Fatman
Active member
Picked up a Garcia Mitchell 309 with an old Zebco 5'9" 2 piece fiberglass rod. Guy told me $2!! The wife says I got it. Got it home stripped all the old line off and took it apart and cleaned it all up.
Nice flea market find today
- Thread starter Fatman
- Start date
JUNGLEJIM1
Well-known member
Nice find, both were quality in those days.
CrappieHappy
Moderator
Nice Score
JSC
New member
Great Buy .. the Reel .. yes ... That rod will wear you out.
Pup
Active member
FM,
I'm uncertain about the abundance of lefty Mitchell 309 ultralights. I never see them for sale on Joe's Old Lures. That one's got some rotor rash, but, overall, looks like it's in pretty good cosmetic shape. For $2, that's a steal imo.
I like Mitchells. Have three French 308s in a cabinet, a 310UL, and a bag full of modern 300X, 300XE, 308X, and 308XG. Wish I was fishing them more...
Have a couple of 310Xs. Cannot say a whole lot about those. :dodgy:
I'm uncertain about the abundance of lefty Mitchell 309 ultralights. I never see them for sale on Joe's Old Lures. That one's got some rotor rash, but, overall, looks like it's in pretty good cosmetic shape. For $2, that's a steal imo.
I like Mitchells. Have three French 308s in a cabinet, a 310UL, and a bag full of modern 300X, 300XE, 308X, and 308XG. Wish I was fishing them more...
Have a couple of 310Xs. Cannot say a whole lot about those. :dodgy:
papaperch
Active member
Back in the day had me all kind of mitchells. One I liked the most was a 440. Which had a touch open bail it was the high speed version of the 330. Several 300's and a 308 and a 408.
In their day they were quality reels but they did have their short comings. Today's reels almost never break a bail spring Mitchells broke on a regular basis. Also the bail arms were prone to being bent ever so slightly and then bail would not fully flip over. Once went on a Canadian wilderness fishing trip for 2 weeks. Took two Mitchell 300's the 408 and 308. When I came back the only one still functioning was the 408. My partners really yukked it. Watching trying to land big fish on the little 408. It did the job but it took awhile.
Got away from them when I came back home from the service in 1973. Haven't looked back since.
Does anyone remember the Mitchell that the reel bolted on to its own special rod ? The local mass retailer back then had such a combo ( 408 size with ultra light rod ). I lusted after that set up it was 44.99 and I just could not justify that princely amount back then. Friend of mine bought it and about second time he used it. He broke the rod in half closing the trunk of the car. It was then completely useless as he never did find another rod for it. This was in late 60's.
In their day they were quality reels but they did have their short comings. Today's reels almost never break a bail spring Mitchells broke on a regular basis. Also the bail arms were prone to being bent ever so slightly and then bail would not fully flip over. Once went on a Canadian wilderness fishing trip for 2 weeks. Took two Mitchell 300's the 408 and 308. When I came back the only one still functioning was the 408. My partners really yukked it. Watching trying to land big fish on the little 408. It did the job but it took awhile.
Got away from them when I came back home from the service in 1973. Haven't looked back since.
Does anyone remember the Mitchell that the reel bolted on to its own special rod ? The local mass retailer back then had such a combo ( 408 size with ultra light rod ). I lusted after that set up it was 44.99 and I just could not justify that princely amount back then. Friend of mine bought it and about second time he used it. He broke the rod in half closing the trunk of the car. It was then completely useless as he never did find another rod for it. This was in late 60's.
Hawnjigs
KISS
Are you gonna use it? I REALLY don't miss line wrapping the mainshaft under the spool. And broken bail springs on the job.
JSC
New member
Broken 300 Bails Springs ... Replace it after fooling around trying to do it ... was rally easy but it happen just far enough apart that I could not remember how I did it. My Favorite Spinning Reel .. Largest Bass - 10* using 6# pound line on a light Med Conolon rod ... Many saltwater fish (Spanish fishing was my favorite with it) ..