YoungMartin’sReels - Garcia Mitchell 304 Disassembly, Clean, Lubrication and Reassembly
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- Опубликовано: 2 янв 2022
- In this video we disassemble, clean, lubricate and reassemble a Garcia Mitchell 304 open face spinning reel. If you like the video please hit the like button and if you would like to see more of them please hit the subscribe button.
YoungMartin’sReel was created to honor my dad Martin B. Stivers of Louisville KY. He was an avid fisherman and repaired thousands of fishing reels in his lifetime. I spent numerous hours watching him do so but I have forgotten most of what he taught me. Now that he is gone and I find myself in need of reel repair so I am learning how it is done and trying my best to pass it on.
If I can be of assistance, feel free to contact me Rick48cj2a@yahoo.com
Rick Martin Stivers
Thanks. I have one that needs to be re-lubed.
Enjoyed the Mitchell 304 is a great little reel I think I will dig mine out and service it and trout fish with it some thanks for a great video. !
Nice 👍
Hi Rick
Back in 1985, one of them, 304s court me a carp at 35 lbs in the Connecticut river on a baby big O 6 lb line.
We’ll done Ed. A 35 lbs carp on a 304 with 6 lb line means you understand how to play a fish.
Hi, thanks for sharing this takedown job. Last summer, I got into the vintage Mitchell reels and purchased a 300 and 304S on eBay. Both reels looked like they had been sitting in a garage or shed for 20 years and were covered in grime and grease, the bails functional but sluggish and the internals were caked in clumps of dried and non functional grease and grit. I did a complete takedown of the 300 last summer, full cleaning and lube and I’ve been fishing exclusively with it ever since. This past weekend, I pulled the 304S out and did the same thing you just did! I also watched 2ndChance’s video. I agree that this is not something that we would routinely need to do, but when you have something so dirty and neglected, you don’t have much choice I suppose. I haven’t been able to find much info on the 304S, other than a fan-based Mitchell site that said they were only made from 1970-73. There are a few differences from the 304 reel you are showing but not that much. What is the deal with the 304S, why did they make it and then stop?
First let me explain I’m not an expert on reels by any means. Until my dad passed away last year I knew little about fishing reels and the little I did know was confined to freshwater, light weight reels. I’ve been on this journey with you guys for the last 8 months learning all I can. I did a little research after you asked the question and here is what I found out. The Mitchell 304S was created for salt water fishing. They installed a better quality gear set to stand up to the saltwater corrosion.
Now I’ll move into speculation. Most people I’ve met that fish saltwater are looking for heavy duty equipment. The 304S is not a heavy reel and I believe it had a very limited market. Not many saltwater fishermen are fishing for small fish. Just speculation on my part.
@@youngmartinsreels5314 wow, thanks for that insight. It’s interesting because the internals of my 304S really don’t look that different from the 304 you are showing. The reverse lever has a bronzing to it and it’s a little heavier but it’s similar to other later Mitchell’s. After fishing with my 304S last night on a shorter lightweight reel, I see what you are saying about using it it saltwater. The scope of this reel seems perfect for fishing in small country lakes or ponds but if I was going after anything bigger that 8-12oz crappies, I would use my 300 on a longer stiffer rod at a minimum. Certainly wouldn’t want to be out on the bay or ocean trying to catch anything with the 304. I guess for fishing from a dock in a backwater marshy area might be OK. Do you have an email? I could send you some pics if you’d like to see the internals on the 304S. Thanks.
My email is in the description of each of my videos but here it is again.
Rick48cj2a@yahoo.com
Always happy to hear from folks.
The 304 ,,Grandfather " was manufactured by CARPANO ET PONS ( C.A.P) in 1938 ; long befor the name MITCHELL was shown on the reel for first time . The first version was fitted with a much more complicated half bail then the second modells made after 1938 . The first model have a halv ball shaped pressed steel Housing handel plate and no antireverse + a rosewood handelknob. The last made MITCHELL reels in clockwork housing shape was the MITCHELL 340 , made in 1977. I have all C.A P & MITCHELL Reels in clockwork shape in my collection.
Follow-up question: I also bought a pretty beat up 300 last summer at a flea market I believe. It’s got a large section of the outer section that’s missing paint and it’s showing bare aluminum. Do you know of anyone who specializes in stripping Mitchell reel bodies down to bare metal and doing a basic light wire wheel buff? The paint on this one is too gone and chewed up to save but I wouldn’t mind putting it together for everyday use with a bare metal housing. Thanks for any help you can give and thanks again for sharing your takedown video. I love fishing with these old reels they are a pleasure to work on and operate. It’s nice to see something so well made when so many of the reels we see on the market today are almost 100% plastic! 🎣
There is a vintage Mitchell reel group on Facebook. I think there’s a guy on there that post photos periodically of what you are describing. You might try looking there.
The video on the maintenance of the 304 Mitchell was done excellent but you really should have better lighting to look down inside the real head even after watching, still makes me nervous about disassembling the whole thing as it goes together, like the gears in a great time peace, but well done
Joseph, you are correct. This was one of my first videos and it was shot with a poor quality video camera. Fortunately, my newer videos are vastly better since I moved to filming with my I-phone 12. If I stumble onto another Mitchell 304, maybe I’ll shoot a new video.