts.
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My frankendeur 4600 will fish 3 g to 30 g (1 oz) without backlash or an adjustment.
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I have a friend on BR who hunts the mini Ambassadeurs on craigslist and converts them all and lately, like me, he's been snagging IAR face plates on ereplacement parts and building his reels from Japan aftermarket pars.
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Here's my 3-g-casting 4500CT surf reel built entirely from parts.
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Working on Ambassadeurs is a blast, because the parts are large, and everything makes sense.
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Editing to add some more detail on my 1500C, bought fresh from Don Iovino's bench.
This reel is in my limestone creek niche for endemic river bass, where I fish 1.5- to 7-g lures.
It will cast 2 g well beyond 60' - more than you need in a limestone creek.
100% backlash-proof - at the low end, you don't even have to thumb the spool to stop, except for a range adjustment.

It was a better buy than ebay, and Don had already done most of the Avail BB level-wind upgrades I would want.
I took it a step further, swapping in BB idler gear, shallow, lightweight Avail braid spool, and Avail mag brake.
The stock spool needed the centrifugal and fished like an Ambassadeur.
With the Microcast spool swap, I replaced the centrifugal with the Avail spacer, and only needed 2 magnets on the Avail mag brake.
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First improvement on the drive was a pinion ball bearing.
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When I scored an IAR right-side plate and brake plate on ereplacement parts, I further improved the drive with Avail alloy main shaft and alloy click-wheel with built-in A/R sleeve.
It winds now with zero resistance and intertia, which is unheard of in the mini Ambassadeurs.
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I have a lot into it, notably less than $1000.
But performance-wise, yeah, it's a thousand-dollar reel.

How's this for a Japanese woolly bugger substitute - 4-g inline spinner that keels hook-up and you can bottom-bounce.
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