Any other fans of the Garcia Mitchell 300 fishing reel?

My very first spinning reel! I bought it with money from my paper route about 1960, ordered from a Herters catalogue. It replaced an old Phlueger Rocket casting reel I asked an old fishing "mentor" of mine what to do with the Phlueger Rocket, he told me "Hang it on the wall for fish caught" I did and still have it around somewhere.
Steve W.
 
Still have a couple of 300's from the 1960-70's. Also love the Garcia Ambassadeurs. Both have always served me well for light tackle use. The reels I treasure the most are several old Heddon Winonas inherited from my dad. Really old school but the smoothest casting reels I have ever found. You can chunk 'em a country mile with just a flick of the wrist.
 
Still have some, even though I haven't gone fishing in about 3 years. I have either 2 or 3 new bail springs in my tackle box. They just weren't the same after they went to the the plastic gears back in the '80s. We blew up a couple of the new ones and quit buying them. Still look for the old ones at yard sales.
Larry
 
I did not start using Spinning reels till long after the 300's..

However my favorite bass fishing real is still the Garcia Ambassador 5000 series.

I am still using the same ones I bought in the 1960's before I graduated High School.
 
I still fish 300s. I fished a 308 Friday morning. Ultra light rod, 4lb test line and a farm pond...

fish5a.jpg
 
One of the people who taught me the ins-and-outs of
fishing, told me that I should get a Mitchell 300 to
augment my Zebco 33 that I use for large-mouth. I ended up
with two of them, and they just keep on working. They're
so reliable and well built, that I've worn out half a dozen
Zebco's, and the Mitchell's still work like new. Used one to
catch a 17.5 lb. sheephead with 6-pound test. No problem!
(the slime alone weighed 2 lbs.) TACC1
 
Still have 3 - 309's, the only spinning reel I use. I like them because they are a true left handed reel and hence it is very easy to pick up the line with your finger because it's closer.

Jeff
 
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I've owned a 308 and a 408. I think the latter has a faster retrieve or is a newer version of the 308. But I lost the 308 and other tackle in a move during my divorce, and gave my son the 408. Going by memory on the faster retrieve

I bought the 308 used from another airman during my first year in the USAF in the 1960's, and it caught a lot of fish. Not suited for heavy duty, but I never lost anything I managed to catch on it.

MY only current spinning reel is a very smooth Shimano, but I have fond memories of the Mitchell 308 and 408.

I think the 300-series are/were the best basic spinning reels of their times, and still hardly obsolete. Of course, even a bamboo pole and a string with a minnow or jig aren't really obsolete...just very limited in where they can be used. But the 300-series can certainly be called "classic" in the full sense of the word.
 
Great memories here. Bought one in 64. It's been out at the lake cabin ever since. Still works.
 
My dad gave me his Mitchell back when I was in high school. That was my only reel for at least 15 years. Still have it and use it occasionally. It came with a Herter's fiberglass rod which I restored. I broke the rod in two fighting a northern the very next time I used it!

My Mitchell does not say "300" on it -- does that mean mine is a pre-300??? ;)
 
I became reacquainted with fishing when I was in the Army. We could rent a boat, motor and trailer from the Base R&R Office for $15, so fishing was a cheap distraction. When I came home I was talking to a friend who was an avid fisherman and he asked what kind of reel I used. “Just a cheap $30 Mexican reel I picked up at the PX”, I explained as I showed him the Abu Garcia 5000 I’d been using. Thought he was going to have a heart attack laughing.
 
Still own two Mitchell 300's, one was always attached to a small 4 1/2 light weight rod, used while trout fishing the Baker up in Warren NH and surrounding streams. This set up replaced the fly rod many times.
 
I've been thinking about fishing again this winter. That late model Taiwanese Mitchell I posted earlier in the thread just ain't gonna cut it. Found this near-mint 410, the deeper geared roller bearing version of the classic 300, on eBay the other day and got it for a steal. Serial dates it to 1968. Now I need to mate it to a classic rod.

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I used several of them Like 20 years a go & still have the 300's big brother The Saltwater Mitchell 302 great reels I wore the 300's out,Now using mostly Shimano Stradics & A Penn Slammer 260
 
I spent 1969 on Amchitka Island in the Aleutian Chain of Alaska helping prepare for an upcoming atomic weapon shot. That island was full of small to large lakes. We discovered that all of the leeward lakes had Brown and Rainbow Trout. I promptly had my wife mail me a good spincast rod and my two Mitchel 300 reels. I had 4 lb. test on one and 6 lb. test monofilament on the other. The largest lake had some fairly good sized trout, I used the 6 lb. equipped reel on that lake. The water was so clear you had to stand back from the edge while casting so the trout wouldn't get spooked by your image or shadow. The Mitchell worked wonderfully for that year. We used only spinning lures with the Meppes line of lures being the most successful. .....
 
I had a Garcia, when I was a kid. I caught a 5 ft. Kingfish with it....but took an hour to get it on board.
 
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