Welcome 
Fans!
| If you have found your way here, then you are obviously a fan of A.B.Urfabriken's large product line. This fine purveyor of angling equipment has a long and glorious history of over 80 years. Little did the Borgstroms' realize the wonderful progression from watches and taxi meters to world domination of angling equipment, that was in store for them, nor the difficult and trying times to reach this pinnacle of achievement. |
 Thanks Dr Rob for this picture. |
ABU was the first of numerous fishing companies in Sweden. Situated in the south of Sweden at Svangta on the Morrum River, eventually they were the last company left after their growth due to high quality product allowed them to take over. My friend Rikk, whom I believe has the finest non ABU/Record Antique fishing reel website in the world, has provided me with some beautiful images of some of these other reel company products. Arjon, Rainbow, Victory, Radius, General Nordic, and Malt Blohm are just some of the contenders for the crown of biggest and best fishing company in Sweden. Scans of many beautiful old antique photos/advertizing material are linked above for these manufacturers. Old Record and ABU advertizing images can be found linked here.
ABU's obvious build quality led to the development of symbiotic relationships in other countries, one of which I'm just beginning to learn about now, ie Zebco in the USA. Mr Clinton Beeler is bringing me up to speed on this interesting expansion to ABU's products in the USA. Zebco contribution to ABU's USA expansion is here.
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I hope, as a worthy Ambassadeur of ABU, I am able to share some of my knowledge about ABU and that you feel you would like to communicate with me and a larger group of ABU fans via the Guestbook. I realize I am but one among many, but just that I have set about doing what I have wanted to achieve for many years. Sadly Our Forums have had to be removed due to my inability to control bad language, porn, un-solicited advertisements being placed by individuals as well as web crawling robots!
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| I have been an avid user of many of these Swedish ABU products for over 36 years (and an admirer of the Golden Reels) and I hope to both learn from others and also enthuse others, maybe, beginning fishers who have not had the good fortune to be exposed to this marque and would value the ideas and techniques expressed here. Historically fishing as a sport has been around for a very long time but ABU took it to a new high for the masses! |
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Abu never forgot the importance of educating its dealers throughout is world wide network. This ranged from factory visits, to special catalog inserts as well as great advertizing materials for the shopfronts. These items are quite rare to find and are very desirable in the eyes as collectors.
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The notion or concept of Balanced Tackle 1, 2, 3 , I attribute to ABU over the years from 1940's to the present, and this finesse allows use to be precise, as well as extreme in distance and accuracy of casting. For those who would like an X-ray view of these reels to appreciate their inner workings, look no further courtesy of Tight Lines 1974.
Full acknowledgement of the assistance I have received to collate the the information on this website is given to all the Books, catalogues, websites, other unpublished Abuholic friends as well as my frequent buying and using all types of ABU equipment. It has developed into my small, used but well-loved collection. This is constantly being expanded by trading and buying from new and old friends.
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Older articles from the ABU catalogs mentioned above are some of my favourite fishing reads. I have never read or seen a Garcia catalog from the USA, rather just heard of them. I would love to read some of the older ABU Garcia from the 60/80's if anyone has some for sale or maybe trade (or even loan) or some beautiful Australian Fishing magazines that are old or very current? Thanks Frank for help with the Aussie catalogs to appear here soon! |
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My ever expanding ABU wish list to be acquired over time is worth looking at if you have a reel, rod, lure, catalog or piece of Record or ABU memorabilia to trade or sell.
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ABU fishing lines such as Abulon I have had very little to do with ; I guess primarily because it was not available or actively marketed where I lived in rural Australia. Anyone very knowledgeable on this subject and who wishes to contribute and document this aspect of ABU for the website, I would greatly appreciate. |
Please enjoy my ABU experiences , indeed, feel welcome to contribute your own experiences. As a community of ABU fans, we should share these moments with all.
In the fullness of time I hope to expand this to include the main topic of why we all love our ABU reels, namely a section dedicated to Fish around the World. Pictures, descriptions, methods, conservation, bag limits, closed seasons, preparation and recipes if our members contribute sufficient information. It's not all at my fingertips and I wish to learn too, so please submit details of what you can share with our ABU network!
The major sections of this website are accessed from here or the buttons to the left. It would be wonderful to have this site " G " rated so that it is suitable to educate the young also! One day the forums may come back when I understand how to get rid of unsolicited , unsuitable posts.