Reclaiming & Reconditioning

[Moe M.]

  For the last few years my fishing has been relegated to trout fishing,  I've been using the same two ultra light spinning rigs and a custom built fly rod,  I do ok with the spinning rods but really suck at fly fishing,  my biggest problem is that there's so many species of flies available it boggles the mind, then there's rod weight, line weight, floating line, sinking line, weight forward line, tippets, and more,  I keep trying but after wrapping the line around my neck trying to back cast a couple of times I usually put it away and go back to my spinning gear.
  I've had several Bass Boats over the years and did a lot of Bass fishing, my last boat didn't get much action for a while and I in a fit dumbness sold it thinking I can always buy another one if I want to, but that was ten years ago, have you checked the prices of fully equipped fishing boats lately,  so I have to be happy with my two canoes or bank fishing.
  I'm rambling again,  so lately I'm getting a little bored with trout fishing and thinking about Bluegills and Bucket Mouths,  now around hear they pretty much occupy the same waters,  our Large Mouth bass can run heavy, and our Bluegills get dinner plate size and fight like crazy, so my UL 5' rod and reel with 4# test mono ain't going to survive a six or seven pound Bass once it get's into the weeds.
  I'm at Wally World buying a new coffee maker last week and of course I have to check out the sporting goods dept. for possible sales, I found nothing I needed, but did get sticker shock at the prices of some of their fishing combo rods and reels.
  Then I remembered I have a half dozen old spinning rods and reels, a few bait casting combos and some other stuff left over from my bass fishing days stored in the basement collecting dust, cobwebs, and whatever else in a corner somewhere,  It didn't take long to find the stuff, it looked pretty bad but I always kept my gear up pretty well, so I brushed off most of the years of accumulated debris off of them and picked out a couple of rigs to get started trying to recondition them if possible.
  The two I chose had Browning medium action 6-1/2 foot spinning rods, mounted on them were a pair of Garcia Mitchell mod. 300 spinning reels,  the rods cleaned up well and the coated handles are still in good shape (the wonders of a little water and Dawn dish soap),  the Reels still functioned fine but were quite a bit sluggish, after taking one of them apart (they don't build reels like those anymore, all the parts are metal except for the spool body, the gears are machined) I cleaned all the old grease, lightly lubed all the parts and put it back together it works like new,  I stripped the spool and will be refilling it with new line this afternoon.
  The second reel is on my bench ready to get the same treatment,  once those are completed I'll move on to a couple of others,  in years past I probably wouldn't have spent the time reconditioning them and would have purchased new ones,  today I have plenty of time, and I enjoy puttering around with those types of things,  plus, with a lot of these things refurbishing is more practical, it's hard to find the kind of quality in gear today that was common place back in the mid 1900's and before.
 

[OutdoorEnvy]

Yes boats are crazy expensive today.  boats classified as "tournament" series fully outfitted are as much as a house.  It's just nuts.  Best deals I have seen for used boats usually come from folks who are selling due to either moving or health/age reasons and have taken good care of it.  As for fishing gear and lures it's kind a sport/hobby than can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be.  I've tried to remain fairly simple in that I have baits to fit the weather and water conditions for species but that's about it.  If a bait seems to work well I buy more so I have some.  If it doesn't catch much I'll work it out of the rotation.  Well let us know how the fishing goes and how the cleaned up rods and reels do.  I just recently had two reels break on the same day.  Parts for both is like $30-40 so I may have to just get new reels for a little more.  15ish years of yearly use is about all you can ask for I suppose. 

[Old Philosopher]

....
  The two I chose had Browning medium action 6-1/2 foot spinning rods, mounted on them were a pair of Garcia Mitchell mod. 300 spinning reels,  the rods cleaned up well and the coated handles are still in good shape (the wonders of a little water and Dawn dish soap),  the Reels still functioned fine but were quite a bit sluggish, after taking one of them apart (they don't build reels like those anymore, all the parts are metal except for the spool body, the gears are machined) I cleaned all the old grease, lightly lubed all the parts and put it back together it works like new,  I stripped the spool and will be refilling it with new line this afternoon.
....

Those old Mitchell 300's are worth every bit of TLC you can give them!  My Dad used a Mod 300 exclusively for salmon in Puget Sound.  Back in the '50s, 20-30 lb Chinooks (Kings) and even some big Coho (Silver) were common.  He took a 38 lb Chinook on that reel, and after I inherited it, my biggest was a 22 lb Coho.  There's no bucket mouth I've ever heard of that will win against that 300.  I seriously wish I still had it.

