I'm kind of late to the party, but another thing you should check is if the spool is seating all the way down on the shaft. Sometimes a small piece of debris gets in the hole on the bottom of the spool and prevents the spool from seating correctly.

Tom

Wow! That looks great, Kevin!
I haven't worked up the nerve to try re-painting a reel yet, but results like that make me want to try.

Tom

While I enjoy fishing with all of my Mitchells, the two that I enjoy using the most are the 409 and the 411. So smooth and very solid. I get a lot of comments from some of the other "seasoned" fishermen at the local lakes! Lots of stories about Mitchell reels from the good ol' days.

Tom

I have 4 301s, 2 309s, a 409 and a 411 that I have fished with. I don't take them out every time I go, but they all get used.

Tom

Greetings! I have a few Mitchells that I use regularly - A 301 on a Garcia Conolon 6'6" med. action rod, a pair of 309s and a 411. One of the 309s is on a 6' BPS fiberglass ultralight, the other 309 and the 411 are on more modern graphite rods. I have two other 301s and a 409 that I don't fish ...