I Went To Vintage Mitchell Reels

[32251]

i decided to go to all vintage mitchell reels for my own enjoyment.  went online and bought a bunch of them and learned how to rebuild them.  i never could afford one when i was a kid.  i have had the best time doing this and they are great reels still even though now some i use are 40-50 years old. plenty of parts around for them.  this was the mac daddy of fishing reels for a time in the 40s -60s.  here is a pic of some ready to go.

[Ken Browning]

Nice!!! I always wanted a Mitchell 300 when I was a kid but couldn't afford one. They were the reels to have. I recently purchased a 300 only to learn that I need a 301 (right hand retrieve). I was also gonna try to find some vintage lures to fish with and see if they'll still work. I wanted to try fishing with a Creek Chub Pearch Wiggle Fish but quickly found out that if I actually score one, I probably won't fish it.

[retiredbosn]

All my uncle uses are vintage Mitchel 300, the ones made in France. One of the members here hooked me up with a couple that I cleaned up and gave to him. He has a bunch of them, enjoy.

[slonezp]

Brings back memories. I have a few in the garage that haven't seen the light of day in 30 years.

[flipin4bass]

All my uncle uses are vintage Mitchel 300, the ones made in France. One of the members here hooked me up with a couple that I cleaned up and gave to him. He has a bunch of them, enjoy.

I've got a couple of the French made 300s I use as room décor, they would need a major overhaul before they could be put back into use. They were good reels back in the day...glad to see someone still using them.

[Comfortably Numb]

Yup Mitchel 300 was my first reel in the 70's.

[Teal]

Good stuff dude!

[*Hootie]

Have one I bought in 1969. Still have it, still works great.

Hootie

[Goose52]

I still have one Mitchell 408 and one Conolon rod that I bought about 1966. I fish them once a year or so for fun but they go back on the rack after that. The 408 reel still fishes fine with my only complaints being the lack of a convenient manual close on the bail, and the clicking from the AR pawl and associated back-play that goes with it. The Conolon rod, a 6'6" light power, is just hopeless by modern standards; however, it was pretty fancy for the day - being a hollow-glass rod when solid-glass models were still being sold...

 

 

A coincidence is that I fished the Mitchell combo just over a week ago for it's yearly outing. It still works, catches fish...

 

 

[new2BC4bass]

Yup.  Had same first reel as several others.  Dad bought me a Mitchell 300 back in 1954.  I was six.  Clicking as you cranked never bothered me.  Sure wish I still had that reel.

 

Nice collection.

[32251]

love those conolon rods!! i have several...different actions.  they fish great!!

[JayKumar]

That's cool!  How do they fish?

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Any of yall want to trade one of your smaller ones for a 300a????

[SirSnookalot]

Those reels bring me back to my roots.  The rods do too, always loved metal rings.  My new inshore rod has an aluminum reel seat, really nice.

[gravestone]

They had a strong presence in the surf also on the beaches of long island at one time

[bigbill]

I have a Mitchell spinning reel with the round body, another 306 Mitchell spinning reel on a Garcia colon two star rod. I have a DAM QUICK 110 spinning reel on a Garcia colon 5 star ultra rod. I used these for many years. The 5star rod has caught many trout.

All my older stuff is in antique shops now. I hope they have a spot for me there with good good......

Bb