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Vintage Fishing Equipment

Smitty500magSmitty500mag Member Posts: 13,603 ✭✭✭✭
edited February 2018 in General Discussion
Do you guys like the old fishing equipment? Everything I fish with is the old stuff like the Garcia Conolon Rods that were made in the USA and the Mitchell reels that were made in France.

I particularly like the ultra light stuff for freshwater like the Mitchell 408 reel and the Garcia Conolon ultra light rods.

I lucked up and found this Garcia Conolon B501-A, 4 star, 5-1/2' rod on ebay the other day for less than half of the ones I've been watching. The guy had such bad pictures in his ad that I guess people were reluctant to bid on it. I took a chance anyway and the only blemish is on the G in the Garcia lettering. The rest of the rod looks really great for it's age.

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Comments

  • RobOzRobOz Member Posts: 9,523 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have a good bit of old stuff but do not use it. I have a few 308's and 300's and a few old rods. Love seeing the old stuff.
  • mrmike08075mrmike08075 Member Posts: 10,998 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Thank you for sharing the pictures and some collectors / aficionados lore about the subject...

    Please continue to educate the rest of us and to share your passion here...

    So few people buy nice well made top of the line products anymore

    Everything from Walmart and target is made in China and India and if it lasts a year or two oh well you buy another cheap replacement

    Many of us have the collectors bug and should share pics of our pieces no matter what the medium.

    Mike
  • jimdeerejimdeere Member, Moderator Posts: 25,583 ******
    edited November -1
    I lost all mine in a boating accident. Seriously.
  • spasmcreekspasmcreek Member Posts: 37,724 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    yepper, i have a like new Ocean City Long Key reel that was grandads ..he used to go off Galveston fishing...hard to see any use on it...it was hidden in a box for 50 or more years..big ol ocean reel that i would like to rod up and catch a really BIG flathead at our lake place just for bragging rights....hard to keep ahead of em at the coffee shop
  • JimmyJackJimmyJack Member Posts: 5,385 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    How much did you give for the rod? I still use one too.
  • Smitty500magSmitty500mag Member Posts: 13,603 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by RobOz
    I have a few 308's and 300's and a few old rods.


    I was counting the old Mitchell's I've accumulated the other day and found I have over 40 of them not counting the old D.A.M Quick reels and other Mitchell parts reels that's laying around the work shop. The darn things are addictive to me. I keep saying I don't need any more and the next time I see one in great shape I'll end up buying it anyway. My youngest son will have a lot of fishing junk to sort through besides the guns when I'm gone since he's the only one of our kids that likes the old stuff like I do.

    The 300's are the old workhorses. I've got 20 300's and 300A's along with a couple of the left hand 301's.

    I fished with a 308 before the high speed 408's came along which I still have a couple of each.

    I also have 3 salt water 302's and the high speed version of it in the 402. I've read that there's still a lot of people using the 302's and 402's to surf fish with because they just last forever and you can still find them cheap. They haven't made them since 1979 but they're still a lot of them around. I also like the mid size 306 and 406 salt water reels too. My wife likes the 406 better than the larger 302 or 402.

    My other Mitchell's are the models:
    304
    305
    314
    330
    400
    410
    900

    DSCN4209_2.jpg
  • Smitty500magSmitty500mag Member Posts: 13,603 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by JimmyJack
    How much did you give for the rod? I still use one too.


    I paid $39.99 plus $8.50 shipping.
  • buddybbuddyb Member Posts: 5,235 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    First pay check I ever earned,I bought a Mitchell 300,a Conolon rod and a Case pocket knife.
  • wpageabcwpageabc Member Posts: 8,760 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    That is some good classic stuff...

    Congrats.
    "What is truth?'
  • asopasop Member Posts: 8,898 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    6 of us fished for years up in Canada. We all had 300's. Always brought along 2 "extra" new ones for parts if needed! Great reels.
  • skicatskicat Member Posts: 14,431
    edited November -1
    Very cool collection. My first open faced reel was a 300. I think it might still be around somewhere. Lately,last decade, I have been buying St Croix rods and a couple of Fenwicks. I spend more time worrying about catching old fish than using old gear.[:D]
  • papernickerpapernicker Member Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Thats a lot of gear, I only have a Quick spool left after a guy stole my rod and spool-less reel in the 70s.
  • nunnnunn Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 35,988 ******
    edited November -1
    That was my first spinning rod. Seriously. And I mated it with a Garcia/Mitchell 408 ultra-light reel.
  • yblockheadyblockhead Member Posts: 942 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Brought back some very good memories of when I was growing up. My Dad owned "Northwest Rod and Reel Repair" (Tacoma WA)back in the mid 60's and into the early 70's. I grew up around all of this quality stuff. I found a Mitchell Garcia factory dealer clock in his stuff when we were cleaning out his stuff a few yeas ago.
  • Smitty500magSmitty500mag Member Posts: 13,603 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by yblockhead
    Brought back some very good memories of when I was growing up. My Dad owned "Northwest Rod and Reel Repair" (Tacoma WA)back in the mid 60's and into the early 70's. I grew up around all of this quality stuff. I found a Mitchell Garcia factory dealer clock in his stuff when we were cleaning out his stuff a few yeas ago.


