# Retiring from Flathead fishing after 20 years!



## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

i have decided after 20 years of hauling in countless Flatheads, and Blues and Channels i am going to retire......................................














........my Abu 6500 C3's!  




























Me? no, not ready to give it up yet but chasing Catfish has pretty much taken a back seat for the most part since having a Kid 3 years ago. 

i bought these reels in 1991 at All About Sports on Sale for a Whopping $41.00 to use in the GMR for Flatheads. since then they have Banked countless Flats, Channels, a few Blues, turtles, Carp, Cans, Plastic bags, and misc other trash.
they have been thru Hell and back being dragged thru woods, across rocks, dropped down riprap banks, dragged in the water, and even used as a weapond once to fend off a rabid feral Cat! 

over the years they have went thru some extreme abuse and pretty much held up except for replacing the worm gears every other year. that is pretty much why i am going to retire them this year. the frames and a little warped and the pin holes that hold the worm gears have wobbled out quite a bit which is what i think is contributing to the premature wearing. also the drag washers are pretty much shot. i keep them locked down tight until i need to fight a big fish and then i loosen a little and use my thumb on the spool as needed. handles are bent, push buttons are bent and sticking, and the bearings need constant oiling. would cost way too much to completely refurbish them as opposed to buying new ones. 

was going to retire them last year but thought i will wait till either the gears fail again or they make it till Sept 2011 which marks the 20yr mark. since i didnt fish much this year they made the Mark! 

may sound sappy but it was very hard deciding to put these up on the Mantle after all we have been thru on the Great Miami, LMR, Scioto, Ohio river, Eastwood Lake, a few paylake trips, and the New river in WVA. 

since the Flathead season is over for now i have time to check out whats on the Market to replace them. i have a bad feeling they dont make 'em this good anymore....


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

Great post Dink.I know what you mean,kids come first. I wish i fished as much as I did a few years ago. It will change though,we've got a few more GMR/Sciotot night trips in us!

I have an old Abu 6000c that I have on a shelf. Gotta love the old Abu's plus gotta love All About Sports!!!!


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## catfish_hunter (May 31, 2005)

Them older 6000 and 6500s like that have been used by a TON of catfisherman over the years! Some of the best all around reels for catfish, muskie, trolling ETC...You cant beat em with a stick!


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## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

if anyone has a couple of the older, pre instant anti reverse 6500's in fairly newer shape i am in the market! 

from what i have seen they have worked the bugs out of those "Instants" but i still would like to find a couple older ones with the old style anti-reverse and the much louder/stiffer mechanical clickers.

i owned one of the early "instants", and a friend owned a couple as well and they were notorious for the spool engaging really easy. on long hard casts they would engage in mid flight, and if a channel grabbed your offering and screamed off the vibrations from the clicker would engage the reel. 

took a look on Ebay last week at a couple but people are bustin heads on them older ones.


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## katfish (Apr 7, 2004)

Dink

I thought you wuz doing a Jack and breaking all your rods 

You might think about the 6500 TCs (not the CF specials) the plain covers and higher gearing. 

I'm betting if you tried the Shimano TRs you would be pleasantly surprised.


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## flathunter (Apr 5, 2004)

I took last year off from fishing, first do to no money I had to sell all my reels, then I was working to much...if things go as planed I will also be in the market for new reels next year..I got to have a hobby.


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## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

flathunter said:


> I took last year off from fishing, first do to no money I had to sell all my reels, then I was working to much...if things go as planed I will also be in the market for new reels next year..I got to have a hobby.


well Jack you didnt miss much this year, couldnt have picked a better time to take a break. pretty sure i only caught 5 flatheads this year, largest being about 10lb. seems most everyone had a horrible year as well. 

between working more hours and having a kid now my time was limited anyways. seemed what time i did have it almost always fell on those days that you know for a fact nothings going to bite and just stayed home.

as far as "having a hobby" i found Gardening helps me fill the void.....


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## littlefishmike (Nov 26, 2011)

i did well this year


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

On a similar note (this is a 100% true story): Years ago Jack (Flathunter) and I were fishing the Scioto River. On the first cast Jack had a backlash. He unscrewed the Abu 6000 from the rod and tossed the reel in the river. This was a brand new reel. I didn't know what to say. Ahh,the good ole days. I sure do miss them.


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## mo65 (Aug 5, 2011)

I love those Abu Garcia's myself...and you're right...they have been pricy on E-bay lately. I have a lower cost alternative that has turned out to be an even better reel for big flats(maybe too big for smaller channels). It's the Rhino RBCXL, and its a big girl. That's a BCX 6600 beside it for comparison. You can pick them up for about half of the price of an Abu Garcia. The one pictured I just added to my stable, an E-bay purchase, for _*$17.40!*_ I have an older one that looks a lot like your reels...scared with character!


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## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

that is one nice looking reel! a little too big for my liking though. in the waters i fish a 6000/6500 series is about all you need, even a 7000 is overkill. a few of the bigger fish i have banked have actually came on 5000 series reels while targeting channel cats. 

i looked up the reels Robby mentioned too and while they are very nice i am not a fan of the big "power handles". when a fish turns and makes a b-line straight toward you i cant pick up line fast enough with those big "winches" lol.

unfortunately we in the SW part of the state arent blessed with those 45+lb fish you guys have in the eastern watersheds.....


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## bigcatjoe (Sep 6, 2006)

I've used a Rhino Xl for years along side a few Abu 6500's and 7000's. NIce reel for the price. For the amount of casting we do (sometimes more paddling or motoring), theres no need for a reel with 1000 bearings. The drag has held up to some big fish too. As for this past season, flatheads were in no short supply it seemed. Have you guys checked out those Ming Yang reels? I picked on up last year and I'm not sure I'm a fan yet.
-Joe


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## freedomsoldier86 (Jul 23, 2011)

I was looking into getting a Ming Yang but have heard they don't hold up. Let us know how it holds up. I don't have money to spend on something that will fall apart right away.

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## mo65 (Aug 5, 2011)

Ming Yang? That name screams cheap! LOL! On the contrary, I checked them out on their website, and they sound like well built reels. They even have a 2 year warranty! How has yours held up bigcatjoe?


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## flathunter (Apr 5, 2004)

H2O Mellon said:


> On a similar note (this is a 100% true story): Years ago Jack (Flathunter) and I were fishing the Scioto River. On the first cast Jack had a backlash. He unscrewed the Abu 6000 from the rod and tossed the reel in the river. This was a brand new reel. I didn't know what to say. Ahh,the good ole days. I sure do miss them.


Oh yes true story, I had others in the bag to take its place lol, biggest backlash i had ever seen hooked the back of my chair while trying to throw 8 ounces 80 yds..On a side note, remember that 12 foot diawa rod u sold me? It would not come apart, ended up breakibng it into, and giving it a toss also, i dont put up with gear that dont work......lmao


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