Modified Mitchell Reels

  Distance & Accuracy Competition

By: Bill Burke                                                                                                                                              Part 4  

 _________________________________________________________________________   

About the Author: Bill is a resident of Paris, Kentucky and was elected to the Hall of Fame of the American Casting Association (ACA). He has been selected to the United States Casting Team having competed in nine (9) ICSF World Casting Championships. He is the current ACA record holder in the Seniors Distance Plugs Combination event which comprises the total distance cast in feet for the 2-Hand 5/8oz Spinning Distance event, the 2-Hand 5/8oz Revolving Distance event, and the 1/4oz 1-Hand Spinning Distance event. He is a National Champion many times over in the ACA Senior Division. While he is not a machinist by profession, he has been machining custom distance spools and manual pickups for tournament distance casters for over 40 years.   

Many Mitchell reel collectors have been led to believe that the Mitchell reel with the added intermediate gear was manufactured for the left handed professional caster. In truth, it was manufactured for right hand casters only. I am pleased to see that Dennis Roberts addresses this issue in his article “Mitchell’s Wedding Cake Tournament Reel, Part 2” listed on this website. Here Dennis gives a very clear and accurate description of the importance of the distance caster’s selection of the proper reel depending on whether or not he/she is right handed or left handed.   

Confusion is added by the fact that eBay sellers and collectors describe the Mitchell 301 as a reel for the left handed caster. This description has nothing to do with the way line is spooled or comes off the reel during the cast. It only means it is held in the left hand and cranked with the right hand. For example, in distance casting, the Mitchell 301 is used by the right hand caster.   

I am aware that the true purist Mitchell collector wants only factory original reels, but the main reason the aftermarket existed was so that distance casters could have access to various top quality Mitchell reels in order to make the necessary conversions to a competitive caster.   

Being a competitive tournament distance caster for over 45 years, I have seen the many ways that right handed casters, having no access to the older tournament reels with the intermediate gear, longer shaft and conic spools, have adapted.   

406 3 tier MP system

My first custom spool and pickup pictured above is for the 30 Gram (1 ounce) 2-Handed Distance event. It is a Mitchell 406 equipped with a 3-stage conic spool, a 3-step manual pickup, and a short shaft extension. At that time, I also machined a spool and 2-step manual pickup for a left handed casting friend. It was a Mitchell 407 spinning reel which he still uses. He held the American Casting Association (ACA) national record for many years and won the gold medal at the last ACA National Casting Championships in the Senior Division using his Mitchell 407.   

Since the revolutionary Mitchell tournament reel with the added gear made its debut for the right hand caster, something needed to be done for casters having no access to these special tournament models. Mitchell is one of the few manufacturers that produced left and right hand spinning reels for fishing. The design of most other manufacturers only allowed the user to shift the handle to either side of the reel which does nothing to change the direction of the rotating head.

Balzer 300 conversion tournament reel #8

 

 The aftermarket conversion provided a way for everyone to have access to highly competitive Mitchell distance reels. For the right handed caster here is a Balzer 300 with a “Wedding Cake” spool, pickup, and locking ring handle. Included in that arena of specialty conversion model is a Mitchell 300 Pro reel.   

To eliminate the need for the long shaft in reels #8 and #120, the spool parts have been modified so that each spool will fit these short shaft reels. A short aluminum tube has been threaded which includes an inside spacer pin that allows the spool to be attached and released from a short shaft. Two additional spool parts are needed for this conversion. 

Mitchell 301 Tournament conversion

Tournament reel spool components

Mitchell 300 Pro conversion #120

All of the reels were modified for the 2-handed 30 gram (1 ounce) distance event which was later changed to the 18 gram (5/8 ounce) event. Mitchell was also the frontrunner for the 7.5 gram (1/4 oz.) 1-Hand distance event. Here reels like the Mitchell 300 and 301 come into play. The single stage aluminum spool is still one of the most popular choices in Europe for the 1- Hand 7.5 gram (1/4oz.) distance event. Its success has been measured in many wins.    

 The single stage spool can be added to almost any Mitchell reel with a 300 size frame -such as a Mitchell 411 and requires no special pickup.   

Mitchell 411 conversion caster

While there seems to be a lot more interest in distance competition reels, it is the Mitchell accuracy reel that is the most common model still being used in Europe, Canada, and United States. These are no other than the Mitchell 308/309 and 408/409. I would estimate that over 90 percent of North American casters compete with these ultra lights. This is because the Mitchell reel design included several unique features not made available by any other reel manufacturer. Examples are shallow spools, pivoting (2-piece) bail trip levers, and replacement cams.   

For comfort and accuracy almost all competition accuracy casters want the spool positioned in its farthest position outside the rotating head. The spool is positioned by opening the bail ready for the cast and rotating the handle backwards which moves the spool backward or forward into the desired position. The unique pivoting bail trip lever allows this maneuver. Newer versions of these models have a 1-piece fixed trip lever which will not allow the spool to be repositioned. These competitor preferred reels are readily available on eBay. Note: in the picture below the bail trip lever on the left pivots while the one on the right is fixed.  

308 Ultra light pivoting bail trip

Another common adaptation is to replace the two-piece Planamatic gearing system with a replacement crosswind cam. The cam on the right actually does what it says by actually providing a crosswind of the line decreasing the chance for the line snagging while delivering the cast; see picture below. 

Planamatic gearing-vs- Crosswind

In accuracy competitions, the vast majority of casters hold the line against the spools front lip with their forefinger before releasing the cast and during the flight of the plug, a feathering technique is used to slow down or speed up the plug toward the desired target. Casters that do not hold the line against the spool will immediately move their forefinger to the front lip of the spool after the release of the plug to begin this feathering technique. As in distance competitions, the accuracy caster must use a reel that allows the line to travel down the forefinger during the cast.   

In my next article I will explain and show pictures of a few Mitchell ultra-lights that have been converted from the standard 5:1 retrieve ratio to a super fast retrieve ratio of 15:1 or 16:1 for world accuracy competitions.

Select Photos Courtesy of Calin Moga   

MRCC : Copyright Protected