Shimano guys....

[Kurt505]

I have a question, is the Stella worth $500 more than the Sustain when it comes to fresh water fishing perch-lake trout size fish? I'm thinking of topping off my one piece medium fast walleye rod with a new reel and these are the two im considering. I'm not a tournament fishermen, I just want a reel that will last a long time. I have a pile of Shimano reels and they seem to hold up pretty good.

I have a Diawa Theory that I've put a few miles on but it doesn't seem to hold up as well as the Shimano's I own. The bail stopped flipping when I start to reel after casting, I have to manually flip the bail after the cast. Not a big deal but I've put more miles on some of my cheaper Shimano's without any problems.

I have a Shimano Saros that I like, and I don't think there's enough difference between it and the Stradic to buy a Stradic, that's why I'm thinking the Sustain or is the Stella really is all that, maybe the Stella.

[Fil_Can_Yakker]

Cant go wrong with Stellas, I own from size 2500 to 20000 and using them both fresh and saltwater.

[ETOWNCANUCK]

Best I've got is a Stratic CI4 +
I find it's smooth as butter
And that's at $250
I can just imagine the Stella

I also have a Saros and a Symetre

[Kurt505]

I have a Symetre, Sedona, couple Spirex's, and a Saros and like them all. I've been reading really high reviews of the new Sustain FG and was sort of leaning that way that's kinda why I wanted to know if the Stella was worth over twice the price of the Sustain.

[Bearski]

Love to buy one but can't justify. Love my Stradic though.

[RavYak]

Anything over the Stradic Ci4 is imo overkill for AB. If you got the money and want to spend it go for it though.

Side note: It is a good habit to manually close your bail.

[bwackwabbit]

I own a Saros, Stradic (w/xship) and a Curado (baitcaster). All mated to Shimano rods ranging from Convergence to Compre.

Best gear I own and the best choice for nearly any situation. I have 3 Abu setups
(Orra and 2 specialists) on Abu specialist rods. These are my Slip float, Lindy rig and baitfishing setups (don't wanna get the shimano stuff dirty...lol). They are very close to Shimano but you can tell the difference when finesse counts.

Cheers.

[CK Angler]

I have 3 saros, two 1000's and a 2500, I like them, they are decent realitvely inexpensive reels but they do not compare to my Stella 1000FA, I have an older model, 10 years probably by now and I've only had to bring it in for repairs once for a blown bearing. It has the smoothest drag I've used. I have it paired with a custom hand crafted GLoomis 6ft med action rod. I use this set up as my walleye jigging rod, the reel is actually held to the rod with electrical tape and its sensitivity is 2nd to none. You feel everything in you fingers.

NOW, the problem with the Stella and the reason I have two saros is $$$

The Stella/GLoomis combo is very expensive, so I don't like to use it often with fear of breaking it, especially for a day up the river, or when I'm fishing with less experienced guest. Kinda defeats the purpose of owning nice gear being afraid to use it half the time lol

[Kurt505]

I've got a few different setups with other reels, I have a couple Quantum Catalysts which are ok reels which I haven't had any problems with, an Abu Garcia Revo Premier on a one piece 7' GLoomis and another Abu Garcia Ambassador C4 on a two piece 8'-6" GLoomis, both of which I use for bigger, heavier fishing like downrigging, bottom bouncing and still fishing the river, I have my Saros on a 6'-6" Fenwick HMG for a do anything type rod, I like trolling crank baits and such with that one. I have a 6'-6" one piece Shimano Crucial rod that's about 10yrs old that I really like for jigging for perch and walleye with that I want to put this new reel on.

After hearing from the Shimano rep I'm thinking maybe I should be looking at either the Stradic Ci4 or the Sustain, I found a Sustain for just over $300 tax in that I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on, I just would like a little more input before I do.


PS, CK Angler...... I think you're crazy for not using your Stella/GLoomis combo every chance you get. The GLoomis has a lifetime warranty, and the Stella was built to last. I'm not sure where the black tape plays a roll in the equation, but whatever, if it works use it!!! All the time!!! Or sell me the Stella and buy something you won't be scared to use ;)

[TROLLER]

While I own a few Stella's for what you want I would highly recommend the CI4 in the 1000 series. Very light, quality reel and about half the price of the Stella.

Perfect for the very light rod and going after perch.

[Esox]

I own a stella 2000 for jigging and slip bobber and a 3000 for bigger stuff. Absolutely love them, the smoothest and best reel ive ever had. That being said, I own a bunch of ci4 stradics from 1000's for ice fishing up to a 4000 for pike and lakers. They are fantastic to. Either way you wont go wrong but if you have the money and want a PREMIUM set up that is so light and smooth its unbelievable, go with a gloomis NRX and a stella.

[EZM]

I have a couple Stradic CI4's - at $250-$300 that's as far as I will go for a spinning reel.

I can't imagine dropping well over $1000 for a Stella unless I'm using it everyday and making money with it.

Personally - I prefer the Abu Garcia mid to higher end spinning reels ($150-$300 range) - smoother drag, less binding and tough as nails. My favorite spinning reel is my Revo Premier or Revo STX up against any equally priced Shimano.

I love Shimano and Abu reels - can't really go wrong with either of them.

[Kurt505]

I have a couple Stradic CI4's - at $250-$300 that's as far as I will go for a spinning reel.

