Reel Repair by Alan Tani

I found this article & it was a good read with some old catalog pix I downloaded.If you haven't seen them already.

https://bass-archives.com/the-garcia-mitchell-series/#:~:text=Mitchel%20302%2C%20306%2C%20402%2C%20and%20406&text=Lefthand%20versions%20were%20also%20available,1%20depending%20on%20the%20model.

I quickly looked through the article.  There is no mention of the Mitchell 350.  My dad had one as I was growing up.  It was a higher speed than the 300, and it was a little smoother than the 300/

Those Garcia Fishing Annuals are fun & informative reading.  I have one issue (1975), and it has been a blast to page through; I will have to keep my eyes open for other years' issues.

Is there any tackle maker with anything similar today?  Can't think of any.

Frank
240612

Guy kept talkin 'bout the Mitchell internals being all stainless steel, not true. Most of the gears on a 300 are some kinda aluminum. The pinion and rotor gears are brass. There is steel in there(stainless steel?) like the shafts the gears are on and the spool shaft, and the anti-reverse pawl. Maybe some of the oscillation parts.

Interestingly enough, he was originally correct, IMHO, about the Zebco Cardinal line being the '70s reel of the decade. It was in a class by it self during that time frame, especially with the freshwater corps. The Mitchell line was more pertinent in the '60s rather than the '70s as I remember things. 

Are the 302/402 SS gears?how bout 306/406?

Quote from: jgp12000 on July 11, 2024, 09:25:47 PMI found this article & it was a good read with some old catalog pix I downloaded.If you haven't seen them already.

https://bass-archives.com/the-garcia-mitchell-series/#:~:text=Mitchel%20302%2C%20306%2C%20402%2C%20and%20406&text=Lefthand%20versions%20were%20also%20available,1%20depending%20on%20the%20model.

Hi JGP12000, Thank you for the link to the site and for the kind words.  I am the owner of the Bass Fishing Archives.  My name is Terry Battisti.

As for the other comments about stainless steel in the Mitchel Reels, I was only quoting from the actual 1973 catalog.  I didn't say that all of the internals were stainless, but I should have clarified what I meant to say better.  I will take that hit.

Regarding the parts that Garcia mentioned were stainless in the models 386, 486, 496 and 488 it was the "Rotating Head Shaft," "Ball Bearings," "Drive Gear Axle," and "Bail."  Pinion and main gears were made from bronze. The reel was said to be "corrosion proof."  Not corrosion resistent.  These models were made for the saltwater and it makes sense that Mitchell would make them this way.

Models 302, 306, 402, and 406 also had internal parts made from stainless steel.  The Main gear appears to be aluminum and the pinion bronze.

These are the only two sets of models I talked about having stainless in them.  The rest of the reels in this 1973 catalog all seem to be made with aluminum main gears and bronze or brass pinions.

Jim Fujitano asked why I didn't include the 350.  I didn't include it because it wasn't in the catalog.  The pages presented in the article/post were every single Mitchell spinning reel in that catalog. In fact, I have every Garcia Fishing Annual from 1959 through 1979 sans the 1961 Annual and the Mitchell 350 only shows up in the 1959 Annual.  I have nothing prior to that so I can't tell you how far back that reel went.

I am by no means a Mitchell expert at all. I grew up on ZEBCO/ABU Cardinal 3s and 4s.  I personally did not like the Mitchells.  Their style in my eyes was ugly and they felt clunky compared to the Cardinal and eventually the Daiwas that I switched to in the early 1980s.  But, I can certainly appreciate their place in the history of reels, hence the reason I wrote the post.

GFish, I appreciate your comments on the post.  I'm sorry I didn't get to respond to them.  I do appreciate you clearing up some of the confusion I laid out there.

Thanks for supporting the site guys.  I really do appreciate it and I appreciate the constructive criticism.

Terry Battisti
Bass Fishing Archives

Brilliant post, Terry. And thank you for the Bass Fishing Archives. I love it. Keep up the good work!

.

Thank you for clarifying that Terry.The Mitchell 300 is what brought me to AT.com all the old timers had them when I grew up. So that was 1st on my list to collect.I recently acquired models 302,402,306,406,& a 486.Before that were several 300,304,308,330,& one 410. My collection also snowballed into Penn,DQ,& Cardinals which I fish with daily.I pick one out & fish with it until I catch a few in our pond & switch around .it never gets old !  My freezer is full by the way,I won't be going hungry...

Robert, Thank you for the kind words.

jgp12000, Thank you too.  I fully understand the desire to collect these reels.  What I have been wanting to do is scan all of my Garcia Fishing Annuals and put them on the site for everyone to see.  They truly are amazing and take you back to when the industry seemed to care about the average angler.

Right now I have two of them on the site, 1960 and 1962.  I also have the 1962 Fishing Tackle Catalog and a Pre-1960 Handbook.  All have really good info in them.  If you're interested in looking at them, just go to the right sidebar and scroll down until you see the Garcia link.

At some point I'll have everything up.  It's just a matter of finding the time.

Take care

Terry

Terry,
I was born in 63' finally got a 300 made that year.I spoke with Wallace Carney on the phone he has been having health issues lately,Mitchell Reel Museum had alot of great info.Good to see any History on Mitchell reels!

I don't know if I cleared-up any confusion and my post was a little bitchy sounding after I reread it. Anyway, welcome to the site and I'm looking forward to your future input!
I have a '74-300, a '74 300C, and a late 40's-early '50's version 3-300. And now thanks to The OP James, I have in addition to my 302, another 302 and a 402, both of which came with the coveted PUM units. Lots of rehab time fun for me.

thanks for the post - I had a 324, eventually upgraded to a 308 in 1974 and still fishing that reel, so I enjoyed the pictures of my reels ;-)

DougK,
I think I remember an old post about the Prince reels,I am sure Fred knows the history.
My comment is tell us about that rod,it looks nice & perfectly matched for the Prince!

Quote from: jgp12000 on July 20, 2024, 06:26:27 PMDougK,
I think I remember an old post about the Prince reels,I am sure Fred knows the history.
My comment is tell us about that rod,it looks nice & perfectly matched for the Prince!

Mitchell reels had different name designations depending on where they were distributed and sold.
Albatross was Netherlands.
Arca was Belgium.
Blazer was Germany.
Blackfish was a European 300 model.
BHV was European.
Prince was a UK 308/309 & 358/359 UL.

A lot of the reels distributed throughout Europe were only designated Mitchell, though.