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Abu 505

R

Russell Emms

Senior Member
Hi, my dad has got an original 505 i would like to use, are these reels man enough for trotting for barbel, is the clutch up to it?
Also can anyone recommend somewhere i can get spares and advice for this reel.
Many thanks for any info.
 
I wouldn't be confident in using a close faced reel for barbel fishing , nice reel but not designed for playing big powerful fish . Don't know about spares availability , sorry .
 
Reel Servicing page - Jim's Reel Shop

I have a 505 and I have landed barbel on it, though I wouldn't target them using it. In the UK the Abu closed faced reels are generally considered to be light trotting reels. However, they were originally made with heavier duty spinning in mind. The drags on them are generally considered to be poor, and the 505 is no exception.

When they were popular amongst the match fraternity (and the 505 wasn't especially popular) most were modified to have the anti reverse removed. This removed the drag from the equation and allowed better fish to be played by backwinding.
 
I used one once and never again. I could just not wind the handle against the pressure needed on the rod to play the barbel, even when pumping. Even biggish chub OK but barbel definitely no.
 
I wouldn't bother, the spools on the 505 are narrow so line bedding in is an issue, as regards the drag, its not worth having, on my 506's I have removed the anti-reverse pawl, and tightened the drag down as far as it will go and use back-wind.
I must hasten to add I only use them for light float fishing for Roach and Chub......

do you know what parts you need I have a small selection of spares

Andy
 
For ABU 500 series reel spares try searching for the website "classic vintage fishing tackle" the guy that runs it has loads of new spares.
Fred

PS the 505 would be rubbish for what you want, I doubt even a 507 would handle barbel with any sense of comfort.
 
I still use one when trotting for grayling roach etc. The more modern 506 has a back wind facility. Regarding the narrowness of the spool, I used to pack mine with old strong line then tape it down, on top of that I would put enough 3 lb line on to bring it to the required level. Never had a problem with line bedding since. They are still lovely reels for trotting for those smaller fish.
 
505

Snap. I landed 3 double figure barbel in a session on a 505 when I started barbel fishing. On each occasion I had to release the spool cover as the reel jammed. God knows how I landed those fish. Lady luck was definitely on my side. As Chris mentioned, they were popular with the match guys. Some of the older heavier 1960s Abu closed face reels might do the job as these were designed for spinning, I don't think that the 505 ever was.
 
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