My first one was a Chrtistmas present from my dad back in the mid 50's. It's a 350 the only difference being a 5/1 ratio rather than the 300's 3/1. It still runs like a Swiss watch. My dad is now 91 and he still has his, several as a matter of fact. Maybe not the most modern but still a great reel

This thread grabbed my attention because I just got my Grandfather's fishing gear, which included a nice Mitchell 300. It was in a (non-fishing) family members attic for 15+ years!

Now that we are revolving 😇, I have (4)5000's, all with longer handles and better grips, 2 with buzz gears, one older 7000 for muskie, and at least 3 other 5000's that now are with my son in Mn.
Back in 70's had a 5000 on Wright &McGill rod bounce off the back of the boat at Amistad Reservoir into about 20' of water. Could not recover! As it was my Dad's he chewed on me when I told him!😠 Three years later Amistad was down about 5' or so, and I was jigging at the same spot. Yep, hooked something and brought up the rod and reel I lost! Cleaned it up, oiled it, put new line on it, and returned it to my Dad. The expression on his face was priceless! His comment was mumbled but something like lucky ***. He did not drink, so talked my Mom into making him a chocolate meringue pie, his favorite. Not a fish story as NO fish were involved! 😎

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Wherever my mind isn't
Jim

I caught many a fish with mine. Had to buy a new one every year back in the 60's and 70's. My brother MHRIP would borrow mine every year and I would never see the again. I still have several including a new in plastic box one and a promotional rod from Mitchell around here
someplace still in the unopened shipping tube. My uncles always use the 300's with the half bails and were the only reels they had.
Little history for ya'll.
The Mitchell Fishing Reel Museum | Garcia Mitchell Reels

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Psalm 23:4

My dad gave me a new 300 and a rod in 68 for my 15th B day. Still have both, can't count the fish it has caught.

I bought my first Mitchell 300 when I was 12, 51 years ago, with lawn mowing money. My Mom gave me enough S&H Green Stamps (remember them?) to redeem for a Shakesphere fiberglass WonderRod. Bought a few more over the next 10-15 years but haven't needed to replace them. Biggest fish caught on one was a 25 lb. 10 oz. striper out of Lake Powell the ex-wife nailed. May have one 308 out of 6 or 8 of them.

Great thread! I have been fishing with 300's for 35 years, both old and new. Prefer the old, made in France versions. I currently have 4 in my possession, with 2 serving as parts reels, and 2 in service. I would put them up against one of those newer, $200 models with fancy gold colored plating and lots of stickers telling the purchaser that it has 3 ball bearings in a blind test......

Some folks talk about the "perfect" gun, plane, car, etc..... The original Mitchell 300 is the perfect fishing reel, IMHO...

Now THAT brought a smile and great memories

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

I have two I bought in the late 50s or early 60s. One I currently use for flounder and the other is not being used now. My first reel I bought in 1958 as a teen ager was a Mitchell CAP. Still have it and the rod I bought with trapping money.

I have two just like on the first post...........
both work and need very little cleaning due to only fresh water fishing.
Have taken striper's on them but mostly trout since the main line on them 90% of the time is just four pound test.

I solved the problem with the bigger fish and bought a large sea Mitchell 302 that will take on even sturgeon.

One thing about these reels when you load them up.......
the 300 turns clockwise.......... while 90% of the new reels all turn counter clockwise. Make sure you load the new line correctly to prevent line twist.

Good day.

Spent winter picking up a bunch more rods, reels and tackle. These are the keeper reels I've collected so far:

Light/Ultralight



More Mitchells



Misc.



And tackle




I also got 14 or so vintage fiberglass rods from the '50s-'70s that match the reels. Now I need to concentrate on a fly fishing setup and then I'll be set for anything Michigan waters want to offer.

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SWHF #448

Wow!!!!! 😀
That has to be the cleanest, best organized tackle box I have ever seen !
Congratulations ! 🙌
Nice DAM Quick reels also! From a 220, multiple 330, and a 440, plus spare spools, aficionado !

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Wherever my mind isn't
Jim

I'd like to find a couple DAM Quick 110s to compliment the other small reels. I've got an 8' Wright & McGill steelhead rod the 440N is going on.

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SWHF #448

I wanted one of these when I was a kid in the early fifties but, could not afford one.
I just recently found one new in the box from the seventies for about $125. on ebay.
I would love to find a new in the box one from the fifties.
Thanks.

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Magnaport 329NG, Custom386 NG

Keep looking- there are plenty out there and with some smart shopping you can find them quite cheap. I didn't pay more than $50 for any of the reels pictured and got most of them for $20 or less each.

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SWHF #448

Still have my 300 from 1970's, but he Shakespeare wonder rod gave up the ghost. Also have the 308 version, now both of them on ugly sticks.