    Yep those were the good old days. I grew up at my grandpa's Three Rivers Boat Dock & Restaurant in Knoxville, TN back in the 50s and 60s and I used to spend a lot of time watching my uncle doing rod and reel repair and outboard motor repair.

    I was a regular river rat as a kid. When I wasn't in school I was always at the dock helping Pop pump rain water out of people's boats that were docked there or keeping the soft drink refrigerator boxes filled up at the restaurant. Rest of the time I spent goofing off fishing and swimming.

    SCN_0026_zpsqawzplnx.jpg


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  • pulsarncpulsarnc Member Posts: 6,216 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have about 30 or 35 rods and reels ,the majority of which at e30 to 40 years old or older .maybe 7 or 8 are "modern" meaning less than 8 or 9 years old .My favorite is still my DAMN QUICK that I found laying on the riverbank where someone had lost it in 1970 or 71
    must have 11 or 12 of the old mitchells
    cry Havoc and let slip  the dogs of war..... 
  • 35 Whelen35 Whelen Member Posts: 14,310 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    No one will ever convince me that the old Mitchell 300 and ABU 505 aren't the best reels ever made.[:)][^]
    An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.
  • Smitty500magSmitty500mag Member Posts: 13,603 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by nunn
    That was my first spinning rod. Seriously. And I mated it with a Garcia/Mitchell 408 ultra-light reel.


    Speaking of Mitchell 408's, not that I really needed any more of them, but I found a couple of them for sale the other day on ebay that were to good of a deal to pass up.

    For their size the 408 and the 308's are tough little reels and they'll last forever plus they're very easy to service. I believe I could take one apart and put it back together in the dark they're so simple.

    The 408's were made from 1963 to 1981. The ones I have are midnight blue in color which would be the early models so these two are around 50 years old. I doubt that the Chinese reels on the market today will be around 50 years from now and still working as smooth as they were the day they left the factory. The French did a good job on these old reels.

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  • spasmcreekspasmcreek Member Posts: 37,724 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    neighbor lady at our lake place rebuilt reels and rods...did first rate work..one of our first visits she asked if i would like to see her bobber collection?????? uuuhh OK..pulled out boxes of em she had found around the lake ...919 total, yepper a real collection....she died little over a year ago..RIP Francis
  • Ditch-RunnerDitch-Runner Member Posts: 24,450 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    nice collection Smitty thanks for sharing the photos .


    for my 15th birthday I ask mam and dad to buy a Garcia 301 ( right hand version of the 300 ) for me a local store ( o-mart ) early version of a k-mart , they had one in the show case about 15.00 if I remember .. I realized later on that was a lot for mom and dad to come up with for a present [:(].
    all we ever had was zebco 202's dad had a old bait caster he had forever I just wanted a nice rod and reel for a change , did not improve my fish catching

    I had to save up for months to buy a rod to go with it .
    I still have it and maybe a 1/2 dozen more now I have picked up over the years
    '
  • Smitty500magSmitty500mag Member Posts: 13,603 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Ditch-Runner

    ...for my 15th birthday I ask mam and dad to buy a Garcia 301 ( right hand version of the 300 )


    I've got a couple of 301's also. They're awkward for me to use since I cast with my right hand. Mitchell actually called the 301s the left hand model due to it being held in your left with right hand retrieve. And the 300 the right hand model because it's held in the right hand with left hand retrieve.

    DSCN4170.jpg
  • Ditch-RunnerDitch-Runner Member Posts: 24,450 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    thanks I knew I would get it reversed [:D][:D]

    quote:Originally posted by Smitty500mag
    quote:Originally posted by Ditch-Runner

    ...for my 15th birthday I ask mam and dad to buy a Garcia 301 ( right hand version of the 300 )


    I've got a couple of 301's also. They're awkward for me to use since I cast with my right hand. Mitchell actually called the 301s the left hand model due to it being held in your left with right hand retrieve. And the 300 the right hand model because it's held in the right hand with left hand retrieve.

