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Swedish Pike Rod
Post 18 Feb 2020, 12:37 • #1 
Master Guide
Joined: 09/23/18
Posts: 614
Location: Eastern Wa
Some time ago i picked up an unfished ABU Laplandia 5078 8.5' fiberglass fly rod, wanting an all Swede rod for pike. When i got the rod i quickly discovered it was very heavy. I matched a well kept ABU Record fly reel to it and found it was no where near heavy enough to balance the rod. I ended up winding 4 colors of 27# leadcore backing on it and spooled up some cheap 8wt sink tip fly line to it. With that the balance was better but not perfect (about 1/2" in front of the cork). Casting it was a bit of work and the rod seemed to have a progressive medium fast action. It wasnt too difficult to cast 90+ feet with the hingy cheap sink tip. I think it should make a reasonable pike rod and im looking forward to fishing it next fall. It is not really a thing of beauty like the fine fiberglass rods that have been available here but more utilitarian. I love ABU reels however and the ABU Record reel is pretty nice.

Prior to this rod i made the mistake of getting an ABU 9' 9wt and although cheap, it was far too heavy to fish with one handed and will probably get turned into a lead core trolling rod.






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Re: Swedish Pike Rod
Post 18 Feb 2020, 13:52 • #2 
Guide
Joined: 02/04/18
Posts: 208
Location: US-MN
Well not a rod or reel you see every day, was bidding on a record once but not knowing if they were any good I didn't go high enough. Nice looking combo to me.


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Re: Swedish Pike Rod
Post 19 Feb 2020, 08:57 • #3 
Sport
Joined: 07/16/18
Posts: 94
Location: USA
Hey fishhuntmike,

Curious about your rod I checked Wayne Real’s site. From the 50’s-70’s catalog pages posted, Laplandia #’s were 3 digit (5**).
http://www.realsreels.com/RecordABUrodlistsfromcatalogs.html

Then I found the 5078 mentioned on a 1976 catalog page - as a budget-priced trout rod.
Image

You may wish to email Wayne asking whether there is a catalog page circa 1976 that states what reel was recommended for the 5078.


John


Last edited by whrlpool on 19 Feb 2020, 08:57, edited 1 time in total.
Please do not post email addrresses


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Re: Swedish Pike Rod
Post 19 Feb 2020, 09:13 • #4 
Master Guide
Joined: 09/23/18
Posts: 614
Location: Eastern Wa
Thanks John for the info. I find it interesting that the catalog page describes the rod as a trout rod. I also see they show an ABU Delta 3 in the picture. I happen to have a Delta 5. When deciding to make my mind up as to which reel to put on it I judged the reels by spool size and determined the Delta 5 was too small to load a bunch of lead core on it followed by a 8wt fly line so i went with the less period correct Record reel instead. My guess is that the ABU company was not concerned about reel balance when they designed thier fly rods. I tried a 7wt line on the rod and it hardly loaded the top 3rd of the rod. A 9 wt might do better than an 8 on this pole, hence I described it as my "pike" rod.

To me this rod is sort of a novelty. I have at least 10 other rods that would be more pleasant to use as pike rods but i happen to like the company history and started my my teen years using ABU baitcasters starting around 1980.

Last year I aquired a nice 4 screw ABU 6000 (similar to my very first baitcaster an ABU Ambassador 6000) and a nice ABU rod of the same era and caught a pike on it on its first outing. The fish was delicious as i cooked it on the boat immediately afterwards as a fillet o fish sandwich. That is what started me thinking about an all ABU fly rod.



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Re: Swedish Pike Rod
Post 19 Feb 2020, 20:06 • #5 
Master Guide
Joined: 07/05/05
Posts: 742
Location: US-VA
I got a Swedish fly rod once (boo.) Used it's grip end as a priest.


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Re: Swedish Pike Rod
Post 19 Feb 2020, 22:21 • #6 
Sport
Joined: 07/16/18
Posts: 94
Location: USA
whrlpool,

You da man mod! Thank you. Sorry. I much appreciate/admire the moderation on this forum – far above what I’ve seen at other forums I happen to follow.

In my defense though, I will say Wayne’s email address (posted in numerous locations on his site) was already in the public domain. So, I did not anticipate posting it as being problematic. Rather, just as a convenience. Definitely, PM in the future.


fishhuntmike,

A couple of things for consideration.

The full name of your rod is Lapplandia 5078 Zoom (as you show in a photo above). “Zoom” means: 1. A rod with supremely fast and progressive action. See excerpt below from a 1971 catalog with a scene from ABU’s new blank factory in Ireland. Prior to that, ABU had imported Narmco Conolon blanks. I don’t own a Zoom, but if what ABU wrote is correct, their fiberglass rods are now fast versus their/the earlier slow-action models of fiberglass rods.
Image

I respectfully disagree with the notion that “ABU company was not concerned about reel balance when they designed their fly rods.” ABU catalogs (like Garcia) contain balanced tackle tables, including even the proper-sized gaff (really!). Unfortunately, Wayne’s 1976 Catalog scan does not include the full right page. Following the listing sequence from bottom to top, the Scandia has a Delta 3 attached. The blue-colored Lapplandia 5078 attached reel is not in view. I still think it would be helpful to your fishing to learn what reel ABU recommended.

John


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Re: Swedish Pike Rod
Post 19 Feb 2020, 23:12 • #7 
Master Guide
Joined: 09/23/18
Posts: 614
Location: Eastern Wa
Thank you John for the historical info!!!! I have many fly reels. Probably 60-70 or so. My big Fin Nor 4.5 balances this "trout" rod perfectly for my tastes ( a little front of center on the grip). I dont think ABU offers or recommends such a large reel for a trout rod (i could be wrong) so basically im not interested in buying another heavy reel for the rod. Hope you understand.

Again thanks for being such a wealth of information!!!

Mike


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