Mystery reel

[spike404]

I came across this old reel.  It appears to work well, but it obviously needs some cleaning, lubrication, and drag washers.  The problem is that it has no markings!  "Made in France", is embossed on one end. Can  anyone ID this reel?  An old Garcia?

[akfish]

It's a Mitchell 600 series conventional. They were made in the 60s and 70s and meant to compete with Penn Senators and similar reels. They all had Squidder size drags and the plastic used in the side plates almost always cracked around the spool end bushings. I still see a few of them being fished up here in Alaska.

[Bryan Young]

I agree with AKFish.  I have one that looks similar to it.  Slight crack that I'll reinforce somehow.  Change drag washer and will give it away to my hanai (like adopted, but not official) nephew for pier fishing.

[spike404]

Thanks for the information.  It is indeed a Garcia/Mitchell 600.  I'll take it apart, measure the drag washers, and order them by size. 

As an aside.  I just found this site a couple of weeks ago, and cannot believe the amount of time I have spent reading all the information.  An absolutely fabulous source!   

[Bryan Young]

spike404,

Welcome to the REEL world.  Let us know how it goes.

Bryan

[Brewer]

spike, you from spokane? or just like the zags?

[spike404]

Update on the reel: I took it apart and it was just very dirty, no broken parts, and the drag washers were in good shape.  There were a few cracks in the white plastic sides.  Completely dis-assembled, cleaned it well, drag grease, and light lubrication.  It works well, and spins like a top.  The bull-red run has started in my neck of the woods, the Texas coast, so I'll mount the reel on an old rod of mine, and see if I can catch a 36 inch-er!  I have a Penn 350 that I also use for bull-red fishing.


Brewer,
I picked the avatar because it was the best bulldog I could find.  My nickname is Spike, from the old cartoon character.  I do pull for Gonzaga in the NCAA tournaments--all their players appear literate.     

[akfish]

You really ought to replace the drag washers with modern carbon fiber. Penn 006-060 (Squidder) washers are about a buck a piece and much, much better than the stock washers. If you are fishing mono, consider a few wraps of Dacron bcking. Older spools weren't as strong as modern ones and warp easily.

[Ellis Feibush]

At the time this reel was made Mitchell boasted the sideplates were indistructable. They were made of Delrin I believe and weren't indistructable. The drags were horrible and would benefit from a carbontex or HT 100 upgrade. The spool was also a weakness. The sides would colapse under heavy stress. Just my two cents. Good luck with the rebuild.

[spike404]

Another update on the mystery reel (Mitchell 600).  Not being in any rush, I decided to take akfish's advice, and get some Carbontex drag washers.  Did a little searching on the web, and determined from a few articles, that a certain reel package would be a replacement, and ordered them.  Wrong move.  They fit, but were a smidge too thick; the drag was too close to the handle and made backing off a high setting impossible.  I replaced one of the Carbontex washers with a saved original, and the reel works fine.

My conclusion.  I should have taken the original washers to a garage, or hardware store, borrowed a micrometer, and measured them.  I then could have gone to Smoothdrag, and matched my measurements to the available individual washer stock, and ordered by number.  In short---when in doubt, take the time to measure, and order appropriately.

[dales33]

ive got an old mitchel spinning reel on a splitcane 2 piece salmon rod my grandfather got in his 20's, its a left hander ( i think they all might have been for some strange reason?)
im left handed so its ok, but its a pretty tough reel given it hasnt seen alot of work for long periods of time.i landed a 4kg kingfish on it after it had been sitting in the garage for 20 plus years with a minor check over.inheritance, gotta love it, my sister got a gold watch chain worth thousands, i got his pride and joy got the origonal box and manual .... im happier.
The french can make good quality products, even if they look a bit odd
lol