Old School...

[Number9]

Old School.. well, I am an old man! :mrgreen:

I hooked a large rainbow on the Tellico River last year. The "modern reel" I was using,.. you know the one, that has plastic gears, ball bearings, and plastic body, and the drag doesn't work right? I had put new Berkley Trilene 6# test line on the reel, first time out. The drag hung up and that rainbow broke that line like sewing thread.. I got it to the edge and it's length was 24" or better!

I had two 300's that were stolen back in 1995.. by then they weren't made in France any longer, so I replaced them with other makes, which needed replacing every few years. I searched on eBay for weeks looking for two Mitchell reels in good shape. The '76 came from a estate sale and was like new. The '67 had light use.. but the bail wire had some corrosion and was replaced with a new one from an old dealer.

My '76 reel is loaded with 20# Berkley braided line and mounted to a medium action rod.. and the drag works really good! The '67 reel has 15# test braid on it and mounted on a light action rod.. both rods are Berkley Cherry Wood.
Yes, I'm going back after his butt! Ha!

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Very nice used a few back then. I still have my Ambassador 5000,6000 and 6500 from the 60s and 70s.
Hate to say it but a Trout deserves to be caught on a fly rod. A 24" one in a stream would have you running with it.

 

[Number9]

Very nice used a few back then. I still have my Ambassador 5000,6000 and 6500 from the 60s and 70s.
Hate to say it but a Trout deserves to be caught on a fly rod. A 24" one in a stream would have you running with it.

Yeah.. should had the fly rod that day!

 

[RSIno1]

I prefer old Rugers too.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I had an old Garcia Mitchell 302 salt water reel that I inherited from my father 'new in the box' and I found it quite primitive, including the drag. After trying it out several times I later put that reel on an old pole and sold it at a yard sale. I still have the box and paperwork. I much prefer the newer Penn reels, the 'Fierce' and 'Battle' in particular. ...but good luck with Big Wally.

 

[JackpineWillie]

Loved those old 300s. Maybe it was because they were so far ahead of what I had used before ( bait casters with no free spool, back lash city ). I really don't remember why I changed "up". I currently have a couple of the 300X series but they just don't quite measure up.

 

[OldRugerMan]

Here are a few Michell 300 & 302's that I've collected. They were way ahead of their time! This picture could also qualify for the reloading benches picture. :mrgreen:

 

[willk]

Remember those. They were very popular on the bayou in the 1950's. I used them through the early 70's but like everyone else, I turned to the dark side. ( Garcia 5000's and 5500's) By the late 70's went to ultra light spinning reels and stiff but very light rods and lines. Caught more bass than I ever dreamed of with heavy tackle. Good ones too.

Now when I fish, I fish straight ultralights or fly rod for bream and the occasional small bass

 

[protoolman]

I still fish a 1984 vintage Mitchell 300s which is a skirted design with silent anti reverse. For the life of me I can't figure out why people are fishing these teeny little reels these days. Penns Battle reels feel a lot like the old Mitchell. I will probably buy one soon if I want to replace the Mitchell. There are a lot of plastic body reels on the market these days. Yuck!

 

[powder smoke]

Here are a few Michell 300 & 302's that I've collected. They were way ahead of their time! This picture could also qualify for the reloading benches picture. :mrgreen:

You Da Man!

Mitchell 300's are tough to beat. I used them for years. ps

 

[mikewriter]

Many years ago I fished with some friends in a King Mackerel Tournament out of Freeport, Texas. An "old timer" with us was using a Mitchell 300, if I remember correctly, but had it loaded with heavier line than it was designed for - probably over 40# test. He hooked a very good fish that I gaffed, then told the owner of the boat to rank up and run for the scales. It was a 39.1 pound king that won us first place and $10,000! A week later the same guy fished with us and caught a bigger king that we didn't weigh - on the same "wore out" old reel. I never liked open face spinning reels until then!

Mike

 

[WAYNO]

I'm surprised to hear folks say the Mitchell 300 was what they always used to use. I've owned everything imaginable, and the Mitchell 300 is still my favorite spinning reel. And I own a lot of reels.

Seventies-vintage Mitchell 300 on an American-made Eagle Claw pole that I received for Christmas in 1965. And on another pole I also have my 1st Mitchell, bought in 1964. These are still my go-to outfits for spin-fishing.

Fishing all my life, I've acquired a few rigs, and have some definite opinions. I'm also still quite fond of the old Ambassadeurs.

WAYNO.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

From the "How to make old looking pictures by using a crummy phone camera" file, this picture's actually less than two years old:

As much as I appreciate Jim's comment on trout deserving fly rods, there's a time and place for all kinds of fishing equipment, and I love throwing hardware almost as much as casting a fly. So when it's a lure day, I look at all the reels in the closet, from several mfrs, and almost always end up taking out one of the Mitchells. There are 304s, a 304S (this one), a 314, a 308 and two or three 308As, plus a handful of 300s starting about 1961 thru the last of the 300As built in France, and a couple of still pristine 302s we fished SoCal and Baja beaches with in the early '60s.

One nice thing about the French Mitchells is they're kinda like Model 12 Winchester shotguns: you can "snug 'em up" to compensate for wear, with shims designed for most wear points. They were designed to last a "lifetime" when that meant the lifetime of the fisherman, not the marketing cycle that particular model fell into. Even without ball bearings, an old, well cared for and "tuned" Mitchell is plenty smooth. AND it has the "right" amount of plastic on it: virtually none. I've got enough of them to last me as long as I can fish and then some, but looking at OldRugerMan's pictures still makes me drool a little...

Rick C

 

[Wyandot Jim]

As much as I appreciate Jim's comment on trout deserving fly rods, there's a time and place for all kinds of fishing equipment, and I love throwing hardware almost as much as casting a fly.

Yep have to agree with that. Have caught many a Trout with a gold and silver spoon. Most of the time when I take wifie with me I use light weight spinning with 4# test on it. I have also caught a few 8-10#Bonefish with spinning and 4# line. Now that is a battle.