Best ultralight spinning reel

Bamboozle said:
I have three Mitchell's I use REGULARLY: a 1970's Garcia-Mitchell 408, a 1970's Garcia-Mitchell 300 and a 1946ish Mitchell (pre 300/pre Garcia) Version 2 or 3 Half Bail.

IF the OP was into nostalgia and for his stated intended quarry, "panfish," I really can't see any reason an old Garcia-Mitchell 308 or 408 wouldn't be fine. I also have a 1960's Orvis 50A I use for trout & panfish regularly and I have no issues with that either.

In the meantime the last time I used it, the bail wire pulled free on one end of the bail arm on my Stradic... ;)
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Dear Bamboozle,

Do you use those old Mitchells on period specific fiberglass rods too? I still have the Fenwick 4'6" UL I bought with my 408 with paper route money in 1973. The combo was over $ 80.00 back then and so expensive that I put it on layaway at Woodsworth's and rode my bike to the Neshaminy Mall every week to pay it down. I still have the Heddon rod I used with my 300 for pike and walleye on our trips to Quebec, and fluking down da shore when I was a teenager.

Until I got to college and started to fly fish more those were the only rods and reels that I owned. They never let me down, and still work as well as they ever did. Some might say they never worked very well to begin with, but I have zero complaints.

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
 
Shimano vote here too. All of my spinning reels are Shimano, even the gears on my Trek are Shimano.
 
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TimMurphy said:
Dear Bamboozle,

Do you use those old Mitchells on period specific fiberglass rods too? I still have the Fenwick 4'6" UL I bought with my 408 with paper route money in 1973. The combo was over $ 80.00 back then and so expensive that I put it on layaway at Woodsworth's and rode my bike to the Neshaminy Mall every week to pay it down. I still have the Heddon rod I used with my 300 for pike and walleye on our trips to Quebec, and fluking down da shore when I was a teenager.

Until I got to college and started to fly fish more those were the only rods and reels that I owned. They never let me down, and still work as well as they ever did. Some might say they never worked very well to begin with, but I have zero complaints.

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
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Tim:

I use the 408 on the rod I bought with lawn cutting money to pair it with, an Eagle Claw Trailmaster #M4TMUL-6-1/2 foot 4 piece glass fly/spin rod that my hero Jerry McKinnis of "Fishin' Hole" fame advertised every week. ;)

The 300 was purchased as a mate for a long gone Garcia Four Star Conolon medium action rod with metal spigot ferrules. I traded that rod in for a discount towards my first "good" fly rod, an 8'6" 6wt Orvis Limestone Special graphite that I still own & fish on occasion.

These days the 300 is used on a couple of graphite spinning rods I have until I find another Conolon like I traded away.

The 1946/1947 Mitchel (pre 300 half bail) I have gets used on a 1947 fully restored 7 foot Orvis bamboo spinning rod with an oversized nickel silver agate first guide that folds over so you can fit it into the narrow rod tube it came in. It is a beyond cool rod.

The Orvis 50A gets used on a couple of Orvis Bamboo spinning rods I have in the Superlight, Ultralight and Rocky Mountain seriess. All of the bamboo spinning rods were purchased used in the last 15 years.

The best story about my old tackle is when I started fly fishing I became a "purist" and full of myself so I GAVE AWAY the 408, 300 and all of my "spinners" and other trout lures. I kept the Trailmaster because I lost the tip section one night fishing Ridley Creek in Delco.

Years later I got the reels back from the guy I gave them to in a trade for a clarinet. They were in perfect condition like they were when I gave them to him. It probably didn't hurt that a few years earlier I turned him on to fly fishing and bought HIM his first fly rod & reel...

Many years after that I held Eagle Claw's feet to the fire and made them honor a 1970's lifetime unconditional warranty on my Trailmaster (I still had/have the warranty card ;) ) and build me a NEW tip for my Trailmaster. They actually still had period correct parts and some of the old metal "mini ferrules" so I was happy as a clam to have my Trailmaster whole again.

The icing on the cake was years after that when another friend of mine who I totally forget I graced with my old tackle, surprised me and gave me back all of my old spinning lures still in the Plano box I kept them in as a kid.

Life is good sometimes. (y)
 
Bamboozle said:
Tim:

I use the 408 on the rod I bought with lawn cutting money to pair it with, an Eagle Claw Trailmaster #M4TMUL-6-1/2 foot 4 piece glass fly/spin rod that my hero Jerry McKinnis of "Fishin' Hole" fame advertised every week. ;)

The 300 was purchased as a mate for a long gone Garcia Four Star Conolon medium action rod with metal spigot ferrules. I traded that rod in for a discount towards my first "good" fly rod, an 8'6" 6wt Orvis Limestone Special graphite that I still own & fish on occasion.

These days the 300 is used on a couple of graphite spinning rods I have until I find another Conolon like I traded away.

The 1946/1947 Mitchel (pre 300 half bail) I have gets used on a 1947 fully restored 7 foot Orvis bamboo spinning rod with an oversized nickel silver agate first guide that folds over so you can fit it into the narrow rod tube it came in. It is a beyond cool rod.

The Orvis 50A gets used on a couple of Orvis Bamboo spinning rods I have in the Superlight, Ultralight and Rocky Mountain seriess. All of the bamboo spinning rods were purchased used in the last 15 years.

