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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Good stuff dude!

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

Hootie

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...

 

 

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.

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

That's cool!  How do they fish?

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

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.

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

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