Mitchell Reel Forum

SGTMAR 62,
I don't know what year, but GreatLaker might. My guess would be in the late 70s.

Regards
Ted Lanham

Niknat,
Glad I could help.

Ted

Greeting Niknat, :text-welcomeconfetti: to the Mitchell Reel Museum. This link will take you a list of Mitchell reels. https://mitchellreelmuseum.com/list-of-all-mitchell-reels-1939-1989/ With this list you will see reels with both odd and even numbers. If a reel has an even number, like 300, 308, 4...

braven,

to the Mitchell Reel Museum.
According to this site's dating information, your reel was produced in 1953.

Regards,
Ted lanham

Bill,
Great picture.

Ted Lanham

Sandman, Your 308PRO and my 408 have a lot in common. Not being a ultalite collector, I did my investigating on the net and found this site. https://kawakami176.wixsite.com/408legacy/gallery This guy seems to have done a lot of work putting together. According to his information, the handle on mine ...

Sandman, Interesting post about your 408. It will something to see if anyone finds a lower SN. In my collecting days, I concentrated on the 300s though I have had a few 308s and 408s that I used for fishing. Since your post is about an early one, I just picked up what I think may be one of the last ...

Jamesbond,
:text-welcomeconfetti:

to the Mitchell Reel Museum. If that is the complete SN, then Wallace states that it was made in 1954. Sometimes the full SN doesn't get stamped completely. A picture would tell us if is likely from that year or not.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

wheels, :text-welcomeconfetti: to the Mitchell Reel Museum. The list that Wallace created for dating purposes was put together with only reels he had access to, so it is very possible to have a 300 with a lower number. Mitchell went through a series of changes on their serial numbers beginning with ...

Rockape,
I believe both the counterweight screw and the A/R changed around 1962. The A/R stayed the same till 1967.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

Dfitz,
According to Wallace's book, Mitchell experimented with the plastic gear on the early 4th version reels. He has one he shows in his book with the serial number C52268 which he believes is around 1951/ 1952.

Ted Lanham

reynolds531, It sounds like you have a problem with the bail not working correctly that is common with the 308/408 reels. The bail may be bent a little and that is causing the bail to bind when you have both bail screws in and not fully open. Ordinarily, you could just adjust the bail to where the o...

As someone who enjoys fishing myself, I think that particular label is actually a symbol of the Shimano brand, which is a well-respected name in the fishing industry. While I'm not sure if having that label on your reel would necessarily make it more collectable, I do think that owning a Shimano re...

Doug67,

to the Mitchell Reel museum.
Here is the dating chart for the 308 sized reels. If I'm correct, it looks like your reel would have been made in 1966. IMHO.

diggerday, :text-welcomeconfetti: to the Mitchell Reel Museum. That is one of the newer reels that I'm not acquainted with, doing a google search I found this link. http://www.fishingworld.com/fishing-and-boating-news/i/7207/t/mitchell%C2%AE-300x-and-308x-gold-series They seem to be valued on ebay l...

To All, I know not why, but I typed carp instead of suckers :oops: . Anyway, I have caught both near where I live, but never used suckers for anything but bait for muskies since I prefer to eat all bass, crappie, trout, bluegill. I have never eaten musky, but I have been told they are OK. Unfortunat...

We have a tiny town here in Michigan called Omer. The yearly sucker run has guys fishing with huge nets (12'x12' and bigger) that are suspended on the bank of the Rifle River that runs through town. They drop it them and crank it up every few minutes to catch em'. We also fish by rod/reel. The rive...

JeffJeff,
Did you see this one for the ultra lites?
Ted Lanham

Martin O'Leary,
:text-welcomeconfetti:

to the Mitchell Reel Museum.
I'm not familiar with a "Match 44A". Might you mean 440A?

Regards,
Ted Lanham

LanceV,

to the Mitchell Reel Musuem.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the handle change occurred late in the 6th version about when they started using the plastic clamshell cases. Maybe, about 1966, 1967.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

FusilDarne,
With a little love the old ones work great !