The best story about my old tackle is when I started fly fishing I became a "purist" and full of myself so I GAVE AWAY the 408, 300 and all of my "spinners" and other trout lures. I kept the Trailmaster because I lost the tip section one night fishing Ridley Creek in Delco.

Years later I got the reels back from the guy I gave them to in a trade for a clarinet. They were in perfect condition like they were when I gave them to him. It probably didn't hurt that a few years earlier I turned him on to fly fishing and bought HIM his first fly rod & reel...

Many years after that I held Eagle Claw's feet to the fire and made them honor a 1970's lifetime unconditional warranty on my Trailmaster (I still had/have the warranty card ;) ) and build me a NEW tip for my Trailmaster. They actually still had period correct parts and some of the old metal "mini ferrules" so I was happy as a clam to have my Trailmaster whole again.

The icing on the cake was years after that when another friend of mine who I totally forget I graced with my old tackle, surprised me and gave me back all of my old spinning lures still in the Plano box I kept them in as a kid.

Life is good sometimes. (y)
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Sounds like you can't give the stuff away 😉😂
Totally jesting here.

Neat story !
When we give good things, good things come back to us.
 
Very cool. When I was a kid in 1970s my grandfather bought me a 300 and I had it on a South Bend rod and then later a 308. Those were the first reels I got after my childhood Zebco style closed face reel. I recall 8 lb test on the 300 and 6 or 4 on the 308. I don't think monofiliment was as strong or long lasting as it is today.
Todays fluorocarbon is good stuff. Many happy hours spent with those set ups.
 
If you are spin fishing, have some reel fun:
1666659282835
 
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I see people trout fishing with spinning reels on short ice fishing rods sometimes.
 
Tim Murphy is a great authority on these vintage topics and old tackle ... just ask him about the Heddon Black Beauty .... and the Mitchel 308 is a great option if you can find a solid one

... but I'm older than him, and If you can find a clean D.A.M. Quick 110 ... or a 220, that would be a snazzy ultra light spinning reel that will turn some heads.

D.A.M. Quicks were German made. Deutsche Angelgerate Manufaktur means
" German Manufacturer of fishing tackle". They were the reel of the upper crust back in the '70s. At $40 a pop back in 1974, they were way beyond this Cleveland teenager's snow shovelling budget.

A guy was selling old tackle by the side of the road a few years back when we lived in Louisville ky ... he had a clean mint 110 for $30 ... I passed it up.

I've regretted that ever since
 
I had one of those D.AM. Quick reels back in high school(1977 graduate). Obviously I lost it. I thought that it was a good reel.
 
If you want to turn some heads get a Hardy Altex #1 Mk V. ;)

I have an Altex #1 & a #2 and they are beautiful reels that purr like a fine watch.

Hardy had the patent of full bails until 1954 which explains why my 1947 Mitchell only has a half bail.
 
Mike said:
I think this discussion is great! For one, it has stuck to the topic, strictly one of reels. Nobody had gone off on a tangent about related gear, techniques, etc. Additionally, it further shines light on the diversity of fishing expertise and experience within the Board. Lastly, it has encouraged some other Board members, who perhaps don’t feel confident to contribute at times, to speak up. That’s a good thing.
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Mike nails the Gestalt of PAFF. I am enjoying this thread more than 90% of our usual content for the reasons he describes.

I too started with spinning before fly fishing, though the later was my goal from the beginning. My home water at the time was a pond that was too mucky to wade. It had limited casting stations and hardly any back casting room since the forest came down to the water's edge.

I got a Mitchell 300 after using up a starter open face reel, and didn't score a 308 till after I had migrated to ffishing. It hardly got any use. But I lusted for a D.A.M. Quick and another make that no one has mentioned yet: Alcedo Micron.
 
lestrout said:
Mike nails the Gestalt of PAFF. I am enjoying this thread more than 90% of our usual content for the reasons he describes.
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Yep, it's ironic, since this thread was initially being questioned because of it not being FF related. It's certainly gotten it's share of posts. It's all good.
 
I had no idea about all these high end vintage spinning reels until now. I have a few old ones in original boxes I inherited from an uncle. I am going to have to go through them now to see what I may have.
 
Since we're on the vintage spinning thing, I still have my 1970's Fenwick FS55 2 piece ultralight spinning rod, with the rings. It's my very first trout fishing rod that got me in the game. So many memories with this rod.
 
wildtrout2 said:
Since we're on the vintage spinning thing, I still have my 1970's Fenwick FS55 2 piece ultralight spinning rod, with the rings. It's my very first trout fishing rod that got me in the game. So many memories with this rod.
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I have that exact rod ... plastic triangular flip top rod case, red nylon-like rod bag... I think I boughtit in 1976 senior year of HS.

a couple years back, in a moment of boredom and stupidity ( a dangerous combination ) I thought " this would make a great mountain stream rod". so I converted the guides from the original spinning ... to fly rod.

It looks beautiful , thought I can attach the fly reel at the back of the sliding ring handle ... and ... it casts a fly Line .... HORRIBLY!! Just a really bad idea.

I just went upstairs and took it out of the bag ... it has such a sweet action ... for a spinning reel. This thread has inspired me ... I'm going to convert it back to spinning, with modern spinning guides.

Man ... a D.A.M. Quick 110, with that red drag knob .... will look really fantastic on it when I'm done!
 
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