Ever pull one out of retirement ?

How small is your rod and how light is your line? It's not about the size of your tackle, but how you work it. Come share your Ultralight and Bait Finesse System (BFS) fishing success here!
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uljersey
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Ever pull one out of retirement ?

Post by uljersey » Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:59 am

I'm in the middle of my winter pre season ritual of reel cleaning, tackle bag organization and basically anything that keeps me sane. I decided to pull this 2009 Pflueger Supreme XT 25 size out of the bullpen and give it another look. I tore it down to the frame for a deep clean and lube, she's now back to her former ultra smooth glory. I had forgotten some of the finer details of it, one being that it has a ball bearing fitted in the spool itself that adds another degree of smoothness in addition to a line roller bearing instead of a bushing. It even has a 4 washer drag - 2 carbon washers and 2 steel for an incredibly smooth drag.

I remember grabbing it from the Cabela's Bargain Cave when it went on clearance. The only knock I have with it is the ugly gold color, but the performance of it kind of nullifies that. I've owned a number of Pfluegers over the years, from the Trion on up to the Supremes and they've always (with the exception of a lemon President) performed very well for me. I don't know about the current crop of them, I know they long ago stopped putting a reel bag and extra spool in the box.

I caught a bunch of fish on it, including this nice chunk LM, one of my biggest UL fish ever.

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timinmo
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Re: Ever pull one out of retirement ?

Post by timinmo » Mon Feb 12, 2018 12:33 pm

This one has been in retirement much longer. Back in the late 1960's early 1970's Fenwick made a glass ultralight, this was before graphite. The model was FS55, 5 and 1/2 feet long weight of 2 and 3/8 OZ rated for 1/8 to 1/4 lures, line of 1 to 4 lbs. I know those figures because I am typing with one in my hands. These were two piece rods with Tennessee handles. They had wire guides that grooved easily even with the light line. When ceramic guides appeared I had a local shop replace my grooved wire ones. It ruined the feel of the rod. So it was forgotten.

Several years ago I got into rod building and after I gained some experience I stripped off the heavy guides and replaced them with a set of micros. Once again the rod was alive. At this time it is my absolute favorite for the Teeny Rebel Craws and other ultra light cranks. I just acquired a second one that was my 90 year old mother's. Still with the triangular plastic hard case and the tartan plaid sleeve.

I have two new in the box Mitchell 308s that will find their way onto the rods.

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Re: Ever pull one out of retirement ?

Post by Smead » Mon Feb 12, 2018 12:39 pm

I remember that Supreme!!

It's sort of funny how at one time manufacturers claimed that you simply had to have a ball bearing in the line roller, now it has been deleted on many reels.

I have been strongly downsizing...have only a Daiwa BG 1500 and a couple low end JDM Daiwa Revros left and one rod for each.

I'm burned out with reel tech...Daiwa's latest "LT" thingy did it for me, a catchy title for replacing metal with non-Zaion plastic.

The BG's are OK, as are the Tournament SS reels, but everything below them is near Walmart quality really. I have been purposely ignoring Shimano and Okuma for awhile now.

I still have an old 38 year old Mitchell 308 which is better in general quality than most new reels.

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Re: Ever pull one out of retirement ?

Post by uljersey » Mon Feb 12, 2018 2:06 pm

This is just my hunch, borne of long drives for work and too much time to think ... feel free to refute.

I think as far as the US/North American market goes, the sun has set on spinning reels. Hard core bass guys ignore them for the most part, and hardcore fishermen overall are but a tiny percentage tackle sales. Hardly anyone here in the states beyond boards like this appreciates what makes a reel go from average to stellar ... I really can't blame the manufacturers for their stance, if Asia & Europe are the main markets for the good stuff, why offer it here where it will sit on a shelf only to have someone huff "I can buy 4 reels for that at WallyMart" ?

So what we're left with is the endless game of renaming plastic with exotic sounding names and deleting features in the name of weight shaving (cost cutting) while claiming it's what the market wanted all along ... although I've personally never seen a survey nor have been asked if I'd like to see the anti reverse switch removed.

Meanwhile, casting reels have made huge strides in recent years ... Even a stock $100 Tatula out of the box performs on par with the top of the line from 10 years ago ... and rods have been right up there as well, plenty of sweet choices to be had for well under $200. It just seems spinning has more or less hit the wall. It will always have a place among UL anglers, but then again we are on the fringe.

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Re: Ever pull one out of retirement ?

Post by JB in SC » Mon Feb 12, 2018 2:59 pm

I've been fishing ultralight since the late 60's. I still have a Mitchell 409, a Fenwick 6 1/2' Ultralight glass, along with a Orvis 5' Glass Fullflex and Orvis 51A reel. I don't even have them spooled up and haven't used them in at least 25 years.
Last edited by JB in SC on Wed Feb 14, 2018 5:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Ever pull one out of retirement ?

Post by Bronzeye » Mon Feb 12, 2018 3:29 pm

uljersey wrote:This is just my hunch... feel free to refute.

I think as far as the US/North American market goes, the sun has set on spinning reels. Hard core bass guys ignore them for the most part, and hardcore fishermen overall are but a tiny percentage tackle sales....
I agree that hardcore fishermen are a tiny percentage of tackle sales, so I disagree that spinning reels are on the way out.

