Hot Weather, Hot Bites

It reached 100 degrees here today. I waited until 7 PM to hit the pond. It was still in the 90s but the gills and a few others were biting. I got to try out my new (old) Garcia Conolon 2121, the matching ultralight rod for my Mitchell 309. The combo works beautifully together and is perfectly balanced. It handled the hard pulling catfish with ease. This setup must have been the Bee's Knees in the early 1960s!

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I have a vintage Garcia-Mitchell 408, but I rarely use it. It won't fit in most modern UL reel seats. It's on a 5.5' ACC crappie stick. I sometimes dock shoot with it for the nostalgia of it.

i used to work about all summer to buy me one 300 in the late 60 z , them things were brutes back in the day :cheers2

Yes, that probably was a very good combo in the day, and still doing a nice job now.

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

i used to work about all summer to buy me one 300 in the late 60 z , them things were brutes back in the day :cheers2

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I have a 300 (actually a 301, the left hander model) too. It's paired with a Garcia Conolon light rod. Still works well but I prefer the 308/309 since it is smaller and lighter.

Pretty fish.

Regards


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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Originally Posted by jawjatek

I have a vintage Garcia-Mitchell 408, but I rarely use it. It won't fit in most modern UL reel seats. It's on a 5.5' ACC crappie stick. I sometimes dock shoot with it for the nostalgia of it.

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Nice! The 408 is the high-speed version of the 308. It has a 5.5:1 gear ratio and the 308 has 4.5:1 ratio (although many advertisements claimed 5:1).

That is a great throwback reel and rod...but not throw back fish. Good looking Gills and fine eating size. Now Mr Whiskers...that's a different story, not my kind of fish on the UL stuff, bullies they are!

Nice pics...... And nice catches.... Stay At'um

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Originally Posted by Fishfishwish

I have a 300 (actually a 301, the left hander model) too. It's paired with a Garcia Conolon light rod. Still works well but I prefer the 308/309 since it is smaller and lighter.

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Loved my 301 and 309. A reel for LEFTIES!! I always cranked with my right so I thought these reels were the best idea since sliced bread! LOL
Bob

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Originally Posted by StantheMan2567

That is a great throwback reel and rod...but not throw back fish. Good looking Gills and fine eating size. Now Mr Whiskers...that's a different story, not my kind of fish on the UL stuff, bullies they are!

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That catfish was the first catch on the new rod and about a 5 minute fight. I was taking my time and getting a feel for the rod. Lots of fun. The 4# SOS line was up to the task too.

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Originally Posted by Fishfishwish

I have a 300 (actually a 301, the left hander model) too. It's paired with a Garcia Conolon light rod. Still works well but I prefer the 308/309 since it is smaller and lighter.

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when i was young the 308 was the reel , but they were hard to come by and a little light for some of the larger species i liked to fish for back then . line capacity was a worry as i fished a lot for real big carp as a kiddo and a big carp can flat peel line off a reel on the hook up .
and to be sure just being able to buy one reel a year was a blessing ,so i mostly always got a 300 ,i did own a 308 for a while though when i got older and could afford to have 2 reels ....rotfl

Nice catch and great old rod and reel. I still have a couple of 301's.

You can get two spools for the 308, one shallow and one deep. Still available widely on eBay, some still in the original plastic wrap.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

when i was young the 308 was the reel , but they were hard to come by and a little light for some of the larger species i liked to fish for back then . line capacity was a worry as i fished a lot for real big carp as a kiddo and a big carp can flat peel line off a reel on the hook up .
and to be sure just being able to buy one reel a year was a blessing ,so i mostly always got a 300 ,i did own a 308 for a while though when i got older and could afford to have 2 reels ....rotfl

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FishFishWish have you seen these? Thought it interesting they were reproducing these reels.


Regards


ABU - Spinning Reels


Sent from my iPad using Crappie.com

I have not. Thanks for the link. I haven't gone down the Abu Cardinal road yet. I have an Orvis, Penn, and two Dam Quicks in the queue right now. I've taken a holiday from eBay for a while!

I knew those reels in Alpha’s link had a following but wow, they got pricey. Had a browning SIL a flex rod from that era, my first ultra light. Caught lots of gills and crappie then and didn’t know much about what I was doing. Wore out the gears in the little Diawa that I had on it, a mini mite.

Fortunately, you can find them in pretty nice shape on eBay for far less. Price depends on the model. Some are more highly valued.

I still have my Cardinal 3 from the 70s. The spool cracked, so I got a replacement from hedgehog. I've seen Daysprout Cardinal 3s on ebay as well.