O.E., if you're looking for a new real, check out Cabela's. I'm a rabid fan of the Shimano spinning reels.  I've had Garcia, Shakespeare, and a hand full of off-brands, and always go back. I especially like the 'quick shot' fingertip bail control. One hand operation.

[Moe M.]

....
  The two I chose had Browning medium action 6-1/2 foot spinning rods, mounted on them were a pair of Garcia Mitchell mod. 300 spinning reels,  the rods cleaned up well and the coated handles are still in good shape (the wonders of a little water and Dawn dish soap),  the Reels still functioned fine but were quite a bit sluggish, after taking one of them apart (they don't build reels like those anymore, all the parts are metal except for the spool body, the gears are machined) I cleaned all the old grease, lightly lubed all the parts and put it back together it works like new,  I stripped the spool and will be refilling it with new line this afternoon.
....

Those old Mitchell 300's are worth every bit of TLC you can give them!  My Dad used a Mod 300 exclusively for salmon in Puget Sound.  Back in the '50s, 20-30 lb Chinooks (Kings) and even some big Coho (Silver) were common.  He took a 38 lb Chinook on that reel, and after I inherited it, my biggest was a 22 lb Coho.  There's no bucket mouth I've ever heard of that will win against that 300.  I seriously wish I still had it.

  I bought both Mitchell 300's at the same time,  up until that time I used to pick up whatever was cheap or used what was given to me by older guys who were up grading,  and I only fished locally and mostly alone,  I actually hated fishing until I was in my early twenties,  my dad and grand dad used to fish several times a week and ice fished in winter, but they fished for food more than fun,  they'd take anything that came along but mostly took bull heads and ells,  and of course I had to go with them.
  Back then the only reels we had were the old bait casting reels and the only controls were your thumb, at five or so years old it's hard to get the hang of stopping the line before the bait hit the water, which results in the dreaded birds nest, catching fish was not my strong suit, making birds nest was, my dad used to get so frustrated he'd make me go sit in the car for the remainder of the fishing time,  whenever he'd tell me we were going fishing I was sure I had committed some kind of mortal sin and that was my punishment.
  When I turned twenty I and a cousin opened a body shop,  the following spring he asked me to go fishing with him, my immediate reply was "what did I do wrong",  he wouldn't let it drop so I agreed to go with him once if he left me alone about fishing after that.
  It was a frosty morning on April 15th., we rented an aluminum row boat that had ice on the seats,  I had borrowed a rod & reel and some tackle from my father and made a thermos of hot soup,  by the time the sun came full up we hadn't got so much as a nibble, he was having a great time,  I was bored and cold and it didn't promise to be getting any better,  so I reeled in the jitterbug that I had been casting and put the rod across the gunnels on the boat in front of me and was just reaching for my thermos when my rod jumped off the gunnels and the reel caught the side of the boat, at the same time I was being drenched with ice cold water.
  When I put the rod across the gunnels the jitterbug was dangling about a few inches above the water,  I don't know if the giant pickerel followed my lure in on my last retrieve or whether it just spotted it hanging above the water,  but it came out of the water and hit it with a vengeance,  the reel getting caught on the side of the boat was his undoing,  and mine as well,  I was bit with the fishing bug.
  Back then we still had the blue laws and all the stores were closed on Sundays,  but Monday afternoon I walked out of Sears & Roebucks with two rods and two spin cast push button reels, a tackle box full of fishing tackle and a twelve foot v-bow car topper aluminum boat,  it damned near cost me a divorce.
  That fall I was invited to go fresh water fishing on Cape Cod for the last week of fishing season, most of the fishing was going to be for trout on the hundred foot deep kettle ponds cause by the glaziers,  the water is cold and the trout hold over and are fighters,  the spin cast reels were great for bass fishing from the boat,  but he bowl shaped ponds on the Cape require  that you wade in as far as you can with hip boots or waders and cast your line about a hundred yards to get the bait over the lip of the bowl and into the deeper water.
  In those days Gov. Sergeant of Ma. ran a big sporting goods store in Brewster MA., most of the guys that were fishing where we were including my host were using Mitchell 300's,  so after a quick trip to the Governor's store so was I,  those two reels have fished hard with minimum maintenance for 50 out of the last 55 years that I've owned them and never experienced one failure,  and now with just a good cleaning and lube they are ready to go for more years than I have left I'm sure. 

