Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Baitcasting Reels

Good for now, however, I would like to try a couple Tekota 600’s.

Good grief I cant believe how many are stuck in the 1960's. The Mitchell 300 was a good reel in it's day an argument could be made the Cardinal was better?
But compared to the reels today they are both junk

yes and i love them.

I rarely use baitcasters anymore, but when I do I use a Quantum Pro Lite that I love.

This thread got me curious, so I went digging and I still have 3 other baitcasters I will never use. A Quantum US300 Tour Edition, a Quantum 1310 MG, and a ABU Garcia Ambassadeur 5500 C3 2 speed. The Garcia I put line on it, but to the best of my memory I never used it. Guess I should sell them and buy a couple more spinners.

I just ran across a brand new ABU Matic 150 I forgot even had.

The Mitchell 300 was a Great reel for its time! None Better!, back then,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, but when skirted spool reels came out, the 300's became instantly obsolete

i still like them, just because.

Fubar- I doubt you ever owned a Swedish made reel. The Abu made Cardinal 3 & 4's were & are excellent reels. Precision made & almost impossible to wear out. I look at reels as tools to use to catch fish. My old Cardinal 4 has an excellent drag & casts well. Catches fish. Back to casting reels. I would rate the Abu Ambassador 2500C as one of the best light-medium freshwater casting reels ever made. Lots of Chinese made reels today. Some are quite good & some are junk. I doubt any would stand up to the usage of Abu Ambassador reels. I even have a Ambassador 5000D that would stop a freight train that I used for flipping & now use for Blue Cats.

Not true, Abu Garcia did came out with I believe "S" series baitcasting reels which are made in China. The majority of the round reels are still made in Sweden and will carry the Swedish emblem on the side plate.The demand for round reels has swayed with the introduction of the low profile in the early 2000's. The round reels by Abu Garcia and clones by "Akios" still dominate the European distance casting championships every year which often exceed 300 + yards with-in certain weight and line diameter classes.

Mrbear,

With all due respect I own a dozen Swedish made Abu Garcia, a few I have had 25+ years. I still use them every season. They range from the 4500 to the 6500 series.
Anymore i mainly use them for trolling and jigging. I have come to prefer the ergonomics , lightweight and castability of a smaller profile magnetically controlled reel for casting duty.
The new reels are also smoother. That being said my Abu's have been reliable workhorses and have never let me down.
I cant speak about the Cardinal as I have never owned one. My brother had one in the 1970's as he liked it. I tried it a few times and it seemed ok?
I would enjoy finding one today and compare it to something like a Shimano Stradic? I would put my money on the Shimano winning by a large margin.
As for the Mitchell 300, I owned and used several back in the day and seemed every one broke the bail spring? I did like the little Mitchell 308, but many of todays reels would make it seem crude.

My current favorite is a Calcutta 50, I ordered it from Japan and it is a sweet little reel.

I understand nostalgia and fall prey to it at times myself, especially when it comes to guns, fishin gear not so much.....

Another vote for the Shimano Curado. You can spend a lot more but IMO the Curado's hard to beat for a quality reel at a reasonable price. They've had a number of variations over the years and IMO all were good quality and easy to use. I've been using the smaller 50 E for my surface/topwater bass fishing for the past few years and as others have said here it's a good one.

I like to use baitcasters because I grew up using them before good (Mitchell 300) spinning reels were available. Today I use both spinning and baitcasting reels. For most of my fishing a good quality 2500 mid size spinning reel would probably get it done but a good baitcaster, IMO, is a little more accurate, and can cast a little further.

5000C and 5500C were the greatest in my 20s and 30s, and i could make a couple thousand casts a day in the timber in Sam Rayburn or Lake Livingston, but as the years have passed they have gotten heavier as the hills have steeper.

Now i mostly use the older great green curados or garcia revo premier when in east Texas lakes after bass. Lews has a great new Custom with shielded bearings on ebay for $180 i wish i could have for salt water use. Diawa Tatula is a great baitcaster also.

I still use the 5500 in bays and for catfish. I have a silver one that will cast a half oz lure as far as any high end baitcaster.

Tbear and others.
Its not my fault that most tackle companies sell chinese crap under American made names. It is what it is.
This is what I currently have and use all the time.
Zebco Cardinal 4 series for inshore duty. Not sure where its made. Had it for years.
Four Shimano IX,AX,and FX series reels for light medium salt and fresh water use. Made in Japan and Malaysia I think.
Three Okuma spinning reels for the grand kids to use. 1000,2000, and 4000 series. All have 10 ball bearings and are very smoothe.
Two Zebco "Made in the U.S.A. 33's. Had them since I was a kid. Still work!
Two Johnson spincasters, the ones with the metal bodies and gears, set up for panfishing.
Two Daiwa underspins for U.L. work with 10 lb. braid.
My catfish rig is a vintage Heddon baitcaster, all aluminum construction, on an eight foot Whuppin Stick rod, spooled with 40 lb. test p-line braid.
For the few times I venture out into deeper Gulf waters, my "Go To" out fit is a heavy fiberglass rod with a Penn 209 on it.
So there. I do know a little about fishing. Just what I picked up in 52 years of drowning worms and minnows!

Some nice reels. Cardinal 4 was made by Abu in Sweden & marketed by Zebco. I even have a Shimano 100 & Flueger Supreme. Both cast well. I used to have a friend that fished ponds & swore ny the Johnson spincast reels. Like most products that were good either discontinued or made in China. Good fishing.

Those Zebco cardinals were the damn ugliest reels ever, what were they thinking painting them puke green?

Does anyone remember a spinning reel called the Quick D.A.M. ? my dad had one back in the day and wouldn't let us kids near it!!

I think it was made in Finland or something?

Yes, its called LOWYERS who became politicians who write laws that drive up the price of goods. Chinese employers and companies arent required by law to hire worthless slobs who 1)steal the company tools and product to sell on the side, (unions) , 2) are too stupid or too lazy to be able to do their jobs and cant be fired without being paid not to show up, 3) have hiring quotas, 4) employ and pay lowyers to negotiate red tape and lawsuits, 5) get sued by employees coached by lowyers how to get hurt on the job, 6) hire stupid suckers who purposefully stick their hand in machinery in order to sue, 7) pay health insurance, 8) pay for maternity leave, 9) pay exhorbitant taxes to buy votes from welfare dimocraps, 10) pay the bills of UN mandated immigrants, 11), pay the hospital bills of anchor babies and their moms, 12) pay taxes for medicaid for millions of kids, 13).....

Shakespear was right.

West German and were absolutely bomb-proof with that worm-gear. Have a few of them and preferred over the Mitchell 300

Yep thats the one , thanks add, no wonder my dad wouldn't let us kids near it?.....:)