The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

had some good fortune on an auction site recently.
first success was an excellent 44 eXpress for just £54 with very good paint and internals .still with the original grease by the look of it. a quick service and it sings very sweetly. these early Xs seem to be the best of the lot .
today i have won 2 cardinal 55s . one '79 and one '80. from separate sellers . £120 for the pair i couldn't say no. i have been after a couple of early ones for quite some time . these both are in excellent order - well i hope they are . yeh they will be - they're ABUs
i have one Mk IV and another rod of a similar ilk just waiting for the 55s . a bit of carping might be coming up.

Good reels and sensible money.
I love the ABU 77 for heavier types of fishing such as hurling heavy swimfeeders when Barbel fishing.

I use the 77's for my carp fishing, cracking reels...

I too have a pair of 77s for heavy duty work - piking/carp. A couple of pairs of 66s for lighter fishing and a 44 for float fishing. All bought in the last 15 years. I have a pair of 155 which I bought years and years ago for tench fishing to go with 6-8lb line - tench were smaller then!
All of them are excellent reels with some serviced by BeechmereLake.

I have also bought a few ABU multipliers over the years, mostly for lure fishing. Once I learnt to cast them, I really enjoy using them.

i haven't done any proper carping for donkeys years ,but the 44s never seemed to be stressed by the bigger fish. i just thought that if i don't get a couple of 55s now i never will and 2 of the preferred (by me) vintage came up at the same time .
i must get a roll of Bacofoil- i still have a supply of bottle tops --and my secret bait recipe

Picked up a bargain Zebco Cardinal 66 in very nice condition to match up with my Abu 66 .
Both reels (1976 models ) are identical apart from the name badge but, the Zebco was considerably cheaper .
Just needs a strip down and lube before the new season when it’ll be pressed into service , with its soul mate, for barbel.
I’m gonna try fishing ‘baitrunner’ mode…. I.e clutch fully loosened off until I hopefully get a ‘four foot twitch’
We’ll see how it goes.