[Old Philosopher]

Great story, Moe. Isn't it a shame that you can't buy gear now (any kind) that will out live you?  I still have two star-drag saltwater reels handed down from my Grandfather. One is a Penn, and the other one is a West Bend.  I've used both for pike since I came to Montana. 
They don't make nothin' like they used to.

The only thing I ever had to replace on my old Mitchell 300 was the line guide. It finally got a notch worn in it so bad, it had to go.  That was before the days of roller line guides.

My first "ultra-light" spinning reel was a Mitchell 308.
This is a bad picture from a video, but it shows the size.

[Moe M.]

 Garcia quit making the original Mitchell 300 series in 1989,  the "new" company began offering a new 300 series in the 2000's sometime but it's in name only,  the new reels and the originals are nowhere alike, I believe that Mitchell started making fishing reels in the late 1800's, the model 300 came out in the very early 1900's and went through three minor design changes over the years, the first 300 had a half bail, the next change saw them adding a full bail, and more models in the series were added such as the 300A and 300B,  but throughout it's life the 300 remained basically the same.
 One thing I regret is not keeping track of the extra spools that came with my reels,  each 300 was sold with two spools, one attached to the reel, the other was in a plastic reel case, one was a shallow reel made for holding smaller weight line such as 4# and 6# line, the other was a deep well reel made to carry line in the 10# to 12# and bigger line,  both my 300's were usually strung with Stren original 6# test mono line,  so I never used the extra spools and somehow misplaced them.
 But in looking to see if there were any available I found that they are still popular enough that there's a ton of vintage Mitchell reels, spools, and other parts still available,  Ebay has about 20 pages dedicated to the 300 series of reels.
 I got the two Mitchells ready to fish and decided to recondition all of my spinning rigs,  the funny thing is that they are all considered vintage,  I have a few old shakespear reels that were all made in the USA, a couple of Shimono reels, Diwa and Ryobi made reels that need to get the done.
 It's turning into a fun project and a learning experience at the same time,  I had some fairly new spools of fresh line that I used to fill the spools on three of the reels but need to buy more, I'm thinking of trying Flourocarbon line on the others to see how that works out, it's supposed to be thinner, stronger, and less memory sensitive than mono, and almost invisible to fish.         

[Old Philosopher]

I have a Diawa closed face ultra light I really liked. I caught 5# rainbows on it in Alaska. The line pickup pin has become so worn from fighting heavy fish that it's been retired. I believe Diawa still makes a good reel.
Do some research before investing in fluorocarbon line. There are several things in both the Pro and Con columns.

[wolfy]

Dad gave my brother & I Zebco 303 spincast and rod combos when we were both little guys.  We'd dig for earthworms on the north side of the barn and Dad would take us fishing whenever he could spare the time.  Since the Missouri River was only about 100 yards from the northeast corner of our farm, we went quite often in the evenings.  A mixed bag of fish on the stringer was usually always the result......carp, buffalo, bullheads, bluegill, largemouth bass, crappie, burbot, channel cat, and the occasional fun-to-catch, but thrown-back skipjack were all possibilities depending on area and time of year.

We both bought Garcia-Mitchell 300s when we started going north for canoe trips back in the early '70s......still working beautifully with no more than an annual cleanup and gearlube.  I think we replaced the line guides only once.  I kept a Garcia-Mitchell 308 out of one of our traveling gift boxes for my 'ultralight' panfish rig.....hardly prior usage, so no rejuvenation has been necessary, so far.

They're considered to be unsophisticated compared to today's reel-offerings, but that suits me just fine as I'm not too sophisticated myself.

[wsdstan]

Good post Moe. 

I have a couple of old Mitchell 300 reels, an ultra light 308, and two or three newer Shimano ball bearing reels.  I also have two Dam Quick German spinning reels.  The Mitchells and the Dam are old and could use a good cleaning and restoration.  The rods I have run from old Wright and McGill 5 piece spin-fly rods to the newer graphite models. 

I grew up trout fishing in streams and rivers and never fished for bass until I bought the farm I live on about twenty years ago.  Bass, bluegills, crappies, and perch on a fly rod are about as much fun as you can have standing up.

