SirCranksalot Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 (edited) I have 1 of those and was thinking of cleaning and oiling and give it another whirl on the river for bows. I know it's old technology but can I expect a good smooth drag. I'd hate to lose a fish due to an unreliable and uneven drag.--(that would be a 'reel drag', I guess. Haaarumph) Mitchell 300---for some reason the 300 did not show and I can't seem to change the title. Edited November 27, 2015 by Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manitoubass2 Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 I have 1 of those and was thinking of cleaning and oiling and give it another whirl on the river for bows. I know it's old technology but can I expect a good smooth drag. I'd hate to lose a fish due to an unreliable and uneven drag.--(that would be a 'reel drag', I guess. Haaarumph) Mitchell 300---for some reason the 300 did not show and I can't seem to change the title. I cant speak for the reel as Ive never had one. Although I seem to recall many here loving them(could be wrong) If you edit the initial post, you can edit the original title Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkpie Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 I have my grandfathers old 300, and a couple abus. I have fished extensively with the abus, the drags are very smooth. I leave the mitchell on the shelf. Smooth is not a word I've ever associated with the 300. Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris.brock Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 Sometimes the bow spots are a bit of a fashion show, my rod's bigger than your rod stuff. I think it would be fun to show up with a Mitchel 300, also try some minnows and carry them in a 5 gal white pail, a king can of Lucky Lager in the other hand, sounds fun to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bare foot wader Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 Sometimes the bow spots are a bit of a fashion show, my rod's bigger than your rod stuff. I think it would be fun to show up with a Mitchel 300, also try some minnows and carry them in a 5 gal white pail, a king can of Lucky Lager in the other hand, sounds fun to me change the minnows to roe, and you have a typical Saturday of egg ballers vs swingers on rivers on the west coast!! Lucky is considered lager of the gods on the island hahaha I'd say your old 300 would handle most bows just fine, I used to use my grandfathers and landed tons of big carp when I first started out fishing in my youth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Field Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 When we used them years ago , keeping up to a charging bow was the problem. The retrieve speed was the problem the drag wasn't a problem. Newer reels have better retrieve speeds and better drags. I still use my 301 for perch occasionally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headhunter Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 (edited) You'll be fine as long as the bail spring holds out! LOL HH Edited November 27, 2015 by Headhunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave524 Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 Looking back , I amazed we even caught any fish in the 50's and 60's without the GPS, depth finders, electric trolling motors . direct drive, thumb buster casting reels, Mitchell 300's and other antiquated gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigugli Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 Looking back , I amazed we even caught any fish in the 50's and 60's without the GPS, depth finders, electric trolling motors . direct drive, thumb buster casting reels, Mitchell 300's and other antiquated gear. Must have been pure blind luck,eh?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkpie Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 Looking back , I amazed we even caught any fish in the 50's and 60's without the GPS, depth finders, electric trolling motors . direct drive, thumb buster casting reels, Mitchell 300's and other antiquated gear. Plenty of good old gear. Abu's for example. Never met a 300 that I liked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 Looking back , I amazed we even caught any fish in the 50's and 60's without the GPS, depth finders, electric trolling motors . direct drive, thumb buster casting reels, Mitchell 300's and other antiquated gear. A lot of today's fishermen would be amazed at the basic gear we used back in the day Dave, but we still caught plenty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beans Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 (edited) Ah...the good old days casting a #9 or #11 floating Rapala with my old Mitchell 300 at sundown on Rice Lake at opening in the spring... After it started to sound like an old coffee maker I retired it to the wall of fame at my son's trailer but someone borrowed it and forgot to return it...Grrr. I needed another carp reel a few years ago so I bought a Mitchell 300X thinking it would come with the two spools like the old ones ( one with a small spindle and the other slightly bigger)... The small spindle could hold more line and with a big carp you needed lots of line or get "spooled"...Luckily, a good friend gave me a true carp rod and reel as it was just collecting dust so the new Mitchell 300X is used as a second rod for fishing along our shoreline for crappy, bluegills and bass... Edited November 27, 2015 by Beans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esoxansteel Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 Where the line ran through the bail was fixed and not a roller that created some grooving issues and frayed lines, I used a Mitchell 410 a bluish reel with a high speed retrieve and kept up with no issues on Sept and Oct Steelhead in the mid 70s, although 8 pounds was a big one then, when the 18 pound plus fished first showed in 79, and carried on through the late 80s Cardinal 3s were the norm, although drag washers burned out frequently, and Cardinal 4s were better, but not as popular on the rivers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormdunker Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 Wonderful topic! I still have 2 older Mitchell 300s. Grew up with them as a teen. My father & 2 uncles used them all the time. They were the best reel to own in the 60s. They were made in France at that time. The Mitchell 301 is the left hand model. I'm a leftie so when they marketed the 301 I went out & purchased 1 right away. Can you imagine a hefty $26.00!! Last year I met an older gentleman (82), on a lake near Sudbury. He had fished this lake for over 50 years. Do you think he knew the honey holes? I took a look in his boat & he was well equipped with 2 Mitchell 300 & the original floating Rapala, black/gold. Seemed odd to me but the ole guy brought in 3-4 walleye every evening. Awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigugli Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 Loved the Mitchell 300. SIts in a place of pride in the house. The bail spring finally went after 35 years of heavy use. My son has an even older original reel that is even more dear to me. My grandfather's Luxor reel. We actually had it out fishing a couple years back. May just have to take it out again this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave524 Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 My dad fished a Pezon and Michel , Luxor through the 50's and 60's, I had both a 300 and a 308 Mitchell, the Luxor was the better reel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirCranksalot Posted November 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 You'll be fine as long as the bail spring holds out! LOL HH I guess you were reading the other post I started re my Shimano bail spring! I didn't realize that the Mitchells were so prone to failure until I read that other post. I must have bought mine in the early 70's for around $20. That was about 1/2 week's wages for me at the time. When my bail spring broke I thought God must be punishing me for my misdeeds----my most valued possession and it was broken so quickly after I had spent my hard earned $$. I never did get used to flipping the bail manually on that 1. That's not the 1 I have now. I picked up the 1 I have now somewhere along the way at a garage sale or somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now