Close enuff to Friday

[Richard Flanders]

I learned how to fish in the middle 50's using my grandfather's 300 on a sweet Orvis bamboo spinning rod; nothing like starting out with the Rolls Royce of kits! I've been a Mitchell guy ever since. Strangely enough, this particular 300 is a Garcia Mitchell made in France; not sure of the vintage. Runs very well, but the drag makes some chattering racket when a 25# pike is running off. Have to take the spool apart and look into that. I still have the first 300 I bought for $16 in 1966 and it still runs like new. I may have replaced the bail spring once, but they're readily available on ebay for pennies so I have spares for 300's and 308's. No one has ever really topped the Mitchells for reliability. The newer reels have smoother running bearings, but that's about the limit of their superiority.