Regards,
Ted Lanham

fusilDarne,
Now that's a great ole warrior.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

Kim, I really appreciate the pictures. That's sure is an oddball combination. I wonder if the hole was to hold the line with some sort of knot tied on the inside of the spool. Also, I wouldn't think that it would hold all that much line, but I'm not sure how much would be needed for a tournament. Th...

Kim,
This sounds like an interesting reel. If it's not too much trouble, can we get a picture?

Regards,
Ted Lanham

FusilDarne,
It seems like there are multiple opinions about the dating of Mitchell reels. Just pick a year that you're comfortable with and it can be yours.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

goin'fishin'

to the Mitchell Reel Museum.

The Mitchell serial numbers are notorious for being incomplete. My opinion is that what you have is a reel that was produced in 1969 and is missing the last two numbers of its SN. JMHO

Regards,
Ted Lanham

Chubber,
Here's a chart of the production numbers.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

jywill98,
WOW! Three turns and the fish is on the bank!

Regards,
Ted Lanham

Mates,
A belated Merry Christmas to all.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

FusilDarne, :text-welcomeconfetti: to the Mitchell Reel Museum. Your introduction sounds similar to many of those I've heard concerning their history with these reels. The most common thing I detect from all these stories is the love and respect for these old fish catching machines. Regards, Ted Lan...

bristolmod,
Great find! I'd be pleased too.
Ted Lanham

Mates,
I hope everyone of you have a fantastic Christmas and great New Year.

Ted Lanham

Grahamwin, I haven't had any contact with one of the 80's versions of the Mitchell 400, but I have had a couple 300 Pros and they appear to be very well made and reliable reels. I never fished with either and didn't keep either long term, so I don't know how many years they last. I have older 300 th...

jamesbaxternelson,
Bailarm may be talking referring to the drag adjustment knob on one of the spools. It looks to be a little wonky.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

jamesbaxternelson,
:text-welcomeconfetti:

to the Mitchell Reel Museum.
I'm pretty sure pictures will get some replys.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

davidchapman,
I think you were lucky to find those bumpers. I don't think I've ever seen them for sale.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

davidchapman, Adding the number one isn't going to help much. The 1478785 would date it to 1956 which is again too early. I've not been a collector of the 400 series, but I do believe that those reels that had that red bail bumper were the early models and were done away with in later. Possibly, aro...

don309,
It won't be long till he will be tramping around in the trout streams with you. Keep him away from cellphones.

Regards,
Ted

davidchapman, It's not out of the ordinary for in the stamping of serial numbers on Mitchell reels for either partial, incomplete SN to appear. The 6-digit number you ask about would have been placed on a Mitchell back in the 50's, but 401s weren't in production that early, according to Wallace's in...

don309,
I'm sure Wallace would say around 49/50, but others feel different. It's around 70 years old give or take 3 or 4 years.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

davidchapman, By now you know that those red bumpers are hard to find. In the past I have had reels where their bumpers were missing and I tried something that might help you. I'm not 100% sure that I've done this on a 400, but I believe that I have. I have a local hardware store that sells items th...

Sandman,
I think you are right. I thought that I had seen something like that before, but I couldn't nail it down.
Interesting idea.

Ted

Mates,

In all my years of being into Mitchells, I've never seen this over a spool. My question is was this made for this , or is it someone's innovation.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

don309,
I envy that dog.

Ted

don309,
NICE! Do you let the dog have the fish?

Ted Lanham

Chris8150, :text-welcomeconfetti: to the Mitchell Reel Museum. The 304 reels are not my forte, but I know that those reels with the CAP are the earlier models and that there were several versions. If you can post a picture or two, some of those mates that more knowledgeable about the 304 reels may b...

More of harvey's pics.
Ted

Mates,
Here are Harvey's pictures. He said the serial number is 1167677.
Enjoy.

Ted

harvey,

Check your mail. You can send the picture to me and I'll post it for you.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

Rado,

to the Mitchell Reel Museum.
There are several parts dealers on eBay. I know of one of them, Jeff Knight, that has an email of [email protected] .

Regards,
Ted Lanham

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