When I was a kid, I had a friend who had one, and I was always envious.

When I was in the Navy, I had a Penn. I can't remember the model #, but it was a smaller salt water spinning reel that I also used in fresh.

I didn't get my first 300 until I was in my early 30's, but it wasn't one of the older French-made reels. I realized it was the Ruger of fishing reels, and extremely loud. You know, the clickety-click as you're reeling. I know you can flip the reverse switch to quiet it, but I don't like using them like that.

Since then I spent four years working in a sporting goods store. That was a while back, but I still have more gear than I'll ever need. My favorite reel now is the Shimano Symetre.

I have the same green rod and Mitchell 300 that I bought in 1975 at a Target store in Madison, WI. I was tired of using cheap K Mart rods and reels. The Mitchell was my first quality reel purchase. It went to Canada in 2015 fishing wall eye pike. It is going again this year, also.

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S&WHF 366

WOW, what memories this thread has rekindled. I have the model 300 but my first and favorite is the 308. I bought it at the Western Auto store in Newnan, Ga. in 1965. Walked across the street to Johnson's Hardware and bought a Wright McGill Eagle Claw rod that has two slip rings on the long cork handle butt. You can position the reel forward or back on the butt and it changes the action from light to heavy. Forward stiffens it up for heavier fish and way back gives it a whippy feel for bream, crappie. Talk about fun. Still have both. The French models are my favorite and use the 300 for bigger fish or water that has a lot of structure and can handle the heavier line. My 14 year old grandson came to visit and when I got out my fishing gear he quietly asked his Dad how old it was because he had never seen anything like my gear. My son almost fell out of his chair laughing and then told me why. I told my grandson " don't worry about how old it is cause I will catch the first fish and the biggest fish". That is exactly what happened. He pouted all afternoon because his "new, modern" gear didn't get'er did. That gear has been with me for 51 years. Like an old friend. Thanks for the thread and the memories.

I have a bunch of them and a lot of spools for them. There was I time I bought everyone I could find at yard sales and pawn shops. Also have 3 of the 308s that I use on smaller rods. Love em and havve enough to last the rest of my fishing career.

I used to commercial fish salmon in Alaska and I always took a ultralight rod and a 308 and would hit the creeks during closures. Many of them were so clogged with salmon you couldn't make a retrieve without either hooking or snagging one. I would usually be near a creek mouth where it opened into the bay and never had to many problems landing the pinks, but I lost a lot of line to big silvers and kings when they went out in the bay. I didn't care because to me it was the thrill of the fight. Would also fish off the boat at times and just toss my catch in the fish hold.

Still have the one I bought in the late 60's. Still fish with it and the Abu-Matic 290 and Ambassaduer 5500 from same period. All mounted on Garcia poles. Good stuff like this and my S&W 10-5 and Brownings worked well then and still work well.

Does anyone know when the Mitchell spinning reels first appeared?

BTW, I think the Mepps lures are also French. They sure catch fish!

I gather from reading here that the 300 was discontinued about 1990? And that later ones were made on Taiwan, with plastic gears instead of metal? When did that happen?

What's a fair price for a Mitchell 300? Will $15 to $20 usually buy a good one at a yard sale? I suspect that sellers Online usually try for top dollar.

The Mitchell Reel Museum found online can provide everything you ever wanted to know about Mitchell reels.

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SWHF #448

Looking at db's tackle box, in addition to the Mepps, he has some CP Swing spinners in there, which were French, and not sure, but I believe they were imported only, and not sure if they were made here. There is a guy who reproduces them here now, but at the time of the 50's imported only. Great trout lure in the smaller sizes! Back in the day, we used to strip the treble hooks off of CP Swings, and put them on Hula Poppers as the hooks were much sharper, and finer wire, than the typical Abrogast lures of the time. Gave better penetration and seemed to hold better. CP Swings had a lighter body than the Mepps so did not sink as deep and less hangups in shallow water, or streams. For lakes Mepps and Shysters were the best.
Anybody remember the furor when Rapalas first came to the US! They were from Finland and were the hottest thing in the water!
From an ad on eBay
MITCHELL HALF BAIL SPINNING REEL Pre 300 Made In France Early 1950's
Other ads say 1954, so maybe early 50's ?

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Wherever my mind isn't
Jim

Walleyes are a member of the Perch family, not the Esox genus of true pike. Of course, the Muskie is a member of the pike genus, I think Esox masquinongy (sp?) I'd have to look up the genus for the Walleye. It would include the Sauger, but probably not much else, unless both are under the basic Perch classification.

