Mitchell Fishing

The true origin of the name Mitchell remains mysterious–Although Carpano & Pons had the intention to name their first reel “Michel”, they discovered this name was already used and patented so they gave the reel an American sounding name that was very in vogue at the time.

Léon Carpano and Charles Pons, astonished as they were by the success of their first models, soon decided to design and to market more versions of their reel, such as the “Salt Water”, the “Mitchell Cap” (Cap 54), the “Otomatic”, and the “Rapid”. In April 1957 a decision was reached to add a number to the name of each existing model and the first born “Mitchell” became “Mitchell 300″. In 1966, the birth of the 10,000,000th reel was celebrated and production reached an amazing number of 12,000 reels per day in 1970. No suprise that the the 20,000,000th reel was celebrated in 1971.

In 1974, Mitchell partnered with The Garcia Corporation, which was a dominant force in the fishing tackle market. But by 1980, these two brands would become independent and go their separate ways. In 1990, Johnson Worldwide Associates (JWA) bought the Mitchell Company. The company moved its headquarters and R&D to Marignier, France, where it is still located today. Since its introduction in the late 1940s, nearly 30 million Mitchell 300 reels have been sold worldwide.

In 2000, Mitchell was purchased by Pure Fishing as part of the JWA fishing products acquisition. Mitchell continues to sell the Mitchell 300 reel, as well as adding new, innovative products to its successful fishing lineup.

Today, Mitchell is one of the proud brands of Pure Fishing, Inc. Pure Fishing is a global family of quality fishing tackle brands, offering a broad range of products that meet or exceed the needs of today’s anglers. Pure Fishing addresses the needs of anglers around the world with a strong portfolio of leading brands, including the Mitchell brand. We are dedicated to helping you have more fun and catch more fish.