Good luck with that as they are collectors material with the old Mitchell 499 and 489. These reel are no longer in production for a very long time, and you can forget about spare parts. Its like trying to find bit for fixing my 4yrs old Pentium 3 computer.

* Oceanside- Advice, Knowledge, Experience....that's our difference * 

Manager/Tackle Rat @ "Oceanside Tackle & Marine"
364 South Street, O'Connor, Perth Ph# 9337 5682

Plenty of new one's on ebay..USA and UK and a few old style one's in AUST

I still have a baitrunner style in a 2000 size..very smooth reel

My wife shops there quite regularly. The secret is to research the merchant and read feedback. There are some really good bargains and some really good merchants.

Cheers, Vince

http://vinceholt.spaces.live.com/

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Work Smart - Fish Often

lve got a 489 lefty in mint condition,how much ya willing to pay.
will dig out of the cupboard and email you a pic if ya like.
PM your email address if your if your interested.
paul

For lefties if I remember rightly the number ends in a "7"
so instead of a 489 and a 499 you would be looking for a 487 and a 497,could be wrong though

I have a mitchell overhead 602 or 624 or something havent looked at it for a while but still in perfect working order and I'm open to offers




To all the virgins..............Thanks for nothing!

I hope you know how hard it is going to be to get your hands on one of these reels. Collectable is an understatement 

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You couln't wipe that grin fom my face even with a hammer.

really not sure why you would actually want to use one ?? yeah they are a good reel for there time (i had 2) but i wouldnt bother using one nowdays a spheros is a smoother reel and a good certate with braided line leaves it for dead .. ive got a seamartin and a 651 alvey still here collecting dust (must get around to selling them) my number one question would be ; if they are so great why aint ppl that own them using them .. the answer is because there is better new reels out there for your dollar

I have 4 x 499s and 2 x 489s,have had some of them for over 25 years and apart from a bit of regular maintenance they are all going strong.They all get regular use and have given no trouble at all[except trying to put the line on the roller of a 499 when there is a mackie on that picked the lure up on the drop,burning shit out of a finger]

If you put a value on the fish they have caught they have paid for themselves many many times over.

And the question---why replace something that more than does the job with something that costs more and isn't built to last as these reels were??

If reels are built to last forever.....nobody needs to buy reels ever again. Somethings are built to last longer than others but for the sake of modern technology and convinience....why buy old reels??

Top end reels are expensive becoz of the technology invested to create such reels. Doesnt help if todays cost of living is alot higher than 30yrs ago.

* Oceanside- Advice, Knowledge, Experience....that's our difference * 

Manager/Tackle Rat @ "Oceanside Tackle & Marine"
364 South Street, O'Connor, Perth Ph# 9337 5682

Well....overall it doesnt look like much but it takes abit more than just narrower bodies, more bearings and how is it lighter without sacrifcing strength. Im sure there's more engineering in today's reels than ones 30yrs ago.

* Oceanside- Advice, Knowledge, Experience....that's our difference * 

Manager/Tackle Rat @ "Oceanside Tackle & Marine"
364 South Street, O'Connor, Perth Ph# 9337 5682

You would have struggled jigging 30 years ago and popping for GTs 30 years ago with any reel 

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You couln't wipe that grin fom my face even with a hammer.

40 years ago could have done that with a diawa 4000c

Used to do high speed spinning from the rocks at Quobba,especially Whistling rock in the early 70s using Iron coffins,undertakers--much the same as Raider lures.1xturn of the handle on a 499=3feet of line,belt it out and crank as fast as you can.

My best from the rocks was a 68lb cleaned spaniard.We regularly got gt's,bludger trevally,northern bluefin tuna,mack tuna,sharks,shark mackeral, you name it,even pinkies,bluebone and spanglies at night off the bottom using baits,all using big mitchells.

The only fault with them was the drag shuddering under load.Chuck the original drag washer away and put in a teflon replacement and problem solved

for price and performace....

http://www.finnorfishing.com/offshoresp.html

Looks, price and performace....just my 2 cents...

 I got a mitchell E200 epic its a small bait caster that was my first overhead, parts can be a problem but the mitchell overheads were a rip off of the abu's and most parts fit exept for the level wind gear in mine, speak to the boys at mellville tackle world they helped me with sourcing parts the bearings can be upgraded at most bearing retailers just specify that you want s/steel marine grade even the carbon-tec drags fit out of the 6500 rocket (the replacment reel) I just use the mitchell in the surf with no level wind its yours if your interested

I have a 499 Pro & would take alot to make me sell it.

Its the second one like it that Ive had & the first one was stolen from my car.

Only cost me $100 from a CBD tackle store but dont see many more.

