Mitchell Half Bail Restored (almost)

[Coral Maestro]

That looks factory fresh. Great job! Are you planning on fishing with it?

[Rockape]

That looks factory fresh. Great job! Are you planning on fishing with it?

Thank you, yes, I think it would be a crime not to give it at least one outing (for old times sake).
I do tend to keep my user reels really pristine (save for any unseen accidents), and I am understandably a bit precious about this one.

This is a near mint ABU 6500 Elite that I have beach fished regularly for years.

[Lea Dweller]

Well done on the Mitchell restoration, wonderful job!

[Rockape]

Well done on the Mitchell restoration, wonderful job!

Thank you

[Coral Maestro]

That looks factory fresh. Great job! Are you planning on fishing with it?

Thank you, yes, I think it would be a crime not to give it at least one outing (for old times sake).
I do tend to keep my user reels really pristine (save for any unseen accidents), and I am understandably a bit precious about this one.

This is a near mint ABU 6500 Elite that I have beach fished regularly for years.

I have a pair of green 6500s which I fished with regularly when I lived in the UK but they don't look as mint as yours. The sea is distant from where I live now so other than a bit of predator fishing they won't get a lot of use.

[Rockape]

That looks factory fresh. Great job! Are you planning on fishing with it?

Thank you, yes, I think it would be a crime not to give it at least one outing (for old times sake).
I do tend to keep my user reels really pristine (save for any unseen accidents), and I am understandably a bit precious about this one.

This is a near mint ABU 6500 Elite that I have beach fished regularly for years.

I have a pair of green 6500s which I fished with regularly when I lived in the UK but they don't look as mint as yours. The sea is distant from where I live now so other than a bit of predator fishing they won't get a lot of use.

Would they be the Mag Elite versions? I have an early version, mint, boxed.
I had secretly always wanted a green mag elite, and just recently obtained one, but as yet I've not taken it on an outing.
I live on Portland in Dorset, so just a walk from the cliffs in any direction.

Thanks for your comment.

[Coral Maestro]

That looks factory fresh. Great job! Are you planning on fishing with it?

Thank you, yes, I think it would be a crime not to give it at least one outing (for old times sake).
I do tend to keep my user reels really pristine (save for any unseen accidents), and I am understandably a bit precious about this one.

This is a near mint ABU 6500 Elite that I have beach fished regularly for years.

I have a pair of green 6500s which I fished with regularly when I lived in the UK but they don't look as mint as yours. The sea is distant from where I live now so other than a bit of predator fishing they won't get a lot of use.

Would they be the Mag Elite versions? I have an early version, mint, boxed.
I had secretly always wanted a green mag elite, and just recently obtained one, but as yet I've not taken it on an outing.
I live on Portland in Dorset, so just a walk from the cliffs in any direction.

Thanks for your comment.

I'll have to dig them out and have a look. Hopefully the metal worm won't have wreaked havok since I last looked at them. They haven't been out of their bags since I moved to France so about 7 years now.

[Coral Maestro]

That looks factory fresh. Great job! Are you planning on fishing with it?

Thank you, yes, I think it would be a crime not to give it at least one outing (for old times sake).
I do tend to keep my user reels really pristine (save for any unseen accidents), and I am understandably a bit precious about this one.

This is a near mint ABU 6500 Elite that I have beach fished regularly for years.

I have a pair of green 6500s which I fished with regularly when I lived in the UK but they don't look as mint as yours. The sea is distant from where I live now so other than a bit of predator fishing they won't get a lot of use.

Would they be the Mag Elite versions? I have an early version, mint, boxed.
I had secretly always wanted a green mag elite, and just recently obtained one, but as yet I've not taken it on an outing.
I live on Portland in Dorset, so just a walk from the cliffs in any direction.

Thanks for your comment.

I found them lurking in the back of the garage and they seem to have survived being bagged up for a few years. As you suggested, they are Mag Elites. I seem to remember changing the handles at some stage which means that the zips can no longer be done up on the cases which is a shame.
I also have a silver 6500CS Rocket which I bought through my Mum's catalogue (Littlewoods I think) when I was a teenager. That has also had the handle changed because the handle that came with the reel was too small particularly on those cold winter nights.
The last time they saw regular service was on the beaches of Norfolk and Suffolk where I managed to catch lots of tiddlers but nothing decent. I quite often put out a rod with Pennell rigged whole calamari squid but it didn't attract any interest so I guess the fishing boats caught most of the decent sized fish. Here are some pics of the reels that I took this morning. The Dave Docwra reel case must be a collectors item now as I think his shop shut down some time ago.

[Rockape]

That looks factory fresh. Great job! Are you planning on fishing with it?

Thank you, yes, I think it would be a crime not to give it at least one outing (for old times sake).
I do tend to keep my user reels really pristine (save for any unseen accidents), and I am understandably a bit precious about this one.

This is a near mint ABU 6500 Elite that I have beach fished regularly for years.

I have a pair of green 6500s which I fished with regularly when I lived in the UK but they don't look as mint as yours. The sea is distant from where I live now so other than a bit of predator fishing they won't get a lot of use.

Would they be the Mag Elite versions? I have an early version, mint, boxed.
I had secretly always wanted a green mag elite, and just recently obtained one, but as yet I've not taken it on an outing.
I live on Portland in Dorset, so just a walk from the cliffs in any direction.

Thanks for your comment.

I found them lurking in the back of the garage and they seem to have survived being bagged up for a few years. As you suggested, they are Mag Elites. I seem to remember changing the handles at some stage which means that the zips can no longer be done up on the cases which is a shame.
I also have a silver 6500CS Rocket which I bought through my Mum's catalogue (Littlewoods I think) when I was a teenager. That has also had the handle changed because the handle that came with the reel was too small particularly on those cold winter nights.
The last time they saw regular service was on the beaches of Norfolk and Suffolk where I managed to catch lots of tiddlers but nothing decent. I quite often put out a rod with Pennell rigged whole calamari squid but it didn't attract any interest so I guess the fishing boats caught most of the decent sized fish. Here are some pics of the reels that I took this morning. The Dave Docwra reel case must be a collectors item now as I think his shop shut down some time ago.

Yes, exactly the same model/era as mine; really nice reels. Thanks for posting the photos.
As with the Mag Elites, I always wanted a silver rocket too, but somehow never got around to actually getting one. They did a chrome version which is very high on my wants list.

Dave Docwra....ahh, yes, I remember his shop (the memories come flooding back).

Thanks again