New Rod And Reel!

Hi Folks,

I mentioned I was going to be ordering a 5500c3 and a new rod.  I found what I wanted on BPS, though the rod doesn't have quite the pistol grip I've come to prefer, it works.

The reel took a couple more days to get here as I chose free shipping and the method was up do them.  The rod was sent USPS, and the reel was sent FedEx Smart Post, which just means they brought it to my town and dropped it off at the post office for delivery.  "Smart" Post?  Huh-uh.

I love this reel!

Shown with a 5000c with fast gears (top), a four-screw 5000 with fast gears (middle), all these reels have an equal number of bearings!

The first thing I did when I got the 5500c3 was open it up.  It was filled with grease, but not overly packed.  It could have been fished as is.

I have come to prefer bearings in everything that links up when the level wind moves during a cast.  As the 5500c3 came, it was equipped with four bearings:  two on the spool, one on the worm gear, and the anti-reverse bearing.

I dug out some parts I try to keep around and got to work.  The interesting thing is that a bearing cog wheel and bearing worm gear assembly both work fine on both the vintage Ambassadeurs and this 2014 model! 

Thank God they kept it simple!

Reels from the 1990s I've opened up are generally a mess.  Not too complicated, but could be simplified.  I am happy Abu Garcia has finally simplified things.  My only complaint is the plastic, but honestly it's not a huge deal.  Polymer has advanced to the point I'm starting to trust it, and it does help keep gear noise down.

There are now bearings in both ends of the worm gear, two in the spool, one in the cog wheel, and the anti-reverse bearing for a total of six.  The vintage Ambassadeurs have six as well, though the anti-reverse bearing of course cannot be fitted to them, so they retain their dogs and use a ball bearing on the driveshaft behind the drag star.

I wasn't impressed with the amount of lube in the 5500c3's anti-reverse bearing.  Abu Garcia presses these in on all their current models of which I'm aware, and so I took a new shotgun bore swap and spun it around in there until it was pretty dry, though I didn't use alcohol or degreaser so a protective film still exists.

Pics:

Casting impressions were mixed.  Testing it in the yard, it seemed to require more spool tension than it should have with four of the six brakes engaged.

I took it out to the lake briefly alongside the four-screw, and I burnt my thumb on the 5500c3 keeping it from overrunning.  I do run my brakes dry (personal preference) and I couldn't figure it out.

Finally, I did.  I spooled it with new Berkely Fireline, and when I held the rod pointing down and hit the free spool button, the lure dropped just fine.

The braided line had too much friction, dangit!  I got home and tied some fluoro leaders.  That solved the problem.  I prefer to set my spool tension to drop the lure fast enough to give one loop of overrun, and those settings seem to apply to the 2014 model as well as the '60s and '70s models. 

This is a very nice reel, and the rod is more than acceptable.  I do wish its grip was better molded and of hard pebbled rubber, but those seem to be out of vogue.  I was going to order a custom rod until I wandered across a couple handles and seats (made by Abu Garcia) on eBay.  Looks like I'll just be building my next rod.  It should be interesting to learn!

The only thing I have left to do on the 5500c3 is to install carbon drag clutches, which I just ordered.  I almost got them on their way so they'd be here when the reel arrived, but I figured I'd see what the reel had in it, first.  It turns out the clutches have a substandard feel to what I've come to prefer, and so it's getting carbon.

I can't wait to get this thing out again.  Tonight was not optimal for fishing and I caught nothing.  If I can get away tomorrow, I'll get to give it a more thorough workout!

Regards,

Josh