    DSCN4170.jpg
  • RadarRadar Member Posts: 2,308 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    My older brother would go to auctions and i have seen him spend over 200.00 for one lure.He had a large collection of old poles,lures and reels.After he passed away she got rid of them all almost gave away.Bet he had over 100 rods,75 reels and hundreds of lures.
  • Smitty500magSmitty500mag Member Posts: 13,603 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Radar
    My older brother would go to auctions and i have seen him spend over 200.00 for one lure.He had a large collection of old poles,lures and reels.After he passed away she got rid of them all almost gave away.Bet he had over 100 rods,75 reels and hundreds of lures.


    There's a lot of people into fishing lure collecting. I used to work with a guy that had thousands of dollars invested in old lures. They have fishing lure shows all over the country just like gun shows. I attended one of the shows one time in Pigeon Forge, TN and the place was packed. I was amazed.

    I never got into lure collecting other than the lures that I've inherited. I inherited quite a few from one of my uncles back in the 80s that I still have but other than that the only ones I buy are the newer stuff that I fish with.


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  • Ditch-RunnerDitch-Runner Member Posts: 24,450 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    a co-worker who him and his wife were also armature bass tournament fishermen . collect lures also bought and sold them on line he was always on th elook out for auctions and yard sales he had hundreds maybe thousands based on what he told me

    he was also the one when ask if he had a bass boat would reply " I have a ranger xxx "
    ya but he had a 6 year loan also that went with it [:I][:I][:I] and not shy about it
  • OakieOakie Member Posts: 40,519 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I had a nice collection of old salt water rods and reels. I gave them to my niece, that lives at the shore in Delaware. All my stuff is brand new. I am inheriting all my FIL collection of old reels though. He even has one made by winchester. Those I am gonna hang onto. Oak
  • sparkyvsparkyv Member Posts: 44 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    413760973.jpg I'm a old lure guy. Not all are real old, like the Bagleys.

    [img][/img]413760973.jpg
  • lew07lew07 Member Posts: 1,055 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have some of the old dapper dan jointed lures.One is even wood with rusty hooks and no paint left and still catches with its seductive wiggle.Im too sentimental about it I won?t risk using and snagging it[:D]
  • Smitty500magSmitty500mag Member Posts: 13,603 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Oakie
    I had a nice collection of old salt water rods and reels. I gave them to my niece, that lives at the shore in Delaware. All my stuff is brand new. I am inheriting all my FIL collection of old reels though. He even has one made by winchester. Those I am gonna hang onto. Oak


    Did you have any of the old Mitchell salt water reels? A lot of people still use these old reels surf fishing today. They made so many of them plus they are so rugged that they are still plentiful today even though none have been made since the late 80s when Mitchell went out of business in France.

    The old 302 was Mitchell's first heavy duty salt water reel. I've got several of them. The 402 was the high speed version of the 302 which is my favorite of the bunch. The 306 and 406 are a lighter salt water reel.

    The 302
    DSCN4758.jpg

    The 402.
    DSCN4721.jpg

    The 306.
    DSCN3935.jpg

    The 406.
    DSCN4486.jpg
  • asopasop Member Posts: 8,898 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
  • sparkyvsparkyv Member Posts: 44 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Need to see some more.
  • Smitty500magSmitty500mag Member Posts: 13,603 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by sparkyv
    Need to see some more.


    The past couple of days I've been doing a little maintenance on my old 302 salt water reels getting ready for some fishing in Florida this spring.

    I also replaced the stock pinon gear bearings in each of them with a new oil sealed ceramic bearing that I found that fits perfectly. The old bearing were still good but these bearings are smoother and quieter than the stock bearing.

    These reels range between 60 to 65 years old that I have. They're built like a tank and they'll be around long after I'm gone. That might have played a part in why Mitchell went out of business besides some of their bad business deals. Reels that last a life time don't need to be replaced.


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  • Mr. PerfectMr. Perfect Member, Moderator Posts: 66,184 ******
    edited November -1
    Ah... so we moved the fishing forum.[:)]
    Some will die in hot pursuit
    And fiery auto crashes
    Some will die in hot pursuit
    While sifting through my ashes
    Some will fall in love with life
    And drink it from a fountain
    That is pouring like an avalanche
    Coming down the mountain
  • Smitty500magSmitty500mag Member Posts: 13,603 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Mr. Perfect
    Ah... so we moved the fishing forum.[:)]


    Yeah right next to where you post all your political BS instead of in the "politics forum".
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