The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I find it very pleasant to fish with an Ambassadeur on a straight handled rod, light or heavy. This unused and somewhat unusual 4600C came my way recently, not vintage but a modern nod by ABU to their classic Ambassadeurs: narrow (thumb width) spool, rear thumb release and fast retrieve. A very smooth reel and the perfect size and look to match a bamboo rod.

Click image to enlarge.

Well i did pay the extra for an EA salmon license and have thoroughly enjoyed the change in fishing style.I have not caught a salmon or sea trout yet but the casting has improved and i love my days on the river.A friend told me that salmon fishing is like chasing the Holy grail .I spin when there is colour in the water and have been using the Ambassadeur 5000 with a Hardy LRH Spinning rod.The later version 9 feet 6 inches of superb cane.Straight handle with a screw reel seat.

Suprisingly i soon became used to using the rod upside down holding the rod in my right hand and turning the reel handle with my left-opposite to the rest of my fishing.I can cast 50 or 60 yards after three trips which is plenty.The spinning season ends on my stretch at the end of July.I will certainly be taking the multipliers out once the pike season starts in October!.

Hi All

I'm a new boy in the site but when I saw the references to ABUs, Loch Lomond and Balmaha, I couldn't resist.

Please excuse the tatty old photo and I know the pike ain't that big but this is me about 35 years ago on Lomond in a boat out of Balmaha and look at the reel in the bottom right hand corner.

I've still got that ABU 7000 and it's caught quite a lot of fish though mostly in salt water.

Cheers

Chas

Ah, a "Jimmy boat" as we used to call them.

Walker and Buller used them and they are still going strong.

I know this has been answered before somewhere but I couldn't find it. Why is it that the handle of a multiplier reel is generally on the opposite side?

OK, I've probably fished with and caught as many fish on multipliers as I have on fixed spools but never used those little bait caster outfits.

I'm right handed so if I'm using a fixed spool I'm holding the rod with two fingers of my right hand in front of the reel foot and two fingers behind and my grip on the rod / reel basically doesn't move whether casting or retrieving.

If you are casting with a multiplier or even paying out line in a boat, you would grip the rod behind the reel with your right (lead) hand so that that you can control the spool with your right thumb. Your left hand at this point would be on the butt of the rod if casting (exactly the same as when using a fixed spool) or if just paying out line, could be in your pocket.

Once you've cast or got the bait / lure where you want it and whilst still controlling the spool with your right thumb, your left hand then momentarily reaches over and either puts the reel into gear, pushes the drag lever forward or winds the handle on an ABU enough to put the reel into gear before holding the fore-grip. (If you took your right thumb off whilst the reel was in free-spool; you'd be in danger of a bird's nest)

If your are fishing heavy (30lb upwards) you'll be using a harness so you haven't got to very much with your left hand other than spreading the line evenly as you retrieve it. Your right (lead) hand does the winding (and sometimes there can be an awful lot of that) and controls the drag.

In lighter fishing you just control the rod with your left hand on the fore grip but it quickly becomes second nature.

I had the same questions when I first stared using multipliers and I experimented by taking the anti-reverse out of a small Mitchell so that I could use with left hand wind. It soon got put back to normal after I'd tried it because found it quite uncomfortable.

As far as those little bait caster outfits are concerned, maybe they would work better as left hand wind.

Cheers

Chas

My fellow Ambassadeur enthusiasts,

I just acquired my first Ambassadeur---a 1973 5000C. It seems like a gem of a reel, and has hardly been used! If it can withstand my taking it apart, seeing how it works, and cleaning/re-assembling it, I plan to `have a day's plugging on that pikey river we know' (as Mr Crabtree would put it). I have wanted one of these since drooling over the 1973 copy of Tight Lines, but didn't have the money back then. Interestingly enough, the reel came with the leather case, and an unopened container of reel oil (presumably also 1973 vintage).
ABU certainly made some beautiful reels in the 70's!

G. B.

I had a pair of 5000D (1977/8) but could not get used to the direct drive. Now an expensive collectors item - but both sold very cheaply!

Totally agree. Beautiful and wonderfully engineered reels. I remember seeing them in my local tackle shop during the 70's. I had posted some adverts from 1965 late last year, including this one

Here’s my 5001 ‘leftie’ from the mid 70s which is in regular use with a recently restored ABU ‘Atlantic’ 460 - a crank handled 9ft glass spinning rod which I believe was made between 1962-70.
It’s a lovely outfit to use with 18lb mono for chucking lures up to 2oz for pike.
I’m a big Abu multiplier fan and have several more modern 6501c3 versions which I use for light sea work and pike bait fishing, as well as 7001s for heavier applications.
To be honest, I’ve never understood why left hand wind multipliers took so long to ‘catch on’. As a right handed person who grew up coarse fishing with left hand wind fixed spool reels it just feels natural , when using a multiplier to have the handles on the same side.
In the advert pictured above, you can see that the’ caster’ is controlling the spool with his right hand and presumably would then do a quick ‘shuffle’ holding the rod in the left hand for retrieve. Makes no sense to me at all and is one of those strange anomalies in fishing that people have just accepted as the norm.