the 1962 Tight Lines catalogue from ABU printed in English

In the 1960’s and 1970’s ABU were regarded as the absolute ‘business’ in tackle. When the Ambassadeur 6000 was launched it was regarded as the World’s best multiplier – by a wide margin. Salmon, pike and bass anglers bought thousands of the things, and I reckon most of them are still going strong. Then came the Cardinals. There are loads of anglers who swear by their unburstable, trouble-free Cardinals, and use them in preference to modern plastic fantastics.In 1962, as a pathetically poor teenage student, I once slipped self-consciously into Ogden Smiths’ posh London shop, just for a longing gaze or two at the latest tackle. It was all far too expensive for my empty pockets, but remarkably, I left with something for nothing – the 1962 Tight Lines catalogue from ABU printed in English: now a very rare creature. The pages were full of photographs of anglers, mostly Scandinavian, holding huge fish caught on ABU tackle. And to make me even more envious I read that the best of them were awarded gold ABU badges. COR! What an honour.There too, in Tight Lines was a picture of the Swedish King fishing the River Mörrum near Svängsta. I dreamed of fishing such rivers. So – forty years later, when I found myself bound for that area, I just had to make the pilgrimage to the ABU factory. I thought a phone call might be enough, but it took a fair bit of name dropping and string pulling, before the visit was agreed. There were rules to be adhered to too. These are commercial times, and several areas of the factory are off-limits due to the possibility of industrial espionage. It all sounded a bit James Bond, but I was soon to understand why precautions are necessary. For this long-time fan of Ambassadeurs, it was like entry into the Hall of the Mountain King.My guide was the Company Production Engineer, Kenneth Peterson. Kenneth’s enthusiasm for ABU was such that I had the firm impression that he’d work there for nothing. He proudly told be that he had bought his first Ambassadeur in 1957, and that it was still as good as on the day he’d got it.Having been totally seduced by the staggering quality of a ABU Mörrum Ambassadeur that came in on test, I was very keen to see them being made, and said so. Kenneth gave me a bit of an old-fashioned look, as if wondering whether I’d pass on all their secrets to the opposition, but he smiled eventually, and led me to a small extension to the factory. The place was as clean as an operating theatre, and as quiet as the grave. Kenneth explained in hushed tones that absolute silence was required in order to be able to tune each reel by ear. I noticed one of the girls at her bench listening intently to a reel as she spun the spool by hand. Mörrums are very much hand-assembled reels.Even in the less hollowed halls, I noticed that the factory was blissfully free from the mind-rotting Radio One crap one hears so frequently on building sites, and factory assembly lines – to compliment the pinned-up Page 3 tits and bums.A sign hung on the door – NO PHOTOGRAPHY. I put my camera away, and slipped into this Masonically secret section of the factory. I’ve seen it now, and I’m not telling. But I will say this Pilgrim, there are some wondrous goings-on at ABU. My lips are sealed, but I really want what I saw.And then my beady eye spotted something odd on an assembly line. A special Ambassadeur made for the Australian market. I can’t say much about that either, but there are Worlds beyond our World, I’ve discovered. ABU collectors would have apoplexy in this factory, and need searching on the way out. No wonder ABU are cagey about who they allow through their doors.The two hour visit was everything I’d hoped for, and confirmed every positive impression I’d long-held about this splendid Swedish company. ABU is American-owned these days. I imagine the Swedes feel as happy about that as do we Brits when we hear that Jaguar Cars are owned by Ford, and Rolls Royce by Volkswagen. National pride aside, it to the ongoing credit of the American.

To find out more about the wonderful fishing in Sweden, please visit Swedish Travel & Tourism.