Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Vintage Mitchel Reels and Dumbass Fishermen

I have an old Garcia Mitchell 300 made sometime between 1946 and 1955 that still runs like a clock but it's started squeaking lately.
Well today in anticipation of springtime fishing I decided to give it a little love so took it apart, cleaned and lubed everything, and after as short battle with the spring under the bail got it all back together.
Still squeaked.
Took it back apart, looked and looked but for the life of me I couldn't figure out where it was coming from until after almost an hour of tinkering I discovered the squeak was in the knob on the handle. A little lithium grease and problem solved, but I did get a good chuckle out of the deal.
I also got a good education on how well built those old reels are so the afternoon wasn't a total loss. Still feel dumb though.

My Dad was left handed so he used a 301. My mother had a 300. I fished a 300 & 308 hard for 4 or 5 years before losing them in a canoe "wreck" on New River. And yes those crank handles will squeak.

NOW you tell me. LOL

I'm not a Mitchell fanatic but I do love that old reel.
Comparing them to todays reels is like comparing a Sako Vixen to a Savage Axis as far as I'm concerned.

I have one of the old Mitchel take-down rod/reelcombos that stays in mt truck with a bag full of Beetle spins,in case a pond jumps out in front of me going down the road...

I have several 1950's, 60's and 70's Mitchells. They're all sitting in my "fix later" bin with broken bail springs. I think there are three 300's, a 308 and a 408. When functional, they are workhorses. I need to find a source for those springs.

Springs ...

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...0+bail+spring&_sacat=0&_from=R40

I wish I still had my Mitchell reels. I still fish an early 70's vintage 406 on a Conolon salt water rod from time to time.

Have a bunch of them that are pretty pristine and stopped using them due to difficulty in obtaining parts for them. Those bakelite handles will squeak, have experienced the same as you and solved it the same way.

Remember the metal ferrules you used to rub on the side of your nose to lube before putting it together?


Old style reel seats?

And all the Conolon rods came with a protective flannel cloth case:


Some of the reels(freshwater):



Right out of the Mitchell 300 owners manual:


Saltwater reels:
[img]http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd71/wink_man/P8110057.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd71/wink_man/P8110061.jpg[/img]

Does anyone remember the yearly Field & Stream fishing contest back in the 60's? When they published the winners in the Magazine they also had an informational section for the winners as to rod, reel and line used, and 90% of the time, what you'd see listed there was Garcia, Garcia, Garcia.

my family has fished mitchells for generations. between my dad, me and my 5 brothers we really put a hurting on them all up and down the east coast and canada, fresh water and salt. i have probably 10-15 300's, 3000's and 308's in various states of function. my brothers son-in-law rebuilds them. i just gave him and old 308 to rebuild for this year. when its done, i'm going to go looking for a nice rod for it.

this is a good site for mitchells

http://mitchellreelmuseum.com/

The new mitchells aren't built like the old ones. They are super smooth out of the box but give them a month of hard fishing and it feels like your grinding corn.

Mine pride and joy reels are mid 60s 300 and late 60s 408

Nowadays I use Diawa and Shimano ULs.

I have bigger reels, but don't use them.

UL reel on 7' UL rood does what I ask of it.

Yeah, I've got about a half dozen 300's and 308's too. Tough as nails and they have the scars to prove it. From Canadian fly-ins for pike and walleye, to bruiser brown trout on the fall runs in Lake Michigan, to 5 years of constant use in bass tournaments, they've seen it all. Well made, and as long as you have an extra bail spring and a dime to turn the screws, you're golden.

My very early years fishing was with a Garcia Mitchell 300 made in France. I thought the reel wore out and trashed it, dumb move. Years ago I picked up a 308 and a 408 for my trips down memory lane.