Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

Mithchell 300

Spartacus
It was the first reel my dad bought me. Caught my first largemouth with it.
loaned it to a friend twenty years ago and havent seen either one since.[:(]
i always felt like that was my best reel.
now, i just got one on ebay for 8 bucks!
are all the glowing memories and tall tales going to be shattered when i actually try to use it?
were the 300's ever really any good?
tom
0

Comments

21 comments

Date Votes
  • asop
    Your right, they were the best. Six of us fished in Canada for 15 years together. We all had 300's. Caught 2# Walleye to 48" Northern. Simple to use and repair if neccessary. Lots of menories connected to those reels. Still have it by the way.
    0
  • Spartacus
    thanks!
    i was beginning to think that i was wrong and they were no better than those zebco's you get for 14.99, rod and lure included![:)]
    we actually caught 8 and 10 pound bluefish with them in the long island sound! rinsed the salt water off with a garden hose. never had any problems.
    tom
    0
  • bigbill0910
    The Mitchell 300 was a good reel in it's day.A lot of the people I fished with thought it was "wrong handed", the only fault I ever found was the bail spring would wear out. I LOVED the 408. A lot smaller and a whole lot faster. I am glad you found an old "gooden"
    0
  • Spartacus
    quote:.A lot of the people I fished with thought it was "wrong handed

    I spent so much time with the 300 that now i think most other reels ar wronghanded![:)]
    i had a heck of a time catching crappie last year with a borrowed wrong handed rig! had to flip the whole thing upside down[:0]
    tom
    0
  • crowbeaner
    I still use them for most of my spinning type fishing duties; all the way from catfish to salmon on the run. Great old reels; I have 5 300s and 2 300As. My kid was given an Ugly Stik lite rod, and wanted a reel for it; I opted for my lone 304 round butt. I told him the reel was worth more than he was; he looks at me funny and said "I won't lose it dad."
    0
  • Spartacus
    quote:I opted for my lone 304 round butt


    I had one of those! i think its with my "friend" and my 300![:(]
    0
  • 11echo
    Went I first went up to Alaska (Nov 79) I wanted to go fishing but too late in the season (except ice fishing) Plus I really didn't know the in's & out's for up there. So I kept asking at work what to do and get ...alot of outdoors men there. One thing they kept telling me is don't use cheap equipment! So by the time fishing season rolled around everybody was worked up into a frenzy to go! I had gotten a new rod and reel with $15 line! (I normally got the $0.69 stuff *G*) I fished solid for two days ...finally hooked a large rainbow! ...But I had been fighting alot of bottom snags too, so when the fish started dancing on the water the line broke! ...Right at an over stressed knot! One other problem I noticed was my reel, it was a baiting casting type, but if you didn't keep a tight grip the bail would hit my finger! ...Normally not a problem but when the weather is 34 Deg.s it smarted!
    Then about a month later my Father-n-law was coming up, he's a big fisherman. I told him I'd have a pole and reel for him and not to bright any thing up. I ran across a "deal" at the sporting goods store and picked it up ...a Michael 300 reel. I LOVED this reel, so much so I let my father-n-law have the expensive one & I used the 300! All my time up there I used the 300 on ALL salmon types! Got a 35# king on it with 17# test line ...that and my 2 pc. Fenwick "Ugly stick" ...it's sits on my rod rack right now in a place of honor!! I saw a few years they came out with another run of the 300 ...I picked up two of them! ..Just in case! *G* ...Anybody use the 308? Pretty good for light rigs ...IMHO
    0
  • onegreatshot
    I too have a Mitchell 300 that was my first ever reel bought. I got a Garciaq-Conlon 6ft. rod with it. It must of taken all summer to raise the money mowing lawns to buy it. I also got 2 extra spools in hard plastic cases one spool was for a lot of line the other for little bit of line. Here in So. Cal. we fished with 6 to 8 lb line on all the area lakes. Like others I loaned the cases to a buddy some time ago (wasn't using them) and of course he took his life and I thought I would just let them go. Man it was a prized reel the envy of the block. Still have it and I bet its closed to 50 nyrs old now. Cleaned up nice brass bushing still good and yes the bail spring is a problem. The only place that I know that might have them is SAV ON Fishing in Santya Fe Springs Ca. Thanks for the walk down mwmory land ONEGREATSHOT
    0
  • redneckandy
    Those old mitchell's are my all time favorite reels.
    0
  • Spartacus
    I just bought another 300, on a 7' conlon rod for 20 bucks on ebay!
    looks like it's in real good shape (in the pics)
    seller didnt know anything about it, says it was from an estate.
    turns out the other one i bought has a drag set at about 2 lbs and wont increase. the drag knob tightens just so far, then feels like its stripped.[:(]
    0
  • gone_fishing8282
    Glad to hear you picked up a Mitchell 300 at a great price! [:)] I was up in NY fishing for salmon with a noodle rod and a Shimano Stella 4000 and was having a hard time catching anything because the rod was too light at the time, my good friend gave me his 6'6 Ugly Stick with a Mitchell 300 on it and I caught my first NY salmon on it and what a blast! My friend has been using his reel from when he was young also and he is now 70 yrs old. He taught me at my age what it was like back in the day:) Lots of guys always asked him up there, are you seriously using a Mitchell 300, he said yep, and was proud of that reel!! Good hearing all these stories about the reels!
    0
  • bigbill0910
    crowbeaner mentioned the 304 round butt reel, that was my first reel and I had to learn the opposite hand like tplumeri said. That made it easier for all my reels in the next few years, Wouldn't have to change hands after casting and such. Do any of yall ever remember a reel called a Dam Quick? It was small and an excellent light reel.(round butt like the 304 Mitchell)
    0
  • gumbydamnit
    quote:Originally posted by tplumeri
    quote:.A lot of the people I fished with thought it was "wrong handed

