ABU 706/trotting for trout question.

[Hopinc]

Hi Guys,

 

I was wondering if anyone had any issues with the ABU 706 reel?

 

My birthday is coming up and I wondered whether to add one of these to my reel collection. I would be using it for trotting my local river for brown trout. It has a mixture of swims from slow paced, medium (most) and the odd fastish one.

 

Some other things I would like to ask, as I am new to trotting are: This method is aimed at bottom feeding fish, should I modify the standard rig set up for trout in any way? Should I stop the float more often so the bait rises in the water? Would I be best starting at say 6 inches clear of bottom?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Regards,

 

Dave

Edited March 22, 2011 by Hopinc

[Steve Walker]

Trout are bloody suicidal on bait, so it won't make much difference what you do.

 

Beware of the closed season restrictions on baits and methods - check your local bylaws, you may find that you are only allowed to use worm, spinner or fly - or possibly also minnow or prawn - that you are not allowed to feed the swim, and that you may not be allowed to floatfish.

[thamesoddity]

I'd suggest investing in a fly fishing set up, you won't regret it.

[Hopinc]

I'd suggest investing in a fly fishing set up, you won't regret it.

 

No need, I have been a fly fisherman and fly tyer for over 40 years. It's just that I fancied trying a method that I had not used before.

 

Steve, thanks for the heads up, I have sent an email to my club secretary to find out what is legal and what is not.

Edited March 22, 2011 by Hopinc

[Tigger]

Hopinc, if your planning to do some serious trotting you'll get much more pleasure using a centrepin than a closed faced reel. I've used closed faced reels (abu 501's) since I was a sprog and it's ok but not in the same league as trotting with a centrepin.

Whatever your targetting you can alter your depth in an instant purely by sliding your float up or down your mainline and do likewise with your shot to get your desired presentation. Regarding the pin you choose, my advice would be to buy a decent quality pin from the off and not a cheapo to start off.

[Alan Roe]

The ABU 706 is a very good reel and will do for what you want. However I would go with Tiggers sound advice and try a pin as they are a lot more fun to use and will give you more control over a float.

Which clubs waters are you planning to use for this experiment City or No1?

[Rusty]

I bought a 706 for trotting on windy days. I found it ok but for a smooth trot I had to pull line off with my left hand and feed it otherwise it was a bit jerky. I've used it three times and on each occasion suffered from line getting wrapped around the back of the spool so it's now consigned to its box in a cupboard. I'll continue to use a centrepin thanks and tolerate the odd windy day making life difficult.

[Hopinc]

Hi Guys,

 

Thank you for your responses.

 

Rusty, that is exactly the kind of information I was looking for.

 

Alan & Tigger, today I was over at Tackle2U in Bradford and was looking at both the centrepin reels and the ABU. I started having doubts about the 706 at that point. The example on show would not consistently re-engage the line pin when the handle was turned (no matter what the drag setting) and I got to wondering if anyone had experienced any problems with them. It could be that it was not assembled properly, but I could not check this as adjacent reels prevented me from taking the spool cover off to see what was happening.

 

I steered clear of the really expenisve centrepins like the Hardy, but had a play with an Ikonix, an Okuma Sheffield, an Okuma Aventa Pro and a Greys. Of these I would probably have bought the Aventa Pro had I that sort of cash available at the moment.

 

The Ikonix example was much better than the Marco Cortesi that I returned to Dragon Carp recently, which frankly was junk. This reel ran for a long time, but as an engineer I did not like the feel of the ball bearings (lumpy) and there was some play on the spool axis. It was being sold at a good price though, and it occured to me that if stripping, cleaning and re-lubrication did not fix the lumpiness then it would not be a great expense to replace the bearings with Abec 5's.

 

Whilst I was talking to the assistant in the shop he suggested that if I was fishing slow moving swims I would be better off with the ABU - yet another complication to the decision making process, if it's true?

 

You will no doubt have grasped by now that I have been contemplating a centrepin for some time. As yet the jury is still out. Making this decision is proving a lot harder than I ever thought it would. Crikey, I could pick up a fly rod and know within seconds if it was for me or not, but choosing a trotting reel is proving very problematical.

 

Alan, neither of those. I am a member of the Hebden Bridge AS and it's their waters that I fish.

Edited March 23, 2011 by Hopinc

[Rusty]

Whilst I was talking to the assistant in the shop he suggested that if I was fishing slow moving swims I would be better off with the ABU - yet another complication to the decision making process, if it's true?

 

In theory it should be, slow current taking line off a CF reel should be easier than starting up a 'pin which should also allow you to use lighter end tackle if you want to. That was another reason for me trying the 706. In practice I found it not to be the case. By 'slow current' I mean something a lot less than walking pace (which is actually quite fast), hard to be precise but maybe a fifth that speed or even less. Under those circumstances I found that even line going through the rod rings could hinder trotting and a coil or two would stop it altogether, it didn't matter which reel I was using.

 

I concluded that CF reel didn't offer me any significant advantages over a centrepin. The latter is the better tool for the job on most occasions, and if a particular 'pin needs help with a gentle flow I just thumb it round a bit.

[Anderoo]

I would also suggest a pin, and from reading your posts I reckon the Aventa (or a Sheffield if you can stretch to it) would suit you perfectly. I have a Sheffield and it is easily smooth enough to cope with slow flows.