ABU's Old Classics!

A rare and limited production Record Tournament Caster

This must be every ABU collector's dream, being only 1 of about 40 EVER MADE, originally for the Swedish Casting Team to use in competition.
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Made by ABU as a "Special" in the early 1960's , this amazing ABU rod/reel was never catalogued, but used by the Champions of that period,and known to them as the "SPIDERCAST ROD".
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I understand these casting tournaments are primarily now held abroad, in America and Europe.
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I am showing this very rare specialist rod on behalf of a friend , who actually used it in INTERNATIONAL CASTING FEDERATION competitons, ( I.C.F.), at Scarborough in the U.K. between 1968-76.
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It is a tournament class COMBINED CASTING REEL/ROD, 65 inches long, 2 piece, brown fibreglass blank, with 4 Abu wire-coil rings and cork handle in excellent condition. It bears the maker's name "ABU SVANGSTA" just above the butt, and also the Owner's name, who was a previous world champion.The rod is joined together by a strong,tight ferrule grip to the handle section.
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You can see from the photos the reel is integral to the rod handle, and is made of steel and alloy with brass gears.
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It is put into free-spool mode for casting by pulling the twin handle bar out slightly.You then cast by holding the trigger with your index finger, thumb on the spool, cast and release the spool, then re-engage the twin handles to retrieve your casting weight.
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In competiton the spool contained over 200 yards of 1/4 lb breaking strain line, then attached to a length of heavier Salmon Line used for a Shock Leader, which was then attached to a tournament casting weight of 5/8 oz.(Original weight will be sold with the rod).
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The light line strength explains the name "SPIDERCAST" very well ! I feel sure that the older tournament casterswill recognise this unique item which will bring back a lot of memories of days gone by.
 

Thanks John for sharing

 If you are a person that has collected some unusual ABU reels or significantly had an effect on design/development/testing of ABU equipment over the years please contact me  wayne@realsreels.com  if you wish your contribution documented for posterity and the immediate interest of the ABU fans worldwide!