....while wearing one. The reel is an ABU Ambassadeur - ABU stands for Aktiebolaget Urfabriken (Translated to - Watchfactory Company) and a spin off from their original business was fishing reels. I guess the ability to make gears and complicated mechanical things came in handy... The red granite of the archipelago of Åland again (ref to the Rolex Sub thread). And an old dude in a beard trying to get a really big fish...recognize the plot? Really longing for some summer now... And afterwards rewarded with an hour or two in the hammock
Got an Ambassador myself - regeared for surf casting so the worm gear doesn't strip when chucking a long toss of 100 yards or more. Good stuff! We only catch the big ones and leave the throwbacks for the other guys. Did you know fish really dig Seikos? Check it out - this one couldn't take his eyes off my Pepsi: Here's another that loved my Monster: Can't blame him for ogling it. The OM is a hot watch for beach / boat use.
Check this out: http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/nature/post/huge-mako-shark-caught-from-florida-beach/
If that shark was healthy enough for release he's lucky he did not lose a hand with those photo stunts.
Exactly what I was thinking. Seen plenty of stitches and emergency room runs because of numbskull antics like this.
Reviving this old thread. I have been fishing since I could walk. My family and relatives in the archipelago always looked down on tourists strutting around with their sport fishing gear (real fishermen use nets supposedly...) but I always found the ABU reels fascinating and I have used them a lot thru the years. As I mentioned in my original post above there is a connection to the watch hobby. Aktiebolaget Urfabriken translates to "The watchfactory company". They started out making pocketwatches of high quality under the name of Halda. Long story short - they eventually diversed into other directions and today Haldex is one of them. Making high tech solutions for the vehicle industry - some of you might have recognize Haldex in connection to high performance all wheel drive? Another direction was fishing equipment. ABU Record was an early reel. The piece de resistance however was presented in the early 50ies in the form of the Record Ambassadeur 5000 - later namned the ABU Ambassadeur 5000. All thru the 50ies and up until the 80ies an Ambassadeur was the reel to have. I started out more humble (I was 6 or 7) with an ABU-matic. Easy to use and bulletproof. I still have some... and I am not ashamed to use them! Back to the Ambassadeur: The classic Ambassadur 5000 is red. They started out with a test run of three batches (nerds debate how many in each batch) - a red, a green and a black. The thought was to ask the public what they preferred. They preferred the green. And of course ABU then started to manufacture them in red... And red they were until the De Luxe version came to market. The Ambassadeur De Luxe version - gold plated and black anodized and most of them were bought and gifted to guys (I have not heard of a single female that has got one for their 50th birthday...). It appeared in around 1962 and has quite a cult following. I have got two - one from 1964 and one almost 50 years younger. This is the old one (with a 1967 5000C by its side). This one is from 2013: And together: The 5000C started selling in 1967 and the only difference from a 5000 was ball bearings at the spool ends and the colour. Ball bearings were not a real advantage, actually, in my opinion. But black and chrome sure is nice. ABU has another similarity with watches - with Omega in particular. They make "limited editions". A lot. And I mean a lot. Some are nice - some are just awful (again as with Omega). This is a nice one - it is a "sleeper" - as it has all the modern parts inside but look like it is from the early days. Of course they could not do it properly (Philips screws) hence I have modified it a bit - with mushroom "nuts" and slotted screws (still some to substitute). It is a good user reel. I use period rods to my vintage reels. A lot of colour and fiber glass instead of carbon. For the user "sleeper" I also got fiber glass - from the 80ies. Pike looking at its bane. My "modern" reels are not that modern anymore I have come to realize...The Ambassadeur 5500CS Pro Rocket in the original post on a Berkley carbon rod and a small "UL" 2500C - likewise on a Berkley carbon. Pro Rocket 2500C Any other retro-fishermen out there? @STANDY Still longing for summer! PS - the titanium Seamonster is still with me and it is as popular as ever! Just counted... I have got nine (9) seamonsters. But the most Seamonstrous (!) must be this one:
Summer vacation as of yet... Three pikes in the two-kilo range. Just good old fun! All on a vintage ABU 35g Atom lure, a vintage ABU glassfibre Atlantic 1182 S (mustard yellow) and my beater stealth vintage conversion 2018 Ambassadeur Orbis (ltd ed. 300 pieces). I have converted (slotted screws, mushroom nuts and a vintage Ambassadeur 6000 handle) it to mimic a mid 60ies reel and it is a nice user with good looks and stellar performance. Still the same view from the hammock but with a vintage Sea-Dweller 16600 instead of the Seamonster.
Yes - make quenelles with a blend of pike and a fatter fish (salomon for instance - 30 %). Hollandaise sauce galore. With a lot of butter... (edit - with pressed potatos - not mashed - to soak up the sauce) Traditionally here in Sweden you boil the pike, make a bechamel sauce with horseradish and serve with boiled potatos. I got it a lot when young... Do the quenelles instead...
-1 on the quenelles… Fresh pike is to be baked in owen and served with boiled egg quartered in bechamel sauce and boiled fresh potato and the grinded horse radish. It doesn’t get any better! Where I live now, pike is impossible to get by, and bass, as I also love, is special order. I envy you JE, that can still envoy these delicate seafood!
Nice stripers, Dennis! IBSP? It doesn’t take a shark to put a serious hurt on you. New Jersey bluefish are not to be messed with. We call the big ones “gators” for good reason. That mouth is full of razor sharp teeth and they won’t hesitate to use them if you’re careless enough. And once they get a grip, they don’t let go - vicious temperament. I’ve seen many fingers, hands, legs and even faces that were mangled by bluefish. We always unhook them with pliers.
Digging up this thread again. Some vacation. Same place as always. Used the very small ABU Ambassadeur 2500C and a rod for lures 2g to 12g. Even a small pike suddenly is a big fight! Seiko SLA033 on tropic.
Quite some years ago I had a bait and tackle shop attached to my workshop, I used to sell ABU, they were beautifully made and I was always happy to steer customers to them and away from the other brands, because I knew they’d be better off with the superior quality. Having said that……I must point out that one important thing I learned is that no fishing equipment is designed to catch fish! None of all those rods, reels, lures, fish finders, fishing boats et all, are designed to catch fish………..they’re designed to catch fishermen! I never had a fish come into the shop to buy any of it!
Sorry for my late reply. Vacation got in the way... It is a 2293.52.00. I have got the bracelet for it but I always use it on a Omega rubber strap. And an Ambassadeur 6500C Pro Shop - as we are in this thread
Here's my little monster last August in Cabo. Lured him in with my beater Samsung smartwatch using a Penn VISX 16