I love the no bail arm its good value & great to use.

Good luck, I hope you find what you want.

Been thinking over buying a new surf reel to compliment the new Penn 650SS I picked up last week for $89

Open up a box of my grandfathers fishing gear and there is a Mitchell 489 and a Mitchell 499 smiling up at me.

Might not go buy myself another Chinese made Penn now, seems I might not need it... sweet

get on qoukka and look for jim head in/ near westminster....has heaps of spares for mitchells......i have spares for right hand models and wont sell them from new gears, shafts to bearings and balh blah......i have 489's with bail arm brought from allsports, 499 and 499 pro's and one never beeen used out of the box..........good reels for their time and ive caught plenty on mine....but they are  lil on the heavy side and poorly balanced but it doesnt make a huge difference when its mated to 14ftr

a 499pro in mint conditon with box papers bag will go for 500 plus,i paid more for mine. in poor scrathced conditon maybe up to 100 200 depending upon damage/condition....489's much less

ive seen super rare long cast versions go for 2k plus to collecters in the states...there is a yankee website which goes into detail on all the mitchells=google away

the 499 with no bail arm can be a biatch given the space tween the roller bearing and side plate= jams, but for their time the mitchell and penn were the saltiga and stella of today with the mitchell good for about 6kg maybe 8 max drag.........dial in too much drag and u split the plastic coupling on the shatt on which the spools sits

dude buy one or find one, clean it up and put it on the shelf and let the old reel rest..........buy a cheap daiwa 5500pro bash it use then bin it

and nothing lasts for ever, even 1000 reels as honsu said, they just last longer, unless u leave it in the box

 Hunters DEN in Joondalup still have brand new old Mitchell stock in their shop.

A treasure trove of older style new stock.

Both rods and reels!

Prices are also old style and very nice to deal with the owner, a very knowledgable ex crayfisherman!

I have had a good going over their items but there is still loads of it!

 I joined from Cyprus today. I will surely enjoy the content, regardless of the fact that  my lifelong ambition has been to see Alice Springs ever since I read some of the Nevil Shute books.I Was led to this forum when I searched for a mitchell reel and felt the need to add some comments on Classic Mitchell Reels  especially after reading things like 'if they are so good why did they stop making them'.

The company was taken over by american interests at a  time of low liquidity and after most assets were taken away it was closed. Later models made in the far east had some improvements and a lot of shortcomings. NO MECHANICAL DEVICE IS PURFECT. A lot of mitchell will strip the antireverse lever if not handleled carefully.

The distinction of all original mitchells is that they were made by a company that supplied the Swiss with watch gears. Every action of a Mitchell is done with gears and levers. That is why their action is silky smooth most often without the use of bearings  that is why the bail snaps closed with minimal effort and even when used a lot there is a very exciting purr or grawl when reeling in depending on the circumstance.

The biggest asset is that any wear on the gears can be offset by the use of shims at the right spot which restores the reel to premium condidion. Thanks to the internet even rare parts can be found with some patience. in fact because so many were made there are new finds of factory sealed parts every week. This is especially so in the US which was the biggest market. in fact one outlet can even assemble some models from french factory sealed parts. All you need to service most mitchells is a small flathead screwdriver and a hex nut 1 in deep socket

I have a long story of how I got to aquire a number of mitchells that needed repair but I will save it for another time. At a time of personal distress I often found relaxation by striping and cleaning a mitchell and thinking of fishing as near the great barrier reef as possible.

With all due respect to Squider - two posts above- ODD numbered mitchells like the 301 have the handle on the right but are LEFT handed reels. If you are left handed you cast with your left which is the strong hand and crank with the right.

Another testimony to Mitchell quality is that left and right models are mirror images to preserve the balance of action.

It seems I run out of space-have yet to figure out how to put in my signature,

Regards, Lakis

 hello and welcome to the site lakiscy,

I'm currently working in Alice springs and mate its a long way from any water , makes me miss home but the country down this way is beautiful, hills with rocky outcrops and sandy riverbed gums and some great sunsets with some clear night sky views of the stars

And it was john devitt that actually designed the 499 pro, but mitchell in france poached/stole his design im lead to believe and brought them into production

john devitt is also the man the 1st introduced a teflon washer to mitchells.............teflon washers are only good for round 7kg of drag.........this is straight from his mouth as ive had the pleasure of meeting him

he knows more about mitchells than anyone else i know other than j head and there is a hairdresser in the western suburbs who has a mountain of spare factory sealed mitchell parts, but ill have to track him down again.......ive got a few mitchells from used to pros still in the box

there are still factory parts which can be purchased online but are $$$