    I spent so much time with the 300 that now i think most other reels ar wronghanded![:)]
    i had a heck of a time catching crappie last year with a borrowed wrong handed rig! had to flip the whole thing upside down[:0]
    tom


    You know they made the Mitchell 300 in left or right hand use [;)], I have several 300's(3 doz or more) most of them right handed but a couple are for the leftys. I have two of the original half bail mitchells and one is right and the other is left handed.
    0
  • bigbill0910
    Wasn't the opposite hand a 301? (I'm talking 35-40 years ago)
    0
  • Spartacus
    quote:Wasn't the opposite hand a 301?

    could be, i remember a 301 but that's about all i remember about it.
    maybe someone else can "educate" us[:D]

    tom
    0
  • Dabluz
    Yep....the 301 was the model for left handed fishermen. Yes, they were great fishing reels for that period but the newer reels with bearings are much better.

    The Mitchell 300 had to be taken apart, cleaned and greased quite often. I you did not use expensive grease, they used to get harder to work when it was -30. I always had to carry a few bail springs and line guides because these 2 pieces had to be replaced at least every year. I always carried some copper shims too...in order to keep the reel as tight as possible. I could take one apart, clean and lub it, replace a couple of parts and could be back in action in 20 minutes at the most. However, the clutch was not very smooth no matter what I did. I often fished with 4 lb mono with my Mitchell 300. They cost about 15 dollars in the late 60's and early 70's. Today, the equivalent would be about 50 dollars...probably more. Today, any of the 50 dollar reels will blow away any of the Mitchell 300s.
    Today's reels are much smoother, quieter, tighter and last much longer without any cleaning, lubrication and repairs. I've got a Shimano Symetre 2000 that has had a lot of heavy use these past 10 years and it has never been taken apart yet works as well as the day I bought it. If I put the handle in the horizontal position and it will swing down to the vertical position by itself. Yet, nothing is loose or worn on the reel. It has a rear drag and I often use 2 lb mono on it. The drag is much smoother than the one on the old Mitchell 300.
    0
  • Spartacus
    quote:Today's reels are much smoother, quieter, tighter and last much longer without any cleaning, lubrication and repairs

    well, hell, now you ruined it for me![;)]
    tom
    0
  • bigbill0910
    In the 60's and early 70's they were cream-of-the-crop. If it wasn't for the 300 most of the others wouldn't have come around! Those bail springs were the only thing I didn't like.
    0
  • Spartacus
    quote:In the 60's and early 70's they were cream-of-the-crop. If it wasn't for the 300 most of the others wouldn't have come around! Those bail springs were the only thing I didn't like.


    Thanks! I feel better now![:D]
    tom
    0
  • bigbill0910
    Your easy!
    0
  • crowbeaner
    HAH! I had a 301 and sent it to my daughter because she doesn't like the way the 300s work; she thinks her dad is the greatest now. I also sent a 6'6" Rhino rod, and she outfishes her fiancee now.
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity

Didn’t find what you’re looking for?