Casting Abu 7000

[jackblack86 5]

Well gave the Abu a cast on the weekend. After an oil and a bit of tlc it now casts 50-60 m no worrries, just have to improve on my skills a bit

[4THALOVE 45]

top stuff mate run the reel under a bit of fresh h20 before you head out as well especially if ya usin braid cheers 4THA

[Craziestozzy 0]

I would toss the Level Wind and replace with a support rod.But only do so if you have some room to move with respect to the distance between first guide and reel. You have to have room to manually feed the line onto the spool on retrieve and do it in comfort without slicing your fingers on braid.Using standard diameter braid will chuck your gear out further as opposed to mono.Loosen completely the cast tension button and get used to using your thumbs to control backlash....that's my take

[plankton 725]

top stuff mate run the reel under a bit of fresh h20 before you head out as well especially if ya usin braid cheers 4THA

In my experience it's not that good to just run a reel under the tap, a heavy flow of water will often drive sand, salt and water into the reel where you don't want it. It can also wash away the oil in your bearings and levelwind gear, plus the old fibre washer drags on Abus perform very poorly when wet. I use one of those multi spray hose nozzles on the "mist" setting and just give the reel a very light spray after a session to get rid of sand or salt. Another good trick is to tighten the drag all the way when washing down to keep water out of the drag system, just don't forget to back it off for storage when the reel is dry otherwise you can compress the washers and shorten their life span.50-60m casts are quite good if you're using a boat rod, if it's a beach rod then with a bit of practice you can maybe double that.

[4THALOVE 45]

top stuff mate run the reel under a bit of fresh h20 before you head out as well especially if ya usin braid cheers 4THA

In my experience it's not that good to just run a reel under the tap' date=' a heavy flow of water will often drive sand' date=' salt and water into the reel where you don't want it. It can also wash away the oil in your bearings and levelwind gear, plus the old fibre washer drags on Abus perform very poorly when wet. I use one of those multi spray hose nozzles on the "mist" setting and just give the reel a very light spray after a session to get rid of sand or salt. Another good trick is to tighten the drag all the way when washing down to keep water out of the drag system, just don't forget to back it off for storage when the reel is dry otherwise you can compress the washers and shorten their life span.50-60m casts are quite good if you're using a boat rod, if it's a beach rod then with a bit of practice you can maybe double that. [/quote'']yeah i didnt mean soak the reel just a light spray to take the tackiness off it or use a reel and line lubricant cheers for correcting me plankton 4THA

[Moggy23 625]

top stuff mate run the reel under a bit of fresh h20 before you head out as well especially if ya usin braid cheers 4THA

Just reading 4THA reply reminded me of some the problems that I had casting with different braids.I used Berkley Fireline for a few years and had good success until it started backlashing on me from the braid catching on itself on the reel, with age.Then used Spiderwire, big mistake, that started backlashing after 3 outings when the coating wore of. :S Now I use Suffix 832 braid with good results in casting, like 4THA said, now I wet the reel before using. http://www.strikehook.com/forum/35-bait-a-tackle/171911-up-dating-abu7000I use auto trans oil on all the bearings, as I have plenty of that laying around.

[jackblack86 5]

50-60m casts are quite good if you're using a boat rod' date=' if it's a beach rod then with a bit of practice you can maybe double that. [/quote']Yeah I'm using a 2m penn sports rod

[tonyb 1,017]

50-60m casts are quite good if you're using a boat rod' date=' if it's a beach rod then with a bit of practice you can maybe double that. [/quote']Yeah I'm using a 2m penn sports rod

What sort of weight are you using with that short rod mate?

[johndeere 0]

Are you releasing the thumb screw on the end of the axis of the spool? This is a seperate component from the star drag.

[jackblack86 5]

50-60m casts are quite good if you're using a boat rod' date=' if it's a beach rod then with a bit of practice you can maybe double that. [/quote']Yeah I'm using a 2m penn sports rod

What sort of weight are you using with that short rod mate?

