Significant ABU Friends
Christian Totter RIP USA
Some direct quotes from Christian will be shared indispersed here in RED along side my observations.
I recently became aware of ABU devotee, Christian's, passing.
He battled his cancer bravely, while at the same time having
time to communicate with friends on numerous forums.
He was a shooter, reader and great fan of all things ABU and Garcia as
well as a man who valued friendships.
An engineer by work but humbly called himself merely a tinkerer.
Missed by many, especially the 1000 members of All About ABU Facebook
group, who will wish that Christian was able to contribute more.
Above my 2 recurring images of Christian, the man with the hat and
Jessie the beloved draft horse!
Below, random assorted images many will relate to, covering
primarily his reels, his work on them, his clubs and foods he
loved.
Christian fished all sorts of venues, from fly water, man-made impoundments, lakes, sea and rivers.
Lots
of compounding identities ! A small list : chemo , antibiotics ,
medicines , whipple surgery , non alcohol psoriasis of liver due
to what's mentioned , whipple disease ? My friend the last 2 years
took me to Florida to tarpon fish ( I had to go he said ) . Rough
time but actually I'm in better shape today ! Yes I night fly
fished and landed 3 , 90 to 120 lbs estimates ! They will pull
boat sometimes over 1/2 mile then get unhinged or snap trace or
bite tippet More images to be loaded in time, but this
gives us more memories of the man and his life.
Some of you will recognise images shared by Christian.
Casting tournaments were a great love too. This magnificent timber and leather case for transporting his fishing tackle would have been much admired.
I hope the lucky new owner, knows of the hours of loving work Christian put into its construction.
Here we see a hand made fishing tackle box that is a real treasure and I hope any future recipient of this appreciates the loving craftsmanship that Christian put into creating it.
Old style craftsmanship utilized timber, leather and rivets to make it last.
We discussed not only ABU, but also species and techniques , so I believe I learned a lot from Christian.
With a thousand fishing books or more in his library, he was a very well fisho and put into practice targetting different fish species using his knowledge of thermoclines etc.
I am pleased to know the one book by Yates (UK) which he had not read, I was able to send to him to enjoy, in his last months to enjoy .
Having read a few books by Chris Yates ( well respected angler / writer / English angling historian / contributor .. I don't think so ! I've heard of that book too ! I think
He broke the dick Walker carp record ( Walker invented the electronic bite alarm among other things ) . Fred Taylor , BB , John Wilson , Dick Walker , Fred Buller ... Are some of the great English modern anglers I've studied ! The late Fred Bullers books are masterpieces
In response to my discussion regarding ABU made but Garcia sold lures in the 50/60's USA
Will take a look around for those lures . I have a friend who's going to the national lure collectors convention in mid state ( 3 hr drive from here ) I will
Give him list & he can call
Me / send pics from there if he finds any !!!! Here where I live it's Dead Sea finding any thing related to fishing .. Pathetic . A lot of angling stores closed up in the last few years .. Most anglers here have no passion to learn , collect , etc .... Walmart is ok with them.... It's a pastime mostly
He was so looking forward to his attendance at the ORCA convention, wearing his tee and big black hat.
I've got a lot of health related issues now & i'm overloaded with paperwork . It's never ending for me . ORCA wasn't that good . For a national
It was low turnout , not much tables , little Abu products , and high priced too ! I did get 2 nice reels in near mint , a few patches , and met some nice collectors . I just got a nice Abu banner ( 20 X 40 ) . That reel is custom my friend is getting built ; I'll get more data . Love what pics of your trip
I can get , you've witnessed a lot of history .
Loving ABU reels, both old and new, Christian would enjoy fine tuning all be it a C series or a 70's 2500.
Here's a few I've refurbished ! Over 20 hrs on TR 3000 flipper Abu removing old coating and polshing to a high luster alone besides inside work !
I gave it to my best friend as a gift
These are his favourite reels, many tuned by himself but a special favourite which he was not able to source is this SS 6500 CDL which one day I hope to find, display prominantly as a tribute to Christian and his passion for ABU till the end.
Christian enjoyed his quad riding, hunting and fishing in dams as well as the sea!
My favorite shooting camping area is above Tionesta on Allegheny reservoir ( Kinzua dam, 13,000 acres of water ) remote national forest ! Bear , turkey , elk , coyote , etc ! I'm at peace there ! Angling is tough to crack the code . This will test even the pro angler ! But I enjoy the challenge !
Before his illness, all sorts of foods were enjoyed, these were but memories for the last number of months.
That meal is from a Japanese / Chinese bistro near me . Pittsbugh area generally has terrible resturants
physical health deteriorates ) .
Wow ! I would try but not sure if my pallet would endure that . I love sardines , herring , &
Most seafood except that canned herring from Norway ! The lid puffs up as it ages
More casting and travel to Collector shows.
I'm still reeling (
He held great thoughts for his family , deceased Mum and Dad and sister Madonna.
Yes they do ! Im blessed with great close relatives and always was an active hobbyist; outdoorsman , camper , student of the angle , former chess tourney player and jazz percussionist , avid reader , amateur angling historian , angling book collector , aviation aficionado, etc etc ! I'm blessed too with friends as yourself ! I'm very loyal to my friends & my father taught me that at a very early age ! His common sense understanding / wisdom
Was off the charts .
Our responsibility as humans is to take care of the weak , sick , poor , elderly , handicapped , mentally disabled !
Doesn't this nicely sum up the man whom I have only got to know over the last 6 months or so?
I hope these observations go some way to sharing our friendship and
your life , way too short Christian RIP.
ABOUT ME
If you are a person that has significantly had an effect on design/development/testing of ABU equipment over the years please contact me abuadmiral@gmail.com if you wish your contribution documented for posterity and the immediate interest of the ABU fans worldwide!