484 repairs

It took me long enough but I finally got around to tidying up that old Atlantic 484 beachcaster which has been lying around in the fishing den. This rod was never going to be returned to pristine condition, it simply had too much abuse over the years from previous owners. No, I bought it knowing the best I could do was make a usable rod but one which was always going to look second rate. I don’t mind that, all my gear gets well used and none of it is in showroom condition. I buy tackle to use, not to look at.

I remember when these rods first appeared and the stir they caused in the shore angling fraternity. Until then, beachcasting rods had a through action but the big Atlantics changed all that overnight. These very stiff rods had a flexible tip and were designed to cast long distances. In the right hands they could chuck leads a prodigious distance and they became the ‘go to’ rod for the best shore anglers and everyone wanted one. Thing was, they were very expensive and were well out of the range of normal Joe Soaps like me. I recall one of the lads I knew, Ally Shewan, bought one and I was so envious! He was the best caster I knew before he got that 484 but he could blast a bait for incredible distances with his new Swedish rod. Time moved on and the competition learned from ABU’s designs and overtook them with some amazing, powerful rods. Anglers on the East coast of England developed new casting techniques, new, thinner yet stronger lines became available and the whole shore fishing game moved to a higher level. I never dedicated myself to learning to distance cast, where I fished a 100 yard lob usually put you in amongst the fish. I guess I am just lazy that way.

My own venerable pair on Conoflex’s, rated for 4 and 6 ounce respectively, have served me well since the early eighties and are still going strong. This 484 will be my back up to those old warriors.

It was not pretty, I grant you. As bought, the rod sported a range of different cheap rod rings, each whipped on by multiple turns of different coloured threads. Great blobs of what seemed to be boat varnish covered some of these whippings. In some places the original gold/brown flecked thread could be found, badly frayed or broken. All the metalwork was corroded due to not being washed down after use in salt water. In short, the rod was a mess. Most of the issues could be fixed though and I would end up with a good spare beachcaster.

A visit to Frank’s shop in town provided me with a set of rings and a spool of pale gold silk. Finding the lovely old gold/brown flecked silk was going to be impossible so I plumped for the pale gold as it would go well with the dark brown blank. I was also going to add some gold highlighting here and there to try and make it a little bit prettier. I had planned to pair the rod with a multiplier so it was going to be ringed accordingly. Twenty odd Euro changed hands and I had all I needed to fix the rings. Frank’s shop was busy and he told me he was fortunate because he would be allowed to remain open for business as a large part of his clientele were farmers (he sells wellies and waterproofs to them).

Back at home I started work on the rod by removing the old whippings from the butt section. I counted three different threads, all of them in terrible condition. The horrible cheap butt ring was removed and discarded and then it was time to carefully scrape the old varnish from the blank where the whippings had been. A scalpel, wielded slowly and oh so carefully, was my tool of choice for this task. Once the butt section was done I moved on to the tip. Removing each ring and cleaning up the mess underneath took about 20 minutes for each one but it was time well spent. Then I could start whipping each new ring into place. A small piece of electrical tape stuck one leg to the blank and the alignment checked before starting the silk for the other leg. The waste end was cut off once the binding had a few turns. Before the whipping was finished I introduced a loop of brown thread which would be used to pull the waste end back under the turns. Check the alignment again! Now removed the tape and bind the other leg to the blank in exactly the same way. Repeat for all seven rings. Then the tip ring had to be glued in place with some hot melt. I added some other whippings at the handle and the ferrules too. The whole lot then needed coats of varnish to finish them off.

The metal parts on the rod were in poor condition and needed to be cleaned up. These rods had unusual metal locking ferrules and metal reel seats. To remove the surface corrosion I mixed some salt and white vinegar then applied his to the metal, using an old toothbrush to rub it in. Next, I made up a paste of bicarbonate of soda and applied this to the metal. Finally, I washed the metal parts down with fresh water and dried them off thoroughly, buffing them to an acceptable finish. A drop of WD40 on the threads finished it off. Look, the metal is never going to be perfect but it is strong and the surface corrosion has all gone.

So was it worth all the effort? I have to say yes, it was. I ended up with a very serviceable rod which I hope to use for many years to come. Good examples of this rod are still on the market and typically command around €100 for a decent one. The 484 is very powerful and can cast a wide range of weights so it can be put to many uses. Since I don’t do any beach fishing it will see action off piers and easy to reach rock marks. It’s good to know the old rod will be catching fish for me instead of ending up in a skip.

I suspect it says something about me that I get more pleasure from rescuing an old piece of fishing gear rather than buying something new. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing though! I don’t want to sound too weird but there is a feeling of ‘connection’ with inanimate objects which have been brought back to use. In this world of throw away objects I like to buck the trend. My old ABU rods and reels from the 1970’s and 80’s were superbly engineered and made to last. How many of the rods and reels produced today will still be fully functional in 40 or 50 years time?

The newly completed rod will have to wait for its first outing. In all likelihood it will be next summer before I give it a try but that’s OK. Once we get out of lockdown and return to some sort of ‘normality’ I hope to do some shore fishing as part of my attempt to catch a fish in each of the 32 counties. The old 484 will surely accompany me on those trips.