My father left me all his old gear. One of his reels is a red Abu Ambassadeur 5000 with the # 195483 stamped on the bottom.

I am thinking this is a 1954 model but don't really know. Unfortunately the original leather case is lost. I tried looking this up online and found a price of $47 in 1954!

I am just wondering if any of you can tell me if you think I am correct in my dating of this reel or anything else interesting?

Thanks for your time.

Holy cow... could you imagine spending $47 on a fishing reel in 1954? It would be like spending $300 now, at least!

Oh, the stories that reel could tell! Is your Dad still around to share any stories or was this an inheritance?

Dad passed away about 10 years ago. This reel has been in the bottom of his cavernous old tackle box.

Traveler: " "

Wow, what a cool collection.

I've got something similar from my Dad's collection, but it's a 2000 series instead of 5000. Unfortunately I can't find any numerical stampings on it anywhere.

JD

You will probably want to contact this guy:

Fred's Classic ABU Reel Information

It’s funny how people who grew up back then (50s-70s) pretty much used the same gear and tackle. My Grandfather used the 5000 for Muskie. My Dad had one also but a pflueger bait caster too.

The Mitchell 300 was standard and my first open faced reel after graduating from the zebco closed faced reel. I then added a 308 and got a smaller Abu Garcia bait caster which is somewhere in a box around here.

Today there’s so many choices. Back then it was Mitchell 300 throwing a mister twister or a Mepps.

TomT: "
It’s funny how people who grew up back then (50s-70s) pretty much used the same gear and tackle. My Grandfather used the 5000 for Muskie. My Dad had one also but a pflueger bait caster too.

The Mitchell 300 was standard and my first open faced reel after graduating from the zebco closed faced reel. I then added a 308 and got a smaller Abu Garcia bait caster which is somewhere in a box around here.

Today there’s so many choices. Back then it was Mitchell 300 throwing a mister twister or a Mepps. "

You skipped a stage there in the Zebco > Mitchell transition. Going from a 202 to a 33 was a very big deal to a kid back in the day. :-)

Fishing Gear Icon: How the Zebco 33 Changed the World.

A brief update on my search for information. I found two very helpful folks online. Simon Shimomura answered my email with a lengthy history of the 5000 including an effort to track down my serial #. He said my reel was from 1960, not 1954.

I also received a response from Wayne Real (of Real'sReels website). He was actually in the hospital but still wrote back and promised more info when he is recovered. Kind folks.

My dad also had a collection of Mitchel 300s in at least two sizes. I still have them and they still work. My first reel as a kid was a green Johnson spin-cast and then eventually a bunch of 33s.

I enjoy fishing but I never turned into the fisherman that my dad was. I did get a Pflueger President for Fathers Day this year though!