having some problems with my Sedona which gives me an excuse to buy another reel . I have used my father in laws mitchell 300 and I am in love with it. 8 ball bearings and it is smooooooooooth. Feels perfect to me. I am staying around the 50$ range so the pflueger president is also a maybe. I have never fished a pres but i hear nothing but good things. I guess im not so much asking which to buy or what else is out there. More of who uses these reels and what are some pros and cons about each, if you have any at all. Right now im leaning towards the mitchell....

There are two Mitchells in that price range. The 300Xe and the 300XGe. The XGe is nicer, it has 10 bearings, a carbon matrix drag, and an aluminum spare spool while the Xe has a graphite spare spool and only 8 bearings and according to bass pro shops it's just a "multi-disk drag stack" which I'd think means it's not carbon matrix. Just a guess but I'd say the extra two bearings are on the paddle grip in the XGe, which should make it feel a little slicker overall, too. I persoally like the 308 size the best, it's more inline with what I think of as a spinning reel line capacity for bass fishing.

The XGe retails for $59.99. The Xe retails for $44.99, but I have seen them for $39.99 at Walmart.

If the 308Xe I owned was any indication of the overall "smoothness" of their lineup, there's something seriously wrong with your Sedona. The Mitchell was a decent little reel that managed to pull several bass out of my weedy local ponds, but "smooth" is definitely not a word I'd use to describe it. Out the two I'd definitely go with the President.

Another decent (and smooth) reel in that price range is teh Pflueger Trion GX-7. They run about $40 and (imho) blow the 300Xe out of the water in smoothness and overall build quality.

i can't speak for the mitchell..... but i have 2 presidents that i've used pretty heavy in the past 3 years and have had no problems at all....i would recommend it to anyone thats looking in that price range...

on a side note.... i saw on another thread here that the Plueger Supreme is on sale for $52 on FFO. that almost 50% off. so....the bait monkey bit me and i picked one up. i haven't got it yet but am hoping it performs as well as the President for the same price.

I have 2 presidents that I bought used. IMO they are indestructible. I have never even cleaned them after 5 years. They have survived the abuse of teaching 8 yewts how to fish. I have never used a mitchell but you can't go wrong with the pflueger.