I think most beginners buy one outfit that they can use to catch panfish and any other fish they might luck into. It will be a L or ML spinning combo, probably prespooled with 6 or 8 lb. test. If they have enough success to want another outfit, it will probably be a Medium powered rod with the same kind of reel they have gotten used to--a spinning reel.

I expect that SV and dual braking systems, by minimizing backlashes, are encouraging more anglers to use baitcasters for bass fishing. But for the masses of freshwater anglers, I would guess that spinning outfits outnumber baitcast ones by at least 4 to 1, and I don't see that changing soon.

As for saltwater fishing--I don't do it, so I can only go on my impressions of photos and online videos, but it seems to me that spinning predominates there, too, until one gets into big-game fishing. This seems especially true in surf-casting.

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Re: Ever pull one out of retirement ?

Post by uljersey » Mon Feb 12, 2018 3:36 pm

Bronzeye wrote:
uljersey wrote:This is just my hunch... feel free to refute.

I think as far as the US/North American market goes, the sun has set on spinning reels. Hard core bass guys ignore them for the most part, and hardcore fishermen overall are but a tiny percentage tackle sales....
I agree that hardcore fishermen are a tiny percentage of tackle sales, so I disagree that spinning reels are on the way out
I should have worded my thoughts better ... I meant that for the most part the sun has set on higher end spinners here in the states ... there will always be spinning gear available here, but the vast majority of it will be of the entry level on up to mid level at best. It's not really a big deal overall, the internet is the single best thing to happen to fishing since hooks :) it's the biggest tackle store on the planet. It's put JDM or for that matter just better gear period within reach of everybody.

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Re: Ever pull one out of retirement ?

Post by Bronzeye » Mon Feb 12, 2018 3:52 pm

I see what you meant now, and agree that sales of high-end spinning reels will probably decline--especially since finesse baitcasters can now be bought with high gear ratios.

To return to the original poster's inquiry: This spring, I hope to reactivate a near-new Mitchell 308 on which I cut half the bail off and balanced the rotor. I think that on my second outing with it, I was using a wispy microbraid on a windy day to jig, and I had some problems with the braid blowing off the bail remnant. With mono and for straight retrieves it had been fine, and eliminated the need for closing the bail and pulling the line tight after each cast.

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Re: Ever pull one out of retirement ?

Post by timinmo » Mon Feb 12, 2018 5:45 pm

I don't know guys. I work part time at a sporting goods store and a lot of serious bass fisherman seem to follow what is going on with the tournament fishermen. 10 or 15 years ago many of the pros would not be caught dead with a spinning outfit in the boat. Now it seems many are going to spinning in some situations. The guys fishing local tournaments will spend money on higher end reels. The casual angler will purchase the Wally World combo.

As far as the ultra light market the high end reels seem to be a hard sell. The only people that seem serious about higher end ultra lights are the trout spin fishermen and the small stream smallmouth guys to a lesser extent. The panfish and crappie guys tend to buy lower to mid level stuff.

While I enjoy fooling around with the old Mitchells, they really do not compare well with the newer reels. While we are talking about reels from the 60's I think a Mitchell 300 went for about $16 back then. What that is in current dollars I don't know but I was making less than $2.00 an hour. I have not jumped on the LT wagon but I might. The last two spinning reels I bought were a Ballistic and a BG they are both great and way better than the half dozen old Mitchells I have around.

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Re: Ever pull one out of retirement ?

Post by Smead » Tue Feb 13, 2018 4:24 pm

The original Mitchell reel which became the 300 was designed in the early 1940's...excellent line lay was the goal with it, hence the complicated gearing. When it was developed, there were few other spinning reels; it simply had unreal longevity. None of Mitchell's other reels had anything like it's design.

The 308, created for light and ultralight fishing, was designed in the late 1950's and has less exotic engineering.

IMO, despite misc modern features, you are not getting the engineering and manufacturing quality of the older reels. The TT Forum is full of stories of even pricey reels going rough in a rather short time from what essentially is moderate use, or after a couple of hard fights. A Stradic today has the ballpark equivalent cost of a Mitchell 308 in 1970.

Using better materials and having gears machine cut, with metal housings, meant that you didn't need 8 bearings to get smoothness.

The difference is marketing mentality inherent in all consumer goods...no one making stuff wants you to have something that lasts for decades, not your clothes, not your car, not your refrigerator and not your fishing reel.

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Re: Ever pull one out of retirement ?

Post by JB in SC » Wed Feb 14, 2018 5:23 pm

Personally I like the new technology, especially the high end JDM trout area tackle. My 1025 Presso is smoother than any reel I own. The drag is superb and handles lines down to .004" with ease. I don't miss the old reels at all.

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Re: Ever pull one out of retirement ?

Post by timinmo » Wed Feb 14, 2018 7:10 pm

By and large I am in agreement with JB. While I enjoy some of the vintage stuff the new is to my feel better, smoother, lighter, better drags and better line management. I think anyone that used the 60's era Mitchells will remember the line getting under the spool. It was a big improvement when skirted spools came out. I had some early Shimanos also and do not remember them fondly. In any case I will take the new stuff but some of the old equipment brings out some memories gained decades ago that I treasure.

As an aside Smead I really enjoy the stuff you have written on the vintage spinning reels. I would not get rid of the ones I have for any money. A couple belonged to my father and just looking at them brings a warm feeling.

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