Drag Pressure

[Scattergun2570]

abu garcia claims 15# of some 6500 round reels as the record 60, stripper special, catfish special, etc and 20# on the 7000 sized reels.
real world recommended drag might be half of that on each case.


I have the 6500c3, record 60, 7000c and 6600c,  the frame and sideplates on the Record 60 are really more strong that the frame/sideplates on my 6500c3. so, depending on your reel you can use a bit more drag than 7-8#

Sounds like I may need to look outside of Abus..tough finding a left handed reel capable of Doing what I need.



Can I get parts for a Calcutta 401 if I were to find one?

Look into the Calcutta 400/401.  The one piece aluminum frame is much stronger than any Abu frame, even the heavy duty chromed brass frames that come on the Record and Pro Rocket.  It won't twist.  Max drag capability is a little more than the Ambassadeur, plenty usable for your purposes.  If you're stuck on Abu, the 6500 Beast also has a one piece aluminum frame.  A seller by the name of Cardinal Parts sells them on eBay much less than MSRP, at about $260 or so.  Otherwise they run about $400.  I wish they would down size that frame to work with 4500 and 5500 sizes, really nice piece.

Here's a Calcutta 400 from a customer of mine that I had went through.


Another one to look at, the older Abu Black Max/Pro Max line of reels.  They are built much like the Calcutta and come in sizes from 1600 all the way to 6600.  Like the Calcutta, they have a one piece aluminum frame with a low reel seat and in the smaller 1600 and 3600 sizes, a disengaging level wind.  Only issue on your part is they never made them in left hand retrieve.  The drag stack is the same as the Ambassadeur 4500/5500/6500.  For a little fun fact, once these reels hit the market, Abu then changed their 4500/5500/6500 reels over to the free floating spool design with the fixed axle used in more contemporary models versus the older design with the pressed in spool shaft.  You can find these reels on eBay for less than $50 quite often.  I think they're a far superior reel to the standard Ambassadeur but they are quite overshadowed due to them not having that classic Ambassadeur look.  Here's a Black Max 1600 of mine, the spiritual successor to the famous 1500C.  I like this guy for throwing small baits, like CD01 Rapala Countdowns and such.