Fly fishing still remains my favorite type of fishing.  My go to outfit is a Hardy Princess reel on a 5 weight G Loomis rod.  I have other brands and weights from 4 to 9 but the 5 is a good light bass rod and very easy to cast. 

I usually sell stuff I shouldn't and for some reason I have never let go of the fly fishing gear or the Mitchell reels.  I think the Hardy reel is 40 years old and the Mitchell might be a bit older.  The 300 series Mitchells are surprisingly cheap on Ebay with good ones either side of $20.  A new in the box old one might run closer to $100 but they are few and far between.

[Old Philosopher]

... The rods I have run from old Wright and McGill 5 piece spin-fly rods ....

We have a real club going here! 
Part of my Granddad's legacy to me is a Wright & McGill split bamboo rod. It has both the fly tip (1 piece), and the bait casting tip. The cork/bakelite handle is reversible, so you put it together one way for the reel-in-the-rear for fly fishing, or reel-forward for bait casting.

[Unknown]

I have a couple Mitchell's and D.A.M. Quick in different (sub-saltwater) sizes. I like them. I think feedback is the wrong term; Wolfy said: "unsophisticated" - if there is a word that implies both that might be the correct discriptor for these vintage gems.

You can fish in poor light and feel that things are going as they should. Trying to switch to a new Shimano leaves you wondering if things are working on account of the slick and smooth operation- like it must be proved in daylight

[Moe M.]

Good post Moe. 

I have a couple of old Mitchell 300 reels, an ultra light 308, and two or three newer Shimano ball bearing reels.  I also have two Dam Quick German spinning reels.  The Mitchells and the Dam are old and could use a good cleaning and restoration.  The rods I have run from old Wright and McGill 5 piece spin-fly rods to the newer graphite models. 

I usually sell stuff I shouldn't and for some reason I have never let go of the fly fishing gear or the Mitchell reels.  I think the Hardy reel is 40 years old and the Mitchell might be a bit older.  The 300 series Mitchells are surprisingly cheap on Ebay with good ones either side of $20.  A new in the box old one might run closer to $100 but they are few and far between.

  For you guys that have Mitchell or Garcia Mitchell reels or anyone interested in their history there is a museum dedicated to the Mitchell 300 series of fishing reels, but it's also loaded with other interesting facts and history as well, it's an interesting read.
  The history of the roots of the Mitchell tackle co. start in France in about the year 1310 when it became the world leader in watch making and the teaching of the art of clock making until it transitioned after WW-1 with the main factory closing it's doors and reopening as a fishing tackle manufacturing facility, which lead to the Mitchell 300 and it's variants to become the most wanted reel in the world, the reel wasn't imported to the USA until about 1947, but had been in production since about 1932.
  It's little wonder that a reel that successful that ceased to be made almost 30 years ago would still hold the interest that it still does today as a collectors piece and still be so inexpensive to purchase,  from about 1947 to 1977 Mitchell and Garcia Mitchell made and shipped well over 20,000,000 model 300 series reels alone not counting it's other models of reels,  by 1970 the factory in France was making 10,000 Mod. 300's every day, meaning that there doesn't seem to be a shortage (considering the quality) of them still around.

 For anyone interested -- www.mitchellreelmus eum.com  should take you to that site.

 ** I may be a little off in some of my dating but I'm writing this from memory, however, the dates and number should be pretty close.
 

[Moe M.]

I have a couple Mitchell's and D.A.M. Quick in different (sub-saltwater) sizes. I like them. I think feedback is the wrong term; Wolfy said: "unsophisticated" - if there is a word that implies both that might be the correct discriptor for these vintage gems.

You can fish in poor light and feel that things are going as they should. Trying to switch to a new Shimano leaves you wondering if things are working on account of the slick and smooth operation- like it must be proved in daylight

