Old Spinning Reels

[LDUBS]

I don't want to hijack Blue Dawg's thread, so will start this one.

A good friend has a neighborhood-wide garage sale coming up in August. We typically take some of our junk over and make a day of it. Anyway, there are many homes participating and some usually have fishing gear.

Last year I bought an old Mitchell 300. I might take a look again this year. If you were looking at garage sale spinning reels, are there any brands/models that might be stand outs?

 

[overboard]

ZEBCO Cardinal 3 or 4, some prefer the ABU GARCIA 3 or 4, but I like the Zebco's.
One thing about the Zebco Cardinal 3's and 4's, there is a design flaw in the spools and the front "WILL SEPARATE", you would need an aluminum spool to make them totally reliable for years, if you use bigger reels the Zebco Cardinal 6 or 7 is also a good reel.

 

[LDUBS]

ZEBCO Cardinal 3 or 4, some prefer the ABU GARCIA 3 or 4, but I like the Zebco's.
One thing about the Zebco Cardinal 3's and 4's, there is a design flaw in the spools and the front "WILL SEPARATE", you would need an aluminum spool to make them totally reliable for years, if you use bigger reels the Zebco Cardinal 6 or 7 is also a good reel.

Exactly what I was looking for, thanks. Hopefully others will weigh in.

 

[DaleH]

FWIW I've gotten > $200 for selling old Swedish made Abu Cardinal reels on eBay!

I have a few mint LH'd Garcia Mitchell 301 and 309 spinning reels that I love for early season trout fishing.

 

[overboard]

I've bought them in excellent condition anywhere from $2.00 to $30.00 at flea markets and yard sales, I have a NIB Zebco C-4 and a NIB Abu Garcia C-4X that I bought from stores years ago, that C-4X,for whatever reason. seems to brings come good $$$$$ on ebay.

 

[Tinny Fleet]

The Cardinals are superb, and I've used them for...ahem....over 50 years. The Abu's not the Garcias. There is a gent in the UK that sells the aluminum spools for the Abu C3 and the C4 - WELL worth it. The C6 and the C7 spools are all aluminum, not plastic, and are still easy to obtain in the US.

The Mitchells are more common, and IMO the picks of the litter are blue ones: the 408, 406 and the 402.

Couple other brands I would look at are the Penn "Spinfisher' series (especially the "greenies" which are green in color) and also the Shakespeare (2052, 2062 and larger 20xx numbers), the DAM "Quick" reels, and any "Alcedo" (especially the "microns"). All of these at yard sale prices are super worthy reels and vastly better than any Chinesium.

 

[Geoff40]

about those Mitchell’s….the newer reels mostly seem to have a lot of plastic parts internally. Unless you spend $100s on one…older 300s, they have metal parts and I can tell you from personal experience, are light years more rugged than a lot of newly made reels. I’ve caught dozens of Lake Ontario King salmon, Coho salmon, steelhead, and browns; using old Mitchell 300s. Some of those Kings exceed 30 pounds, and just 1 of them will tough-test any reel going. The latter fish on that list are often 10-20 lbs. Lake Ontario is no place for average equipment. For the money, you can’t beat buying an older Mitchell, taking it down, cleaning it and then repacking it in modern reel grease as you reassemble it. That’s what they were made for. If you’ve got one, use it1

 

[alask83]

about those Mitchell’s….the newer reels mostly seem to have a lot of plastic parts internally. Unless you spend $100s on one…older 300s, they have metal parts and I can tell you from personal experience, are light years more rugged than a lot of newly made reels. I’ve caught dozens of Lake Ontario King salmon, Coho salmon, steelhead, and browns; using old Mitchell 300s. Some of those Kings exceed 30 pounds, and just 1 of them will tough-test any reel going. The latter fish on that list are often 10-20 lbs. Lake Ontario is no place for average equipment. For the money, you can’t beat buying an older Mitchell, taking it down, cleaning it and then repacking it in modern reel grease as you reassemble it. That’s what they were made for. If you’ve got one, use it1

I bought my first Mitchell 300 in 1957, still have it, missing a good amount of paint, still works well. I've acquired a fondness for Diawa 1355's, picked up several on ebay for very little gold.