Dad's CAP

[Robert Janssen]

What great posts, Paul!
Glad you are here.

[Paul Rochard]

I'd like to add this page from the 1959 La Canne à Pêche catalog showing us the Mitchell 314 SuperCAP, but, more interestingly, on the right, there's a list of the Mitchell reel family, and you can see that it includes the Mitchell CAP 304 and the Mitchell CAP 314, but not the earlier versions of the C.A.P. reel.

Another thing, the CAP 54 reel is, of course, the same reel as the Mitchell CAP 304 ; even if you don't understand French, you can see that the description and specifications of the C.A.P. reel. The names on the pages of the 1954, 1955, and 1957 catalogs are completely similar ; this changes slightly to a more informative one in the 1958 catalog. Thus, "54" becomes "304", placing this reel in the same category as the famous Mitchell 300 reel. It was therefore, I think, at least at the time, though this is still debatable, that the C.A.P. reel truly entered the Mitchell family at that time, around 1957.

Please excuse me for harping on this point, but I insist on this distinction between the Mitchell reel, the Mitchell CAP, and the C.A.P. reel which was still owned by La Canne à Pêche.

[jgp12000]

I am trying to find out when the newer 340 came into play & what gear ratio it has? I read the handles will not fit the 304s?

[Midway Tommy]

I am trying to find out when the newer 340 came into play & what gear ratio it has? I read the handles will not fit the 304s?

It is a cheap econo version of the 304 and came out in 1968.

On a different note, something that seems to have been getting lost in all of this discussion is the fact that Hardy's full bail patent expired during WWII and was extended until 1956 in some, but not all, countries, so there were an awful lot of inconsistencies during that time period, especially throughout the major manufacturers.

[Gfish]

Whoa! Paul, I'll try to keep the reel names straight, which shouldn't be that hard given what you've written, thanks much for your contributions.But in my opinion, we in the USA are probably not as culturally sensitive as others in the world and that includes me. So you can "insist" if you want to, but I for one will not take it that seriously.

[Midway Tommy]

The C.A.P. reel is not only the precursor of the CAP 304, but also of the Mitchell. If you want, I have a brochure from the Cluses Archives from 1993 (based on the testimonies of former Carpano & Pons employees) which states that Maurice Jacquemin was inspired by the PECOS reel of the Pêcheur Ecossais and the C.A.P. reel of La Canne à Pêche to create his own reel.

Here's an example from my collection of a Pêcheur Ecossais 1937 PECOS reel.

[Jim Fujitani]

A used Mitchell CAP was my first spinning reel.  It was handed down from my Dad to my older brother, then to me, about in the early 60s.  I had "outgrown" my Shakespeare "closed spool" spincast reel, and I could fish like the big people.

I've looked though the family storage but haven't been able to find it, yet.