On a side note, I have always been enthralled with the early ABU reels through the 1970s and early 80s. I wonder how much it cost them to buy the account from Wesseler? It sure didn’t take Garcia long to realize their mistake.

So that answered my questions about Garcia’s absence from the ad and who Julian A. Garcia cataloged the Ambassadeur for the first time in 1957.” It wasn’t long before Tom saw the reel’s potential, and a deal was struck between Garcia and ABU in 1956. first, but Tom Lenk (Garcia’s company head) showed little interest. The reel was actually offered to the Garcia Corp. Wesseler that secured the contract with ABU to sell their reel. “When the Ambassadeur bait caster came to America in 1954, it was Julian A.

So, I sent Fred an email asking the same question and received, almost instantly, a reply.

Bill directed me to a gentleman who he said, “Has forgotten more about ABU than you and I will ever know.” That man is Fred Ribb. This confused me a bit, so I sent Bill an email and asked if he knew why there was no mention of Garcia and who Julian A. First off, the ad is debuting the new Swedish Ambassadeur level wind reel – models 50 – and nowhere in the ad was the name Garcia. Here’s part of the early history of the ABU 5000.Īs I stated above, Bill Sonnett sent me the 1955 ad and when I looked at it, I had some questions for him. But what happened next got me pretty excited from a historical point of view. Bill is an ardent fan of ABU reels, having used them since 1964, and felt that I’d like to see the early ad. The ad was sent to me from Bass Fishing Archives writer and bass fishing historian, Bill Sonnett. Back in 2014 I was sent an ad from a 1955 issue of Field and Stream that showcased the new ABU 5000 reel.

Lining a abu garcia ambassadeur 5000