R&M – repairs and maintenance. In my previous working life I was frequently in charge of engineering departments, so R&M was part of my everyday life. Some things never leave you I guess, and these days I seem to be always fixing stuff that is related to my angling which is either worn or broken .
1973. Pink Floyd released an album called ‘dark side of the moon’ which seemed to do alright in the charts. Ireland and the UK joined what was then the EEC. Picasso dies, Princess Anne gets married, and tricky Dickie Nixon owns up to Watergate. More importantly, my beloved ABU Ambassadeur 6000C rolled of the production lines in Sweden. 50 plus years is a long time for a fishing reel to keep running smoothly but the old gal is still going strong, with one exception. The drag is slipping and she needs new washers. With no fishing due to the weather I got out the tools and fixed her up.
The drag slippage showed up early last year but I pressed my Ambassadeur 4500CB into service on the trolling rod while the 6000C was out of commission. That reel performed OK but it lacks an audible check, something which I like on my trolling reels. Despite this, the 4500 saw my through the season without any major mishaps and I’ll keep it as a spare in case of any future emergencies.
Getting parts for old reels becomes more difficult with every passing year but I found some spare drag washers online and bought them for what seems to me to be a reasonable sum. I guess you could argue I paid an awful lot for some wee washers but the fact is my old reel, and others I own, are not fishable without these new parts. The other issue is knowing exactly which parts to buy. With so many different reels and versions of the same reel manufactured over a long timespan, it is very easy to buy drag washers only to find they do not fit. Yes, there are websites with lots of useful information and schematic drawings can be found either online or in hard copy, but there are plenty of odd reels out there or ones which were converted at some point so mistakes are terribly easy to make.
Changing the drag washer on these reels is not difficult so let’s run through the process. The handle comes off first by removing the tiny screw which holds the nut retainer in place, unscrewing the nut and lifting off the handle and spring washer. Next, the drive end plate assembly is unscrewed from the cage and then the end plate cover is removed by taking out the two securing bolts. The drive shaft with the drag washers can now been seen and it is simply a case of removing the washers and placing them to one side and (importantly) in order. I had spares for the drag washer itself and two of the spacers as well so I swapped all three out. A light coating of grease on the drive shaft keeps everything nice and smooth. Re-assembly is simply the same process but in reverse.
The 6000C is my ‘go to’ reel for trolling and it sees a lot of hard work over the course of a season. Another of my Ambassadeurs, a lovely grey 5500C, gets very little use these days as heavy spinning for salmon is not something I do very much of now. Once upon a time though it was a very different story and this wee multiplier was a super reel for chucking out heavy devons and toby spoons on Scottish rivers when I lived there. Weirdly, the drag on this little used reel was also slipping a bit too, so I changed the drag on it while I had the tools out. Somewhere along the line I had lost the oval spring washer for the handle on the 5500C but I had a spare for that in my box of ABU spare parts which I have collected over the years. The process is exactly the same as my 5500C is really just a smaller version of the 6000C with only a few internal differences. It one too dates from 1973.
I have tried to figure out exactly why I love the old ABU reels, pretty much to the exclusion of other salmon multipliers. Nostalgia certainly plays a part as I have a lifetime of memories invested in them, but I think it goes beyond just wishy-washy sentiment. They are wonderfully solid, dependable and reliable reels. I love that ‘unbreakable’ feel to them and they are so smooth in use.
My plans for 2025 include a fair bit of trolling as I have some ideas I want to try out. The box of baits is as full as ever so at least some of them need to be given a swim. I am also going to try my hand at making some trolling lures, something I have not done before. With the faithful old 6000C now back to perfect condition I have no excuses for not catching a few trout and hopefully a salmon or two when get back out there. That has been delayed slightly due to a recent mishap, one which I feel compelled to ‘fes up too.
This sorry tale starts when my boat trailer went off for a repair job. A weld had split and so had to be re-welded by my mate (I never did get around to learning how to weld myself and its a bit late for it now). That job done, the boat was loaded on to the trailer and a week later she was dragged out to edge of lough Conn. As soon as I hopped out of the car I could see something wasn’t right and close inspection showed two visible cracks above where the rollers were supporting her. Obviously she had shifted as we drove along and come off the rubber rollers and on to the metal supports which then pushed through the hull. There was nothing else for it but to bring her back to the yard for repairs. Once back in the yard I crawled underneath and found the root cause, the rollers were on the wrong way around and I had not noticed when loading the boat the previous week.
My first task was to patch the holes from the inside with glassfibre. Sanding the area around the holes gave the necessary key for the epoxy to fix to and the glassfibre mat was quickly in place. More of the sticky epoxy was then brushed over the mat, sticking it in place. Next, it was time to get the boat off the trailer without causing further damage. I dismantled the roller assemblies on each side, turned them the right way round and fixed then back in the correct position, then enlisted some help to pull my heavy boat off the trailer and on to the ground. Once on terrafirma, we turned her over so I could patch the holes from the outside. I filled the indentations with a little Isopon, let that harden before sanding, then repeated the patching process with some glassfibre. Luckily, the weather was perfect for working outside and the warm, the warm, dry day allowed me to complete the repair in the open with no worries about moisture on the hull which would weaken the bonding process. By 1pm my work was done and the old gal was watertight once more, ready to be shoved back on to the trailer for its second, and hopefully final trip to lough Conn this spring.
As Blind Willie Nelson sang ‘way back in 1927, ‘Ain’t nobody’s fault but mine’. When loading the boat on the trailer I should have seen the rollers were not sitting right, but I didn’t. At the end of the day it just meant my 20 odd year old boat has a another couple of battle scars to go along with all the rest. Nicks on the gelcoat when loading/unloading, scrapes where other boats ground up against her at the moorings and endless ‘contacts’ with rocks out on the lough mean our lake boats take a pounding. At least nobody was hurt and she is now ready to be launched again this coming week.
This spell of glorious, sunny weather is due to break down over the coming weekend and I will be out on the water next week. With virtually no angling taking place for ages it will be interesting to see what the fishing is like. I am hopeful the brownies will be cooperative but expect the salmon to be as scarce as hens teeth.
Claretbumbler 