  Nostalgia does play a big part in the appreciation of all things dear to people,  and the older one gets the more the appreciation gets,  for instance,  I like my sporting arms to have deep blued metal surfaces and nicely grained wood stocks or grips, I prefer traditional knives over tactical looking blades, my favored backpacks are waxed cotton with leather straps and brass over plastic buckles and web straps,  and wool hunting clothes rather than a those of man made materials, my food seems to taste better when cooked in cast iron cookware, that doesn't mean that my choices are better, only that I'm more comfortable with them.
  My taking on this project of reconditioning some of my older fishing tackle has rekindled a lot of misplaced memories of past fishing trips with family and friends that has made me happy to relive if only in my mind,  but it's also been a learning experience as well,  while I'm a firm believer in the old saw, "they just don't make 'em like that anymore" the fact that in many things that we take for granted it does ring true.
  Some of my rods and reels date back fifty or more years,  some only a few years old,  in taking them apart, cleaning, and lubing them I can see a progression of diminished quality in the materials used and the amount of craftmanship being needed in their production,  some of the changes have advantages such as lighter weight, and improved casting of metal bodies or molded plastic parts,  stamped gears and other parts are cheaper to produce than machined gears and other parts,  and since we seem to be moving in the direction of "throw away goods" and rapidly advancing technology today that makes products obsolete almost before they hit the market place vs lasting quality, all the more reason to build stuff that doesn't have to stand the test of time, I guess ?
  One of the better advancments in reels was roller bearings,  my older reels that rely on hardened polished surfaces and gearing just can't compete with my more modern reels for smoothness and fast retrieve, but on the other hand,  I think the ticking sound of my older reels is relaxing and comforting,  and for me part of the fun of fishing is taking the time to play the fish when bringing it in,  I sometimes watch fishing shows that show fisherman who as soon as they get a strike start reeling in fish at blinding speed racing to get it into the boat or a landing net,  what's the fun in that ?
  So, yes, the older tackle is heavier, slower, and makes noise, but hey, IMHO they have a certain character that is missing in the newer stuff on the market today. 

[wolfy]

If you recall, I mentioned the Zebco 303s that my dad bought for my brother and me around 1957.  The things revolutionized the way people retrieved and cast their baits and terminal tackle in those days and like Samuel Colt who got his idea for the revolver from contemplating a simple ship's wheel, Jasper Dell Hull got his inspiration for the first spincast reel from watching his butcher yank string from his old cast iron overhead string dispenser.   They actually became more important and profitable for the company that produced them than was the oilfield equipment that they had been making, so they got out of that business and went exclusively into the fishing equipment business.  Almost 70 years have past with millions of Zebco 303s produced....most of them probably still catching fish!

http://www.zebco.com/about-us/worlds-first-spincast-reel/

EDIT: Typo, Dad gave us 303s.....NOT 33s.

[Orbean]

If you recall, I mentioned the Zebco 33s that my dad bought for my brother and me around 1957.  The things revolutionized the way people retrieved and cast their baits and terminal tackle in those days and like Samuel Colt who got his idea for the revolver from contemplating a simple ship's wheel, Jasper Dell Hull got his inspiration for the first spincast reel from watching his butcher yank string from his old cast iron overhead string dispenser.   They actually became more important and profitable for the company that produced them than was the oilfield equipment that they had been making, so they got out of that business and went exclusively into the fishing equipment business.  Almost 70 years have past with millions of Zebco 33s produced....most of them probably still catching fish!

http://www.zebco.com/about-us/worlds-first-spincast-reel/

 


Never been a big fisherman and frankly have only used garage sale items and walwart cheap rigs. Started with zebco's 303 and still fish with them today. I have a box full of 303's and 33's all spooled and ready for trips with the kids.

[wsdstan]

I went out and found my Mitchell 300's in the shop but cannot locate the 308.  Found a spool for it but, so far, no reel.  There was a Zebco in an old tackle box that probably belonged to my father.  This has been a great thread and if it ever quits raining here I am going fishing.   

[Moe M.]

If you recall, I mentioned the Zebco 303s that my dad bought for my brother and me around 1957.  The things revolutionized the way people retrieved and cast their baits and terminal tackle in those days and like Samuel Colt who got his idea for the revolver from contemplating a simple ship's wheel, Jasper Dell Hull got his inspiration for the first spincast reel from watching his butcher yank string from his old cast iron overhead string dispenser.   They actually became more important and profitable for the company that produced them than was the oilfield equipment that they had been making, so they got out of that business and went exclusively into the fishing equipment business.  Almost 70 years have past with millions of Zebco 303s produced....most of them probably still catching fish!

http://www.zebco.com/about-us/worlds-first-spincast-reel/

EDIT: Typo, Dad gave us 303s.....NOT 33s.

