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Post 03 Nov 2022, 05:44 • #1 
Master Guide
Joined: 09/23/18
Posts: 614
Location: Eastern Wa
I went fishing yesterday with my 8.5ft Phillipson spinning rod with broken reel seat and Mitchell reel with the primary goal of catching a salmon on the setup. I used electricians tape to attach the reel as the reel seat was cracked. Seemed to work well. I used 20# yellow spectra on the reel since it works well when greased up with chapstick to allow effortless mending of the line (causes it to float) when presenting eggs under a slip bobber for a drag free drift. I suppose the ultimate way would be to use a long rod and centerpin reel in this situation but I dont have one yet.

I was fishing my favorite Columbia River tributary where i normally use my 11ft Old Town kayak (my very first of many non-whitewater kayaks ive owned over the last ~25 years) because I can easily carry it over my shoulder and scramble down steep spooky embankments to access the river without killing myself.

Started my usual trolling routine of various plugs in fire tiger, pink and orange with little success for two hours. A fair number of fish were rolling so they were there. Hadnt fished this late in the year for probably 15 years. Usually i catch a fish but not this time. It rained most of the previous day which was good for the fish and the morning was quite pleasant except the hands got cold.
With no luck trolling i proceeded to switch to eggs under a slip bobber from the bank. I will have to admit the Mitchell 300 was a poor choice to this style of fishing because the low speed retrieve, higher mechanical retrieve effort, lack of a roller spindle on the bail and continuous problems with the line wrapping around the spool removal pushbutton made fishing it a pain in the ***.

Fortunately i ended up completing my quest with a hatchery male coho of about 15 pounds. This way my 3rd largest coho here (largest was 20.5# about 23 years ago) having fished the place somewhat infrequently over the last 30 years.

Im going to retire this rod to plain old stationary bait fishing from now on as my arm was getting tired with the somewhat heavy swing weight of the rod for long term casting.

Overall I was very pleased about size of the fish but not so much the rod/reel combo using the method i described.

Thanks for looking!

Mike












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Post 03 Nov 2022, 07:25 • #2 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19077
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
we know why this man is smiling.


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Post 03 Nov 2022, 22:20 • #3 
Master Guide
Joined: 01/04/18
Posts: 397
Location: Belair Maryland/Swanton Maryland
Yeah I’d be smiling too!!
Holding a great fish caught on a great rod ..
BTW which series/model Philie is that?
Looks like a Johnson Profile rod ..

That Coho would need a larger cast iron skillet than your normal catch-n-cook pan! :lol

I really liked your Suzy Chapstick tip..
I’m gonna stash that one in the ole memory bank.

Mike you made me laugh so hard talking about the Mitchell’s issues .

I loved my dad immensely but I hated his Mitchell 300s when I was a 9yr old kid trying to transition from the Zebco 77 that I was born with !!
I would always and I mean always get a birds Nest under the spool.

It’s made me so gunshy of reels without skirted spools .
Even after all these years I’m still traumatized by those old 300s..

The Penn I have is great though and has helped change my feelings a bit about skirtless spools .

Have you tried to braise the reel seat to fix it?

You know we can’t have you running around with electricians tape on a Phillipson like that ;)

That coho is a beauty!!
My PB Coho is 16lbs caught in The Salmon River NY back when the kids were babies .

So funny my youngest just asked me this evening if I was going salmon fishing this year?
I told him I waiting til he gets out of school so I can take him and his big bro.

I told him I’ve caught plenty of big ones up NY..
Nowadays I want to see them catch a few biguns!

I am hoping to go Lake Erie Steelhead fishing with member AngryViking up in PA this winter .

Keep inspiring me to get out there !
Scotto


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Post 04 Nov 2022, 08:05 • #4 
Master Guide
Joined: 09/23/18
Posts: 614
Location: Eastern Wa
Thanks for the kind comments!

Scotto the rod is a Johnson Profile model 6S86SF, as best as i can see on the label.

Congrats on that 16# coho. Thats a pig.

BTW i started with Zebco too. Think it was the "Zebco 101". I faintly remember other models like 202 and 404 (i remember coveting those green/off white "bigger is better?" reels as a child).

Good luck on your winter steelhead adventure!


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Post 04 Nov 2022, 08:12 • #5 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19077
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
My dad fished 808 with the canned, oversized 25-lb mono for everything while I was growing up.
When grown, I switched him to baitcaster.
My first rod by choice was a Heddon 236 L spinner, then picked Mitchell 300 + Berkley TriSport for inshore and bass.
Though I fished-through the Mitchell in high school - smacks from the jetties, and often doubles on spec rigs.


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Post 04 Nov 2022, 13:30 • #6 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/27/16
Posts: 2327
Location: US-IL
Excellent wild cohos i assume?Hope i get an invite from my son to do some coho fishing this winter,usually late Jan to Feb.The 2 and 3 yo fish stack up on the Indiana shoreline and the steelhead are in and out of the trib creeks.The 18 mile boat ride to the steel mill can be a little hairy but we hug the shore.Problem is the days the lake is calm ebough are usually cold and clear.They are in the 5-8 lb class with the occasional steelhead or lake trout.We long cast with jigs and long white twister tails.Spinning rods with braid.I have friends who fish for steelhead in some small creeks,they use flies below floats on long limp spinning rods and light line.A mile or more walk thru the snow to crowded little creeks aint for me anymore.The boat ride at 50mph in subfreezing temps can be tough enough.


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