I can't imagine dropping well over $1000 for a Stella unless I'm using it everyday and making money with it.

Personally - I prefer the Abu Garcia mid to higher end spinning reels ($150-$300 range) - smoother drag, less binding and tough as nails. My favorite spinning reel is my Revo Premier or Revo STX up against any equally priced Shimano.

I love Shimano and Abu reels - can't really go wrong with either of them.

I'm in the same mind set, $1K on a fishing reel that I'm using for recreation is a bit excessive. If I fished for a living well, that's a different story.

I have Abu Garcia's Ambassador C4 level wind and Revo Premier bait casting reels that I like a lot, and the quality is there for sure, I guess other than the fact I have a pile of Shimano spin cast reels that all seem to be indestructible, all in the $80-$170 range, I've read up on a few mid range Abu's that have a problem with the stems breaking between the reel and the rod mount, and never having any first hand experience with the Abu spin casts I just want to stick with what I know so to speak.

After hearing a little more info from the Shimano rep I think the Sustain is the one I'll go with, that is of course unless someone can tell me something wrong with the newer Sustain FG reels. The Stradic sure sounds like a great reel though, I'm thinking I may pick one up in the 4000 or 5000 series to replace my Spirex 4000 and just pass the Spirex on to one of my boys.

Maybe one day I'll have more time for fishing and spoil myself with a Stella or 3, but for now I think $300-$400 on a reel will be more than enough reel for me.

[Esox]

I'm in the same mind set, $1K on a fishing reel that I'm using for recreation is a bit excessive. If I fished for a living well, that's a different story.

I have Abu Garcia's Ambassador C4 level wind and Revo Premier bait casting reels that I like a lot, and the quality is there for sure, I guess other than the fact I have a pile of Shimano spin cast reels that all seem to be indestructible, all in the $80-$170 range, I've read up on a few mid range Abu's that have a problem with the stems breaking between the reel and the rod mount, and never having any first hand experience with the Abu spin casts I just want to stick with what I know so to speak.

After hearing a little more info from the Shimano rep I think the Sustain is the one I'll go with, that is of course unless someone can tell me something wrong with the newer Sustain FG reels. The Stradic sure sounds like a great reel though, I'm thinking I may pick one up in the 4000 or 5000 series to replace my Spirex 4000 and just pass the Spirex on to one of my boys.

Maybe one day I'll have more time for fishing and spoil myself with a Stella or 3, but for now I think $300-$400 on a reel will be more than enough reel for me.

If you can wait a little longer, Shimano is coming out with a new stradic I see they released last week at icast. If youre impatient like me the current ci4 will be more than good enough!

[Kurt505]

If you can wait a little longer, Shimano is coming out with a new stradic I see they released last week at icast. If youre impatient like me the current ci4 will be more than good enough!

A new one? I am impatient like you, I have been founds guilty of more than one Impulse buy.

What is the new model? maybe I can look it up.

[Esox]

A new one? I am impatient like you, I have been founds guilty of more than one Impulse buy.

What is the new model? maybe I can look it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbCROCyvogI&feature=youtu.be

[Kurt505]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbCROCyvogI&feature=youtu.be

FK.... I like that it isn't white. I think I'll be looking at the 4000 model.


Only $200 U.S.

[Travco1]

I have four stratics , thunnis , sustain , and one Stella 4000. The biggest difference is how smooth the drag is under load and when retrieving there is no noticeable differance in weight when you have a fish or snag a branch . you just turn the handle and it cranks . It's hard to describe . If you ever use one you are really going to want one.

[deschambault]

I use stradics and ambassadeur c4s and I love them both. By the way I wouldn't count on a G Loomis lifetime warranty - I had a salmon rod that broke fighting its first fish and they wouldn't honour the warranty. Yes, I know that G Loomis and Shimano are the same company.

[FishHunterPro]

I picked up the sustain fg 2500 a few years ago. It was the only one there and was a floor model . Scored it for $300 or so, seen the new prices and was shocked. I think they are marked up about $100 extra now. It's a great reel though and I love it.

[Kurt505]

I ended up buying a Sustain 3000FG. After a while I wanted the bigger size so first I bought a Stradic 4000FK. Couple things I noticed with the Stradic vs the Sustain. First off I noticed it wasn't as smooth as the Sustain, it seemed I had to use a little more effort to real it in, not much but enough to notice a difference. Second and most important thing I noticed was the stem angle on the Stradic, the dam thing angles back to soon. I never noticed when I was playing with it in the store, but after I mounted it on my Rod I noticed my middle finger was getting wedged between the Rod and the reel. Needless to say I ended up returning the reel and buying another Sustain, this time a 5000FG. Same body size as the 4000 only with more spool capacity for trolling behind a downrigger for lakers or maybe casting for salmon.

I couldn't justify $1100 for a new Stella, but I did find a smoking deal on a new 2013 model Daiwa Certate 2508 out of Japan. I haven't fished it yet, but that is one extremely smooth reel I can't wait to try out.

[TROLLER]

FK.... I like that it isn't white. I think I'll be looking at the 4000 model.


Only $200 U.S.

Too heavy for what he wants to fish for

[Crazy Lazy]

Mostly in your head. Any Shimano and the better Daiwas are great reels.