Howdy

[Rook]

Just dropped in to say hey. First time poster here. I'm an old retired geezer from East Tennessee and I spend most of my time at my place in Hampton, GA these days.

I grew up at my grandpa's Three Rivers Boat Dock & Restaurant at the forks of the Holston, French Broad and Tennessee Rivers near Knoxville, TN during the 50s and 60s.

Everybody in my family and a good portion of the people that fished back then that came to the boat dock were using Mitchell fishing reels. My uncle that ran the boat dock repaired fishing reels and he also repaired outboard motors there at the boat dock. I used to follow him around when I was a kid watching him work so I've always been interested in the Mitchell reels and Evinrude and Johnson outboard motors and making my own repairs.

I managed to inherit quiet a few Mitchell reels over the years and I bought quiet a few of them also along with a few Evinrude and Johnson outboards. I also have a few Garcia Conolon fishing rods which are still my favorite to fish with.

Most of the fishing lures that I use today are older stuff I inherited from an uncle back in the 80s.

Here are some photos of the stuff I use when I go fishing.











1957 Evinrude 5.5 hp Fisherman.


1966 Johnson 3 hp Seahorse.


Three Rivers Boat Dock during a boat race in the late 50s.

[Paul M]

Great story and pics especially those in b/w. You are in good company here. Thanks for sharing!

[Midway Tommy D]

Welcome & thanks for sharing. Neat photos. I've got a '56 7.5hp Fleetwin with the original double hose tank that still runs great. My daughter uses it on my '60 14' Alumacraft FD. I really enjoy nostalgia!

[oldsaltnfla]

Neat story and welcome to the forum. I live in Townsend, Tennessee and I fly fish for trout a couple times a week in the National Park. You certainly do have a nice collection of Mitchell reels. I grew up in Michigan and fished a lot in Lake Huron and in some of the many inland lakes. I was able to buy a Mitchell 300 when I was 13 years old and I used that reel for 40 years or so. Great reels.
Joe

[Rook]

Welcome & thanks for sharing. Neat photos. I've got a '56 7.5hp Fleetwin with the original double hose tank that still runs great. My daughter uses it on my '60 14' Alumacraft FD. I really enjoy nostalgia!

The tank that came with my 5.5 was not repairable and the ones I saw for sale weren't much better looking and they were expensive so I converted mine to use a fuel pump instead of the pressure tank.

I purchased a universal pump on Walmart's website for $10.11 with free shipping and a single line hose connector on e-bay for about $10 bucks. I found an old 3 gallon single line tank that was in good shape and was pretty cheap.



Had to remove the intake check valves and plug one of the holes with a rubber vacuum plug in order to have a pulse going to the fuel pump.




Made a couple of brackets to mount it with using some metal strapping material and installed some new fuel lines.


And now it runs like a new one.

[arley]

Very nice story. People still love and use those Mitchell reels. Welcome..

[wrong99]

Awesome way to introduce yourself. Welcome.
Mark

[Robin Sayler]

Welcome Rook

[joe klaus]

I loved your photos. Welcome to the forum.

[Deepfins791]

Yes, welcome and great photos! I still fish with the Mitchell 410 I bought in 1976, and I inherited my dad's 410. He scratched "DAD" in the gear housing, so I wouldn't confuse our reels and accidentally use his. Not that at 16 years of age I didn't take care of my stuff, mind!

[Rook]

Not that at 16 years of age I didn't take care of my stuff, mind!

I know what you mean. My grandpa didn't trust me with a Mitchell until I got older. I had to use an old Airex half bail spinning reel. If you look closely you can see it in the photo of me back in 1957. They made me save my own money to buy my first Mitchell with so I would know to take care of it.

[1badf350]

Welcome to the board. Great pictures!

[Rook]

I'd like to thank you all for the warm welcome. I just sent in my payment for a years membership for ORCA. This place looks like it has a world of info that will be very handy in the future for me.

Of course I'm still suspicious about any club that would have me as a member.

Thanks again.

[wrong99]

Welcome again, Groucho.

[David Lehmann]

Welcome to the party! Great pictures and stories.

[Bill Sonnett]

Great to see someone else who uses older outboards and tackle on an everyday basis. I love those 3-hp OMC motors. Still using the 1962 Evinrude that I bought when I was 18. Small natural lakes here is Southern Michigan, so quiet oars are my favorite means of stalking surface feeding bass after getting there with the 3 hp in a 12 ft rowboat.