Mitchell Reel Forum

I work with him and we swap favours back and forth. He is a year younger than me, we are the oldest 2 in the building. Sort of like Statler and Waldorf. He says he didn't pay much for the reel. He also gave me a 300 with the Boomerang anti reverse lever. The 300 is badly corroded. I will likely use ...

That was my thinking, I am not a collector. there are not a lot of Mitchells here, other than 300s. a few 304, 308 etc. I have only seen a few salt water Mitchells, all 302 models. When this one was givwn to me, I thought it may be rare. Turns out, the guy that gave it to me bought it at the Carlisl...

I guess I'll be fishing it.

Glen

Good Day Mitchell mates, I was given a Mitchell 486 today. The reel is in very good condition, maybe excellent. Is this reel rare? Should I fish it or trade it to a collector? The colour of the reel is a dark midnight blue, almost black. It has FRANCE under the foot. The Serial number is also there ...

That is a nice case. Of course, I have never seen one like it, but that doesn't say much................

Glen in Nova Scotia

Hi Mates, I would like to get hold of one of these Gold Bodies, just so I could fit it out with “innards” for a working reel. This would be just to get a reaction down at the Old Fishing Hole, My luck, I would be robbed. G. Glen Simpson Gold Reel Dreamer Dartmouth Nova Scotia. :banana-blonde: :text-...

I am 100% in agreement with you Allan.

Best wishes, plenty fishes

Glen in Nova Scotia

Sorry Don,

Stupid me, I have the 304, I wish I had a 302. The 314 is similar to the 304.

Glen

Hi Don,

I have one of these, they are nice reels. The 314 has the removable spools, otherwise it is same.

Hope you enjoy it

Glen

Hi,

That weight would lead me to suspect that this reel has a composite body.

Glen

Hello, The Mitchell 400 has a higher gear ratio than the 300. I think the 300 is about 3.5 to 1, whereas the 400 is 5 to 1. These are approximate numbers. For every time a 300 handle is turned, the rotating head revolves 3.5 times. Five times for the 400, hence high speed. Best wishes, plenty fishes...

Thanks Bill,

This is a nice chart.

Glen

Hello everyone, I would like to know what 300 would be best for salt water. Was there any Stainless Steel bails on Mitchell 300 reels? I have always had the opinion that they were fresh water only. I have seen some serious corrosion on bodies, one that sat in a boat unattended in a lake that is tida...

Hi Don,

I like the finish on this reel, it looks almost like a powder coat finish, which is tres durable. Is the body aluminum?

Best wishes and lots of fishes

Glen

I still like your dog

Yeah, I think someone who could sew made this pouch up from what looks like good materials. It is the sort of thing I have done myself from my days in the military. It is a really nice early Mitchell.

Glen in Nova Scotia

Hi Don,

Hope you ad a nice Holiday Season.

You are lucky to find a nice Mitchell like this one.

Congratulations

Glen

Maybe you should put an ad here for them.

Happy New Year.

Glen in Nova Scotia

Yes, have a good Festive Season, all you Mitchell mates.

Joyeux Noel

Glen in Nova Scotia

I meant to say in my last post that my 900 had 5 to 1 written on it, I said 300.

Sorry 'bout that

Glen

Hello again Steve, My concern about a plastic rotating head is more to address the threaded screw holes in the plastic. Are the threads rugged enough for the usage that is intended for the reel? I have a Mitchell 2250R which has the plastic spool faded to the same grey that I see in 320s on ebay. I ...

Hi Steve, One thing you need to know about the 320/324 that I failed to mention, is that both reels have a plastic rotating head body. I don’t know how much it affects the reels longevity and usage, but you often see the fading effects from sunlight in photos of these reels. If you can find one that...

Good day Ed, I am sure that my 300 had 5 to 1 lettered on it as well. It was a faster retrieve than my 300. I first used it for Walleye in Ontario. I would cast from shore with a Little Cleo spoon, or drift fish using a worm on a No.3 Mepps spinner. I was fishing the Bay of Quinte at Belleville and ...

Hello again Steve, Wallace, I want to thank you Wallace for these photos. You are always attentive and helpful in these posts and often contribute your advce and help like these photos. Thanks. Steve, I saw some images of Mitchell 440As with the different handle. This handle has a plastic piece oppo...

Hi again Steve, A 320 and 324 are also about the same size. Their body shape is similar to the 204. The 324 has the button to remove the spool, the 320 does not. The 324 also has a better anti reverse lever. My first Mitchell was a 320. A 314 has the removable spool. The 304 does not, so the 314 is ...

I don’t own one myself Steve. I made an offer on one, a 440, but the lady that owned it decided to keep it. It had belonged to her Grandfather so I understood. I usually offer $30 for a Mitchell 300 that works, I offered her $50 for the 440, which I thought was fair. That was the only one I have see...

