# Line for Abu Ambassadeur 5000



## mkey (Aug 18, 2011)

Backstory: I have a slightly older (I think it's like a 1970's model) reel that I like a lot but I have a question about spooling it up. I have had like 15lb mono on it for quite awhile but felt like the line was 'lumpy' on the spool. This past weekend I went down to fish on the Altamaha and on a friends advice I stripped it down about halfway and then topped off the spool with braid; specifically 30lb Suffix brand. I did this on my other reel as well which is a Diawa Exceler and it was golden however the Abu was just frustrating. The line buried in on itself, didn't feel like it flowed off the reel, and really just wasn't enjoyable to use. 

So I have totally stripped all of the line off of the reel and am going to completely re-spool it. I would really appreciate some input on what kind of line will work well on this reel. 

1.Does it perform better with mono versus braid versus ??? 
2.Is it better to use a heavier line and if so how heavy as a baseline? 

I am not asking so much about brands (though I am very open to opinions on that as well) but more so just the general type of line that will give me the best performance out of this type of a reel.

I think that I am explaining myself but I will be happy to answer questions if I am leaving out some detail that is critical. I would like this reel to be as usable as possible in a multitasking type of way though I appreciate it has it's ideal use simply due to the nature of it's design, I can accept that I just don't know what that ideal is.

thanks.


----------



## Nicodemus (Aug 18, 2011)

I`ve always used the plain old Stren 17 lb test line on mine. Never had any problems.


----------



## mkey (Aug 18, 2011)

ah, very good. I like Stren and have 10lb test on the Diawa so I will be very happy to grab that. thanks man.

nothing special about putting the line on is there? those lumps really made me wonder what i did wrong...doesn't seem like rocket science but there they were and i really disliked the way that it felt under my thumb.


----------



## Lukikus2 (Aug 18, 2011)

I love the older ABU's, they are built like a tank.

If you put braid on them you have to take it almost all the way to the spool for it to lay flat. Then you have to re-adjust your "free spool" setting (on the left of the reel) to where you won't be getting bird nests with it. Just be careful and take all the slack out of the reel before engaging it. I use braid on half of mine and that's what I do.


----------



## Miguel Cervantes (Aug 18, 2011)

I have PowerPro braid and only fish Ambassador's from 4000c to 6000 series for casters. Once the casting settings are adjusted you can strong arm a cast as far as you can throw it without a thumb on the spool. One determining factor is also the rod you use / number of guides on the rod. The shortest rod I use with mine is a 6 1/2 foot rod with a few more guides than the normal rod. Too few guides will cause a backlash as well.

Basically it's all in the set up, but with a good braid you will have zero stretch on the hook set.


----------



## Twenty five ought six (Aug 18, 2011)

Buy you a spool of something like Berkley Big Game in 50-60 lb. test, and use it for backing to the braid.  I'm not familiar with the Daiwa, but I suspect the Abu has a bigger spool, and in my experience the lower layers will eventually dig in.  If it does dig in, the heavy mono is a lot easier to loosen up.  Plus, it will make your braid go twice as far (in terms of usage).  I don't know about other reels, but this has been the trick for me using braid on my Abu's.


And yes, heavier braid is less likely to dig in that lighter stuff.


----------



## sbroadwell (Aug 18, 2011)

Like anything else, it depends on what you like. I've got several old Abus, and I have mono on all except on. I put 60# Power Pro on one, just to see how it did. Works ok, but I still like mono better.

If you're handy, you probably should take the reel apart and clean and oil it good. Not hard at all on these reels, just make sure you pay attention to what is where, when you're taking it apart. Not too good to end up with several little parts after you put it back together!


----------



## Miguel Cervantes (Aug 18, 2011)

Just curious!! why are you guys putting such a heavy lb. PowerPro on a bass rod?? the advantage to braid and casting farther is in the smaller diameter / strength ratio they carry. Just asking.


----------



## Fishlipps Revisited (Aug 18, 2011)

one thing to watch out for using light (10-12 lb) on the older Ambassaseurs......they weren't built to extremely tight tolerances, and the lighter line can get between the spool and the frame if you get a little "overrun".....and, that is a MAJOR pain to deal with....

i use 12 for cranking on my old Abus...and i have to VERY careful.....14 and up...no problem...


----------



## Cedarridge Tomcat (Aug 18, 2011)

Hey Mkey,  On some of the older ABUs you can tell what year they're made by looking, I believe, at the last two of the serial number.  FYI


----------



## bpoulin (Aug 18, 2011)

Miguel Cervantes said:


> Just curious!! why are you guys putting such a heavy lb. PowerPro on a bass rod?? the advantage to braid and casting farther is in the smaller diameter / strength ratio they carry. Just asking.



1. They might not be aiming for bass. 

2. My draw to braid is the high tensile strength to line size ratio. My primary target is Gar, so I need to be able to cast a bit, yet hold up to the fight of a big fish. Braid fits that bill. 

3. I don't know if anyone has done this yet or not, but when you spool your reel with mono, mono/braid, or just braid what is the weight difference? Because I'm wondering about the rotational mass of the spool at that point. The one with the most weight would probably help reduce backlash, and may cast further, as long as the line was light. 

I'm not sure I'm explaining this well, but here's my theory. Braid is lighter than it's comparable weight line, but is it lighter than it's comparable size line? (i.e. 10# braid is the size of 4# but as far as weight what's the difference?) Because if the braid is heavier the increased rotational mass would mean the spool would take more energy to speed up the spool, but once it was rotating it would rotate longer. Hence it should lessen the chance of the spool rotating faster than the line pulling off of it, but also at the middle of the cast the lure should be pulling less on the spool because it should be rotating under it's own mass. What are your thoughts on this?


----------



## sbroadwell (Aug 18, 2011)

Miguel Cervantes said:


> Just curious!! why are you guys putting such a heavy lb. PowerPro on a bass rod?? the advantage to braid and casting farther is in the smaller diameter / strength ratio they carry. Just asking.



I actually downsized to 60# from the 80# usually used in fishing heavy weeds with frogs, etc. You gotta be able to cut right though the weed stalks.


----------



## Lukikus2 (Aug 18, 2011)

Miguel Cervantes said:


> Just curious!! why are you guys putting such a heavy lb. PowerPro on a bass rod?? the advantage to braid and casting farther is in the smaller diameter / strength ratio they carry. Just asking.



For fishing pads and heavy vegetation mostly. With braid you can crank your drag all the way down and soon as the fish hooks up, pull him up out the mess and ski it back across the vegetation to the boat or shore. Also when you get hung in vegetation you can pull it loose or pull the vegetation to you so your not losing hooks and baits all the time. 60# diameter braid is pretty much the same as 12# mono (I think) and will cast just as far if not farther.


----------



## mkey (Aug 18, 2011)

Good stuff guys! Lot's of learning going on here..... I realize that I wasn't taking line size into account with the braid. So while I was using 30lb braid on top of the mono, the equivalent was something like 8lb mono or something . I was seeing something akin to what fishlipps talked about. 

thanks for all the comments, this is good stuff!


----------



## jerseycat9 (Aug 20, 2011)

I'm an Abu enthusiast to the highest level and I stick with 12 to 17lb Stren for all of them. The 12lb goes on all my 5000, 5500, and 5600's it for me has been the most user friendly line for me over the 25 years of tossing abu's.


----------

