Mitchell Reel Forum

I have really taken the plunge into using only vintage mitchel reels. Am in heaven using the new 340 autocast from Christmas, so have decided to look for a Mitchell that can fil the roll of my ultra light reel for pan fish. Think the 308 is an ultralight, and was wondering if you wonderful folks could tell me more about the 308, and if there was an autocast version

Thanks Bill Smith

I do a lot of trout fishing and use both the 308 & 204. Some parts for the 204 are getting hard to get. I am sure you would be happy with a 308. The 408 is also UL the same as the 308, with the exceptin of the pinion & main gears. the 408 is a faster retrieve. No the did not make it as an autocast.
Hope this helps!

I am not aware of an autocast equivalent Mitchell reel in the Ultra Light class. As don309 stated there was the 308 and 408 reels. Also later on 2 other Ultra Lights were introduced, the 310UL and the 908.

Below is a brief extracted description of each as written up by Wallace on the old MRM site.

Mitchell 308 (1959-1986)
Originally released in Europe as the 308 “Prince” in 1958, with the durable Planamatic gearing this quality Mitchell reel is still a very popular fishing reel.

Mitchell 408 (1963-1986)
Originally painted a dark-rich Midnight Blue with 5.5:1 high-speed gear ratio and Planomatic gearing; the 408 was an high speed upgrade of the first ultra-light 308 series.

Mitchell 908 (1978-1986)
The first version 908 series was made in France for Garcia distribution only starting in their 1978/79 season. This reel was painted gray and the first Mitchell reels with skirted spools

Mitchell 310 UL (198?-?)
The Mitchell 310 UL reel was the last Ultra-Light Mitchell produced while still under Mitchell Sports control. This was during the time Mitchell first started having most of their reels made in Taiwan. It is apparent that this reel was Taiwan's first attempt at fabricating and assembling a Mitchell reel in 1989.

No did not come in Autocast.
Once you start using the 308 and see how great it handles you will not care about Autocast!!!!!