Cardinal 66, 77, X series & 6-7

[Jardine]

I bought a pair of 154s for tench fishing many moons ago! Sold them and regretted it and found a pair of 55s.

Recently tried a 77 - then bought 2! Then found the 66s have a smaller spool and got 3 of them! As well as working superbly - they look lovely on cane!!

Hi Olly,
What type of fishing would you recommend the respective reel models for?
Best regards
Mem

[JAA]

I bought a pair of 154s for tench fishing many moons ago! Sold them and regretted it and found a pair of 55s.

Recently tried a 77 - then bought 2! Then found the 66s have a smaller spool and got 3 of them! As well as working superbly - they look lovely on cane!!

You're one of us now...

[Olly]

Both reels are the same size - except the rotor and spool. The 77 being the larger and the 66 spool/rotor (winding cup) being the smaller.
I bought the 77s for carp but the 66 would do on most occasions. So I have 12 & 15lb line on the 77 and 6-10 on the 66s. They were bought solely to go with my cane rods, although now I enjoy using them!

Pike/carp/light sea for 77 and carp/barbel for the 66s. The smaller 44 - more expensive - is also I believe an excellent reel.

The detailed & excellent review by BeechmereLake of the ABU Cardinals explains the variations.

I have, when using c****n rods, been using a similar style reel by Shim*** which has a Fighin Drag for barbel where the clutch is loosened and tightened by a lever. The ABUs can be used in a similar way by the truly smooth clutch which goes from loose to tighter with a slight twist of the knob.

A fore runner in clutch design before bait runners!

I now wonder why I never bought one -- I suspect it was the price and besides everyone - well almost - used Mitchells!

[JAA]

I've never tried the '77 never thought I'd 'need' it.

I 'graduated' to 66x's and have never looked back - I have replaced the 'last' drag washer with a carbon one (a Penn 086 710), the one furthest from the drag knob.

I've also re-profiled the lip on all the metal spools as well - they have a 'sharp' lip and I used an old 66 spindle, a battery drill and a couple of files to make it a rounded profile - I polished the resulting lip with grade 000 emery and wire wool. It improves casting, especially with light baits.

I've also seriously considered machining a groove on the spool's lower lip for a chenille...

[Jardine]

Both reels are the same size - except the rotor and spool. The 77 being the larger and the 66 spool/rotor (winding cup) being the smaller.
I bought the 77s for carp but the 66 would do on most occasions. So I have 12 & 15lb line on the 77 and 6-10 on the 66s. They were bought solely to go with my cane rods, although now I enjoy using them!

Pike/carp/light sea for 77 and carp/barbel for the 66s. The smaller 44 - more expensive - is also I believe an excellent reel.

The detailed & excellent review by BeechmereLake of the ABU Cardinals explains the variations.

I have, when using c****n rods, been using a similar style reel by Shim*** which has a Fighin Drag for barbel where the clutch is loosened and tightened by a lever. The ABUs can be used in a similar way by the truly smooth clutch which goes from loose to tighter with a slight twist of the knob.

A fore runner in clutch design before bait runners!

I now wonder why I never bought one -- I suspect it was the price and besides everyone - well almost - used Mitchells!

Thanks Olly

[Olly]

I forgot - the 77s & 66s fixed spools were to supplement my 17 pins and 9 Aerials!

[Pentonhook]

Olly wrote....................Pike/carp/light sea for 77 and carp/barbel for the 66s. The smaller 44 - more expensive - is also I believe an excellent reel.

Your not wrong, a 44 made £67.00 plus postage on the bay of e. Not in a particularly good condition either.
Although it did come with a shallow match spool, which I believe is considered rare, so this may of accounted
for the cost.

[BeechmereLake]

If you get 1st version 44's and in very good condition you wont see much change out of £150, I have sold three of them and all went for the same money thereabouts, no boxes no spare spools no paperwork just the reel

[Tizer]

Thanks for posting all that info and pictures,very interesting,I am waiting for my first one to come think it is a 44 (its been nearly 2 weeks now) dont know what to expect,hope i wont be dissapointed,Can't wait now after seeing yours,happy days.

Got two 60's and a 70 now,willbe using them as soon as i put the pike rods away(in a couple of days)Will be using them for tench/carp.happy days.

[JAA]

I've never tried the '77 never thought I'd 'need' it.

I 'graduated' to 66x's and have never looked back - I have replaced the 'last' drag washer with a carbon one (a Penn 086 710), the one furthest from the drag knob.

I've also re-profiled the lip on all the metal spools as well - they have a 'sharp' lip and I used an old 66 spindle, a battery drill and a couple of files to make it a rounded profile - I polished the resulting lip with grade 000 emery and wire wool. It improves casting, especially with light baits.

I've also seriously considered machining a groove on the spool's lower lip for a chenille...

Something you may find interesting:

Abu advertised the '66X as retrieving 83cm per turn of the handle. I searched for the advertised figure of the '44X...which did not seem immediately available. I found a reference to 'almost a yard'. Hm.

So, using the quoted figure of 'line length per handle turn' for the '44 (73cm), I divided by its gear ratio (5.1) then multiplied by the gear ratio of the '44X (5.9). So for the 44X this is:
(73 / 5.1) × 5.9 = 84.5cm.

To validate this calculation, I used the numbers for the '66 (1:3.3 and 53cm) and '66X (1:5.2 and 83cm):
(53 / 3.3) × 5.2 = 83.5cm. Close enough.

...But this suggests the '44X has a faster retrieve than the '66X. This is certainly counter-intuitive and a cynical view might be that this is why the number was not overtly advertised.

A pinch of measurement is worth a pound of pontification, so I measured it. I put a rod butt on the window-sill, stuck two heavy blocks of solder on it, put the reel(s) in the seat and used a 2oz weight. I set the weight just on the floor with the handle(s) vertical, turned the handle(s) exactly once and measured the distance from the floor to the weight. It is tricky to be absolutely precise, vagaries of line lay and so on, so I took five measurements for each reel and averaged them. Both reels' spools were evenly filled to within 3mm of the lip.

Cardinal 66X retrieve, one turn of handle (average 5 readings): 75.2cm (some way off 83cm)
Cardinal 44X retrieve, one turn of handle (average 5 readings): 76.5cm (technically 'almost a yard', 0.83yds)

'Surprise'.

If I've slipped up do pitch in.