I've been really pleased with my Mitchell reels, I currently own 2 310's and a 308, all purchased from Amazon. Great reel for the money, good action, super smooth. You really can't go wrong with a Mitchell reel at this price point. I use the 310's with 4 or 6lb line on ultralight rods (one 5'0" Ugly Stik and the other on a 5'6" Mitchell 310 combo); the 308 is on a 6'6" medium Ugly Stik with 8ln fluoro, it's an amazing combo.

Got this reel three months ago and have used it maybe ten times, catching about 25 fish averaging 1 to 4 lbs. Already the handle cannot be unscrewed and straighted, its cocked in an angle thats banging the spool casing, it makes a grinding noise when your fighting a fish and the drag slips or tightens uncontrollably. I had read that this was now made in China and not by the original company, but figured they wouldn't kill the product quality. Typical of what happens when a big corporation buys a good family owned company, the quality goes out for profit. Sad to say, but the reels garbage.

My experience with Garcia-Mitchell 300 goes back 50 years or more. Use them in freshwater 24/7 no problem. Saltwater, in the old days, you opened them up , cleaned them , put reel lube in , put them back together and caught the heck out of whatever the next day. I bought one - used in saltwater (surf fishing) several times, of course it got dunked, we were surf fishing. With all my gear, coming back from the saltwater fishing, I run them under fresh water reel them, flip the bail back and forth, then go fishing again in a week or so. With this one, a week later, it was frozen. I thought no problem, been there, got my tools out and tried to take the plate off. Couldnt do it - there are three screws to take off - after taking them off, the plate still doesnt come off. Oh well, the Penn 5500 series, (3500 up to 10500) , are sealed - to keep the salt water out, and doing the same procedure, running it under freshwater and working it back and forth, no problem. In fact this one sat waiting on me for about 7 years, and worked perfectly. So I will keep the new 300 I got (birthday present) for freshwater, and switch to penn spinning - to match up with the penn senators i use for the big boys.

This is the 3rd one I've bought. I've Only had it about 2 weeks and already the spring in the bail had gone bad. After each cast I have to manually put it down. Besides that, it's a very smooth reel. I use mine mostly for bass and a Mitchell 308 for trout.

These are great reals. High quality, you can feel it in your hands. They performed without flaw and I can see they are going to last a long time. Well worth the money and I am already catching bass with them, no problem. If you are shopping for this kind of reel, this is the one you want.