The Mitchell 408 is an excellent little reel for trout fishing. 

It is light-weight, almost 200g.

It has a fast retreive speed action that is required for mountain streams.

It is tough.

It is beautiful.

Many anglers are still using it because they are looking for stylish and reliable fishing gear and because the mitchell 408 can easily  fulfill these desires.

 

However, one shouldn’t think that this is an easy reel to fish with. It was probably the best ever made in its time. But fishing in the 60’s required a carefull learning and training. Mitchell made some booklet to introduce the reels they made and explain how to pull the best out of it.

I guess anyone who wants to fish this reel today has to take the time to tame it. A good today's reel will make it easy : it allows you to make many imprecisions. But a good old 408, won’t forgive you a careless mistake. You have to cast strait, need to close your bail in time and keep your line in contact. Other wise you’ll spend your time on the river banks, trying to undo a pack of knots.

This shouldn’t frighten anyone. Although this reel has a lot of character, I guess it is probably the best teacher you can ever think of. It will let you know when you are doing something wrong. But if you listen it carefully, you’ll learn the good gestures. You’ll quikly get to a higher understanding of the river and the fishing. 

It’s probably not what you are expecting when you start fishing, but it is definitely the best thing that can happen to you.

You realise it afterwards usually.

 

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