I got a pretty bad nip on my thumb once from a Walleye in Colorado, but saw a re-run this week on, River Monsters. Jeremy Wade showed the skull and teeth of a VERY large Muskie from a remote Canadian lake. That thing must have been huge. I'd truly hate to be bitten by one. One did attack a boy wading in that lake, and the injury was pretty serious. But that fish wasn't nearly the size of that one whose jaws were found after it died in the lake. It may have been six feet long, with a huge mouth.

I don't know why some people call a Walleye a Pike. Just look at them, and you'll see the relationship to the perches.

WALKINGHORSE-

I certainly remember the arrival of the Rapala lures and prefer the Finnish originals to the plastic US copies.

I like them, but have personally had better luck with the Mepps lures.

What stories have we here of success with Rapala? Lauri (?) Rapala knew how to carve a good lure. I'm not surprised that they're popular.

I see that you have some Dardevle lures. I like them in the basic red & white, and have one that pretends to be a frog, judging from its colors.

When my kids were younger, I took them to get tackle boxes. My son showed the one he wanted and explained how the size was right and how the trays were just what he wanted for different-sized lures, etc. My daughter showed her choice and explained, "It's a really pretty color." So much for gender differences...

The son has since fished a lot more than I have, but favors the same sort of rods and reels.

I still have one someplace. Bought it in the late 60's I think. Replaced most everything with Penn reels that I still have and use. Those Mitchells were the top of the line in the 60's. Classics for sure.

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That's just somebody talkin.

My first good reel was a Mitchell 300 mounted on a Shakespeare rod I got when I was 14. I have acquired others over the years and will still buy one if found at a garage sale. I have never managed to wear one of these out.
Jim

I think that the Lauri Rapalas advertising campaign was one of the first, certainly biggest campaigns for a fishing lure. I believe that even Life, Look, or Saturday Evening Post magazines had feature stories on Lauri Rapala, with pictures of Lauri in his sweater working in his shop in Finland. I concur that the balsa originals had a better action than the later plastics. Originally they had a silver, or gold finish with black back, imitating a minnow, about 6" long, and perfect with spinning tackle due to the lighter weight and wind resistance while casting. And (3) very sharp treble hooks of a finer wire similar to CP Swings. Susposedly so finely balanced that they recommended no snap swivel just a direct line tie.
With the Mepps, the key for me was some days, silver blade, other days gold blade? Mepps would also trade you lures for squirrel tails!
Good stories on the grandkids tackle choices, color being a factor with tackle boxes with young girls.

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Wherever my mind isn't
Jim

I remember the squirrel tail exchange Mepps used to do. My buddy and I were excited as kids with our pellet guns going hunting for squirrels to trade in for fishing lures. Good memories.

As for Daredevles, every tackle box needs a few, especially where I am with the factory just down the street. Those and Little Cleos with the topless gal on back are staples.

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SWHF #448

I have several 300s, I have one new in the box,60's vintage. All
mine are made in France. I use to repair reels as well as guns.
Still have a lot of parts for the old Mitchell series. Also have a bushel of parts reels. I use the Penns now. For casting reels I
still use the old flatside Ambassadors. I believe I can take apart
and reassemble 300s, 5000s, and Zebco 33 in the Dark. These
reels were built to repair, a lot of the new ones are one season
reels. Biggest mistake people made with 300s was over greasing
them. The big plug screw made it easy to "pump" grease into
gear box, they pumped them full till grease came out under rotor
like they were greasing a fitting on a tractor.

Had one I used for a loooong time slaying bonito off Redondo breakwater with 6# test & crappie jigs.

It finally gave up the ghost. I burned up it's replacement pretty quickly. The bean counters had loaded it up with plastic parts.

For what it's worth, I think the Mitchell 308 ultralight reel had a black finish and my 408 (High Speed) was finished in a blue enamel. That's hard to see in the pics here, but it's obvious in person.

Yes, 300 series was Black, 400 series Blue. Actually only difference was the gears. You can swap out gearing from one
to the other. They also made the 330 with auto bail,which was
a Rube Goldberg contraption. The running gears in the 300 &
308 are not of the same design. A nice 300 or 308 runs about
$15 in this area, in the box new $30. The 304 was favorite, it was bigger than 308, but bigger diameter spool was
not as likely to twist line,especially for the minnow dunkers. If
reel was maintained the only weak point in them was Bail spring.
When they started making them in Asia, quality dropped. Same
thing happened when Penn started using plastic parts. Buying
Reels are like guns, cut gears are better than cast pot metal or
plastic.

I have had one for longer than I can remember; my grandparents gave it
to me along with a fishing pole for my birthday when I was a kid.
I still have and use both.

I still have my original 300 given to me my senior in high school girl friend. It sure has lasted longer than her! I also have the 308 and another 300 in rough shape that was snagged off the bottom of Lake Winnebago. Haven't worn them out yet.

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JOSHUA 1:9