Only a light snapper weight, so it looks like its casting quite well after a bit of oil

[storm boy 17]

Hi all,First time poster here I have had a little experience in field casting, which teaches you fairly quickly about distance casting as you measure the casts - it's rather embarassing when you first try, as the casts somehow measure a lot shorter than what they seem on the beach The rod is on the short side for casting long distances. A longer rod (12-14') would be much more suited to distance casting. Having said that, distance can be improved with the right reel setup and the right casting technique.Reel setup includes things like different grades of bearing oil, removing the levelwind where appropriate, having or adding a magnetic cast control, types and thicknesses (very important!)of line. Casting weight needs to be matched to the setup.Technique involves learning how to load the rod correctly, there are several good techniques, all of which need to be practiced - Off The Ground, Pendulum (as has been previously mentioned) amongst others. If you do a search on these you should be able to find some videos that demonstrate it. Be aware that it does take practice, and some tuition goes a long way.For those who are interested, here are a couple of pics of reels that I have modified for the field, both are Abu 5000s.The level wind has been removed, a new cross bar installed, the levelwind plastic gear removed and a "bullet" installed to hold the bearing/spool in place, a magnetic cast control added ("knobby mag"), hybrid ceramic bearings installed and 0.28mm diameter mono (around 8lb)installed. This then goes to a shock leader of around 60lb, and leads from 5-6 oz clipped on to the end.Cheers!

[afishyfish 4]

top stuff mate run the reel under a bit of fresh h20 before you head out as well especially if ya usin braid cheers 4THA

like 4THA said' date=' now I wet the reel before using. [/quote']Bit off topic here, but why wet the braid beforehand ? Never heard of this b4.I assume this softens it a bit and helps reduce potential backlash problems

[tonyb 1,017]

Hi all' date='First time poster here I have had a little experience in field casting, which teaches you fairly quickly about distance casting as you measure the casts - it's rather embarassing when you first try, as the casts somehow measure a lot shorter than what they seem on the beach The rod is on the short side for casting long distances. A longer rod (12-14') would be much more suited to distance casting. Having said that, distance can be improved with the right reel setup and the right casting technique.Reel setup includes things like different grades of bearing oil, removing the levelwind where appropriate, having or adding a magnetic cast control, types and thicknesses (very important!)of line. Casting weight needs to be matched to the setup.Technique involves learning how to load the rod correctly, there are several good techniques, all of which need to be practiced - Off The Ground, Pendulum (as has been previously mentioned) amongst others. If you do a search on these you should be able to find some videos that demonstrate it. Be aware that it does take practice, and some tuition goes a long way.For those who are interested, here are a couple of pics of reels that I have modified for the field, both are Abu 5000s.The level wind has been removed, a new cross bar installed, the levelwind plastic gear removed and a "bullet" installed to hold the bearing/spool in place, a magnetic cast control added ("knobby mag"), hybrid ceramic bearings installed and 0.28mm diameter mono (around 8lb)installed. This then goes to a shock leader of around 60lb, and leads from 5-6 oz clipped on to the end.Cheers![/quote']Kinda interesting casting these tournament outfits with the fine main line on and you "birds nest". The line goes ping and you've probably got the world distance casting record for your weight but unfortunately the lead is AWOL!Incidentally probably a foot or two underground as well :ohmy: Good luck sorting a braid tangle out after that as well

[Moggy23 625]

top stuff mate run the reel under a bit of fresh h20 before you head out as well especially if ya usin braid cheers 4THA

like 4THA said' date=' now I wet the reel before using. [/quote']Bit off topic here' date=' but why wet the braid beforehand ? Never heard of this b4.I assume this softens it a bit and helps reduce potential backlash problems [/quote']Just something I worked out for myself, While the braid is new, it's OKSpiderwire for an example lost it's coating after 3 outings was backlashing, so I tipped some fresh water on the reel, which then stopped the back lashing straight away.Also what is coming into play is that my hands are getting covered fish slime and blood on them and this gets transferred to the braid when thumb is controlling the cast or by any other means of handling a rod.The reels are always lightly spayed with fresh water after every outing, but this doesn't get the slime of the braid and dries sticking the braid together on the reel.Most of the time I forget to wet the braid as it's gets wet on the way out to drop or the the baits are simiply dropped over the side, but on the first cast it lets me know if it needed lubing with H2O.

[storm boy 17]

tonyb,Yep, had my fair share of birdsnests Incidentally, the rods are the ones I use for fishing and the reels are finely tuned which when combined with a smooth casting technique ends up in fewer birdsnests than you might think.For fishing a more conservative tune is used (i.e. more mags) and I would only lose a rig to a backlash maybe every other outing. Practice helps Cheers!