The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Hello There

Today I picked up an ABU Tight lines catalogue from 1972. Just lately I've been interested in ABU catalogue(s) but not from a certain auction site. This one I picked up from a kind gentlemen I met and befriended at the tackle fair in Romsey, he said he had a Tight Lines catalogue at home and that he would post it to me during the week. We used to pick these up from our local tackle shop during our teens. But stupidly and unknowingly chucked them in the bin when we finished with them.







In this particular year there is a written section about Kevin Ashurst which was very interesting



And......of course their tackle, which we used to look at longingly but never could afford, especially on a paper boys wages during the 70's

Ah yes, like you I used to collect them every year and drool over the gear. Did used to save up for the lures like atoms, reflex etc. and long for the very expensive Hi Lo with it's adjustable vane. And so disheartening to cast them into the trees or snags so quickly! All catalogues long gone I'm afraid.

Rutilus wrote: ↑Sun Oct 13, 2019 7:01 pm Ah yes, like you I used to collect them every year and drool over the gear. Did used to save up for the lures like atoms, reflex etc. and long for the very expensive Hi Lo with it's adjustable vane. And so disheartening to cast them into the trees or snags so quickly! All catalogues long gone I'm afraid.

That's a shame Rutilus. But thank you sir

Makes me shiver looking at those lovely rods; the memories and the longing...like you as a ‘70’s paper round kid...like that girl across the street I could never get close to...

Tengisgol wrote: ↑Sun Oct 13, 2019 7:29 pm Makes me shiver looking at those lovely rods; the memories and the longing...like you as a ‘70’s paper round kid...like that girl across the street I could never get close to...

Yeah the good old days. But fishing always took priority over the girls.

By coincidence it's the only one I kept!

I haven't got the '72 catalogue though I've got ones of that era and like others I long discarded the original ones I had. One mystery is why the ABU Mark 5 illustrated has non-match rings. In 1972 my fishing mate got an ABU Mk 5 plus ABU 506 for Christmas, a combination that cost nearly £30, and one that I had no chance of buying. I still have his 506 but what happened to the MK 5 I have no idea. It wasn't until 1974 when I had a reasonable paying Saturday job that I saved up the £20.95 for an ABU Mk 6 - no discounts back then and a much sought-after rod. Not long after my mate who was working full-time by then bought a Mk 6. I've still got one of my Mk 6s though not the first one I bought.

When I was around fourteen (1968) there was a lad in our club maybe twenty years old whose parents must have had 'a few bob' as they say. He actually had two Mark Fives, a Mitchell 300, a Mitchell 308 and a Match Aerial. A vast array of terminal tackle was held in an Efgeeco 'Midland' seat carrier. Living close to the sea he also had two beach casters including an Abu 484. These were matched with a Seastreak and a Surfcast! The only problem with all this was that he couldn't fish for toffee! However we became good friends and he regularly lent me one of the Mark Fives and the Match Aerial. This was largely the influence in me buying a Match Aerial as soon as I started work in 1970.

Oh how I wish I had kept all my Tight Lines catalogues. I must have had them all from about 1973 to 1979. All long gone now. It was a really good publication. So much more than just a product catalogue. Like most I spent many hours longing over the tackle in them.

What did you think of the calendar at the back of `Tight Lines' in which each day was marked as either fair, good or best? It had no correlation
with any of my most successful days or my many blanks. As yet another 70's paper-round kid (was it a halfpenny a house a day back then?), the reels I drooled over were far out of my price range. Forty years later, when that online auction site came along and I had some disposable income, I couldn't resist buying a set of used Cardinals and Ambassadeurs from the 70's, that I'd never forgotten about.

G. B.