Guess my speculation that the handle on the 900 was the same on the 410 - and 440, panned out. these photos show it. The last image in French is a bit amusing. It mentions "peche a l'anglaise". English style fishing. I think it refers to the Match fishing popular in England. Mitchell rolle...

Hello,

I looked at images online to find the grey handle that you describe. It appears identical to that on my Mitchell 900, which I purchased new about 1979. Maybe Mitchell designed the 410A to use the same part.

Best Wishes

G. Glen Simpson
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

The Drag is backed off to remove tension from the spring. This is a sort of a rule for all fishing reels. Some reels had leather drag washers which would become compressed over time and under spring pressure. Teflon washers and fiber washer may get the same effect. This will cause the drag to be une...

Good Day Mitchell mates I may be wrong about this, but i believe the body is the same as a 304. The 314 has the button on the end of the drag knob that removes the spool assembly. The later 320 and 324 were similar, the 320 had the spool screw on with the drag nut. Like the 314, the 324 had a push b...

Me too Ted, I lost a screw for the bail and never found a replacement. I just went back to using my 300. I mostly used the 900 for trolling, sometimes with a downrigger. It was a good reel. I used it for 4 or 5 seasons.

Glen

Years ago i owned a 900, it was a fast retrieve version of a Mitchell 300, with a skirted spool. It was a bit longer in dimension to the 300 that I owned.

Glen in Nova Scotia

Hi everyone, I want to add a point about Gear Ratios. I looked up a Mitchell 300 ratio on the web and came up with exactly 4.229 to 1. I don't know exactly what is advertised, but gears often to not have a simple ratio as in this case 4 to 1. If they did, then the same gears would mesh with each oth...

Hello Don, that is a really nice one. Congratulations.

Glen

Hey Ted, I know about typos, I made one on a nato stock number a few weeks ago and wound up ordering 20 snowblowers. Good thing my boss caught it.

Have a good one

Glen

Ted, who are the Gmen you addressed in your last post. Are you trying to make a Federal Issue out of this?

Glen

I couldn't help myself..............

It sure did. That is a nice looking reel.

Gleni

I wonder if these reels even have a drivetrain inside them. After all, they are not meant to turn.

Glen in Nova Scotia

Hi again, I took a copper riveting washer, used in leatherwork and boat building, it's called a rove and has a domes tructure. I annealed it, then flattened it out. I then tapered one side to knife edge with sandpaper and file., then annealed it again to be sure. I believe there are 4 different hard...

I bet you paid all of $6 for it you lucky dog.

Conflatulations. (that is congratulations from an old fart)

Glen

I think that guy was trying to keep you out of a good spot.
:text-lol:

You did well

Glen

If you are not sure how hard the copper is, you can hold (a small piece) in a pair of vice grips, heat it with a Propanr Torch until it is cherry red then immediately drop it into cold water. This will anneal the copper. This is a method used by some of our mechanical fitters to prepare cut copper g...

Any good grease that works. Synthetic greases don't break down or dry up like the old greases, so most people recommend them. If the grease is for reels and not 50 years old, it will do. Avoid white lithium grease, it tends to blacken in use.

Glen

I was happy to be of help in this.

Glen

Hi again, That is the tarnish that I wrote about a few posts back. Now is the time to apply a thin coat of grease. The grease will isolate the metal from the air, which can cause oxidation to restart. Then put the reel back together. You can also coat all of the internal bits and apply a bit more gr...

Now that’s the reel to be concerned about.

Where did you get all these 300s?

Glen

Yes, but I am sure you will not find any significant pitting under the oxidization on this reel. the metal will have a tarnish. Aluminum alloys corrode against themselves. Pure aluminum is passive and will not corrode, but to harden it, the aluminum is alloyed with other metals, mainly copper. Oxidi...

It would probably do little harm either way. The oxidization doesn't look to be affecting the structure of the part. personally, i would clean it off. a few minutes with a scotchbrite pad will likely do it. if the reel is going to be disassembled and lubricated each year you can monitor the oxidizat...

Use a small paint brush, cotton swab and spread a very thin coat over the bare metal. There has been a lot posted about what type of grease to use. I do not recommend lithium based grease, use a clear type grease, synthetic based etc. If a grease is made for reels you can go with that. Once you have...

Hello again, Yes, it gives a very good explanation. The polishes that are advertised may well rid the reel of oxidation, I am not familiar with them. It may be that the focus of the article is the cosmetic appearance of bare aluminum alloy aircraft parts or surfaces. I don’t think this oxidation is ...

It is oxidisation, which can probably be removed with a green scotchbrite pad. It probably has not affected the structural integrity of the part. Once it has been polished out, a bit of grease will protect it. The inside of a reel will hold the grease on the surface, since it is more or less sealed ...

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