  Yup,  I started all my kids off on Zebco spin cast combos,  my first reel after my reintroduction to fishing was a spin cast reel,  it was a bit higher end reel, more fancy than a Zebco, but probably made by Zebco and rebranded with the JC Higgins name, it came in a plush leather soft zippered case and with a life time guarantee.
  I fished with that reel for a couple of years mostly for large mouth bass,  the dad of a buddy of mine had a summer place on a small lake which was well known for bass and perch, the backside of the lake held a good sized cove that was fairly shallow with an average depth of about five feet,  it had a lot of lily pads and was riddled with stumps,  nobody fished it because of the lily pad and stumps.
  One day we decided to give the area a try,  we fished out of a 12 aluminum row boat and once through the mouth of the cove it opened up enough to be able to get some decent fishing room,  we were fishing minnows for bait with 2" bobbers,  it didn't take long for us to get a full stringer of lunker bass averaging five ~ six pounds each,  they were a good test of endurance for that reel.
  During it's third season the drag started giving me problems so I took it back to Sears & Roebuck and they gave me another one no questions asked,  after that every couple of years I'd take it back and trade it in for a new one until the year they discontinued that model. 
  I've seen some pretty nice spin cast reels in stores over the years and have thought about buy another one, but I'm so used to my spinning reels for most of my fishing and my bait casting reels for bass fishing that I've stuck with them,  plus if you've been following this thread you've probably guessed that I have more rods and reels than I need already.   
   

[Moe M.]

I went out and found my Mitchell 300's in the shop but cannot locate the 308.  Found a spool for it but, so far, no reel.  There was a Zebco in an old tackle box that probably belonged to my father.  This has been a great thread and if it ever quits raining here I am going fishing.

 Funny you say that Stan,  I was planning on taking a couple of my reconditioned rigs out today for a day of fishing,  I started to get my gear into the van and the sky opened up, it's still raining pretty heavy,  it's been an exceptionally wet season so far and my part of the country is reverting to jungle.
 While poking around in the basement this afternoon I found one of the spare spools for my mod. 300 reels,  I've lost track of a few rods and reels in my day also,  One rig I lost wasn't because of misplacing it, I lost it in a bet with one of my daughters,  we were family camping on Cape Cod and fishing one of the hundreds of kettle ponds on the Cape that are teaming with small mouth bass or trout.
 My Donna is the oldest daughter and liked to fish,  she had her classic Zebco combo and I was fishing with an ultra light Shakespear rod and reel that I had just purchased a few months earlier for the opening day of the fishing season,  Donna jokingly said that she was going to catch more fish today than I was, I said "bet you don't" and she asked what's the bet,  I told her if she got more fish than me I'd swap her my new Shakespear UL combo for her beat up old Zebco.
 Well, we fished from noontime until Mom rang the supper bell and I became the new owner of a well used Zebco fishing combo,  and Donna couldn't wait to get back to camp to show off her new $100.00 ultra light fishing outfit,  she was 15 yrs. old that season,  she's turned 53 this year and she and my son in law just moved back here from Arizona to be closer to her son and baby grand daughter,  I'll have to remember to ask her what ever happened to that UL combo.
 If she still has it I think I'll ask her if she wants to go fishing.  (grinning)

[wsdstan]

Good story Moe.

I never lost one in a bet but almost lost one on a trip.  We were in Montana fishing on the Missouri River by Townsend.  We floated in canoes that year.  When we got out I took my fly rod apart and removed the fly reel.  I set it on the side of the bed up near the cab, the place where there used to be stake pockets.  We drove over to a town to get an ice cream cone, about twenty miles I would guess, and when I got out of the truck and looked back me fly reel was still setting there on bed rail.  The handle had gone into the stake pocket and probably kept it from falling off.  Still have that reel and use it a lot.

[wolfy]

That story reminds me of the time that my buddy & I watered our dogs after walking an 80 and were heading toward the next harvested milo field to fill our limits of ring-necks.  As we were getting out of the Wagoneer at the next patch, I went into the back seat to get my double-barreled 12 gauge, but it wasn't there!     Then I looked on the roof and there it was, right where I?d left it when we watered the dogs, five miles back down the road.

[Old Philosopher]

I stepped out of the station wagon at a turnout in Alaska to answer nature's call,  and left a $150 fur-collared patrol jacket on the roof.  15 minutes down the road, I remembered it. Back-tracked and never did find it.