Spinners in general

[occams razor]

GMan:

Love those Labo jigs ! Exspensive but if the finish holds up I would venture to buy some. Any local guys carry ? I like the Flat harness too.
For the price is should be gold plated. Being a technical guy and have access to just about any machine process available, I have made my own belt plate for running my 50w with my Spider harness. 1/8 Alloy plate makes great metal for tooling and its super light.

On another note..... I have not really handled a Stella much.... Have you ever opened up yours ? Is the gearing as heavy as the VS or ZeeBas or better ? Do you really need the headroom of 55 lbs of drag ? I think 30 shold be plenty correct ? Speaking of drag I just happen to have run into the area sales rep the other dat touting a spinner with 68 Lbs of drag. Not a Shimano guy either or the other high end guys. Anyhow I asked him what the hell are you going to do with 68 Lbs of drag on a spinning reel ? I got the usual look. Really come on ....
The VS, and ZeeBas I have worked to the point to trust them. I do late night surf also and they are submerged a good part of the night. To put it lightly they about bullet proof in that area. I was wondering in the stella has earned markes in that area. I have yet to see a Stella or even a Accurate in the suds at night. Thought I would ask you since you seem to really put the Stella to the test.

[johndtuttle]

Glen can answer for himself of course but do a search by a poster with the handle "Ichiban" ( search : Ichiban stella reel) he did a complete take down of a Stella that's posted on reel guru AlanTani's site, I believe, if you want to see all the innards. The Stella is the better or equal of anything made by human hands atm, imo, and is by far the most popular of all the high end spinning reels among those in the know for its strength and reliability.

[occams razor]

Johndtuttle:

John, thank your for the info. I reveiwed that post and it was very informative. I know Shimano has a great following but it has been dwindling. They have many great products but their price fixing is killing them.

[Gkross]

Originally Posted by occams razor

Gman/Glenn:

Thank you for the invite ! I would love to ! Rite now I am getting ready for a 3 day long range trip in October on a head boat. Have never done that before so I wanted to give it a go. So I have been heavily planning for that.
If you are in RI area all the time and on the road....sales an such we should take lunch and you can fill me on this sport (speed jigging).
I run a 26 Pacific cc and its one strait forward fishing machine. I had it build like so just because I do so much casting and jigging. It is totally open. If you have never fished on one of these alloy hulls before you cannot believe the room and deck space. They are literally floating tanks.
I you are in the area I,m ready and she is rigged with a tuna door too !
If you want to really test your stellas and ocean rods now is the time. That Giant that was spoke of was weighed at 980 ! Eat your weaties !

Thank you for the offer hopefully I can take you up on that before the season is up. I am ready to test my skill on a big boy hahaha I believe anything under 500 is achievable

[Gkross]

Originally Posted by occams razor

GMan:

Love those Labo jigs ! Exspensive but if the finish holds up I would venture to buy some. Any local guys carry ? I like the Flat harness too.
For the price is should be gold plated. Being a technical guy and have access to just about any machine process available, I have made my own belt plate for running my 50w with my Spider harness. 1/8 Alloy plate makes great metal for tooling and its super light.

On another note..... I have not really handled a Stella much.... Have you ever opened up yours ? Is the gearing as heavy as the VS or ZeeBas or better ? Do you really need the headroom of 55 lbs of drag ? I think 30 shold be plenty correct ? Speaking of drag I just happen to have run into the area sales rep the other dat touting a spinner with 68 Lbs of drag. Not a Shimano guy either or the other high end guys. Anyhow I asked him what the hell are you going to do with 68 Lbs of drag on a spinning reel ? I got the usual look. Really come on ....
The VS, and ZeeBas I have worked to the point to trust them. I do late night surf also and they are submerged a good part of the night. To put it lightly they about bullet proof in that area. I was wondering in the stella has earned markes in that area. I have yet to see a Stella or even a Accurate in the suds at night. Thought I would ask you since you seem to really put the Stella to the test.

Labo Jigs ... very expensive but they are definitely a hot jig. The jigs odd shape makes it dart and flutter on the fall and retrieve. All my tuna this season while jigging came on this jig especially in blue sardine. Finishes never hold up because they want you to buy more lol

Fisherman Flat Harness ... for jigging and popping I love this belt. The only one i will use because it can be lowered unlike most Japanese belts and its also really padded

Anglers Pro shop in brooklyn carries both the jigs and the belts

Shimano Stellas - I have tried them all, Accurates, Penns, Diawa and none seem to be in the same class. Have I opened them up? ... Absolutely not. Im good at fishing not so great with puzzles haha They arent made like a VS that can be dunked they are more delicate with being submerged but so smooth and powerful. Does anyone need 55 pounds of drag. Absolutely not. 30#'s is enough on most fish except larger class fish.

They arent perfect but they will do for me.

[masonbo]

Glen, I know you are not using drop strap's and bucket harnesses are you?
C'mon man.

[Gkross]

Originally Posted by masonbo

Glen, I know you are not using drop strap's and bucket harnesses are you?
C'mon man.

LMAO nope ... although I will admit to using one on my 4th bluefin in one afternoon. All of them over the 65" range and in 400' of water. No more gas in the tank on the last one

You know I can handle my fish but 4 tuna in the 160-170 range on 4 consecutive casts within 2 hours in that deep of water is just too much

[occams razor]

Gman/Glenn:

Sure thing my friend. In my travels I cover from South Shore Boston & all of eastern Mass including all of the Cape, Eastern RI to Pawcatuck CT. I get to see all the people I trust in my travels so my info is usually rite on. Have not heard about today as of yet. It was pretty snotty out early.
Thanks for the info in the Lobo jigs.....I get you on the finishes.......
That is why the comm guys go with hammered......I think a hammered Lobo would be absolutely killer !
If I we can meet up I would like to get a pattern of that plate/Harness. I would like to use the pattern to recreate it in 5086 Alloy 1/4". Stuff that I can make myself, I do. I think the prices they charge for harnesses and plate is stupid ! Thet are easy enough to make and you can anodize them or powder coat them to your own taste.
Harness I love the Smity's spider. You can put a ton of pressure on a stubborn fish and hardly break a sweat and its just about weightless.
I saw the breakdown of the Stella. There are some positives and alot of negatives. One thing I don't like is all the moving parts. There are other way to achieve the same result with less parts. I like the roller clutch where it does the most good. I hate a cast body period ! For a $1000 bucks I think customers should be recieving billet frames, hardened stainless shafts and gears and a healty amount of titainum. Hey people have good luck with them so I won't knock them. I have one of the first VS's ever made and I have never had one problem with it. I do all servicing myself and I use far better lubes than they offer the fishing crowd. Sealed cases with O rings allow me to use highly molyed synthetic oil. I have never had any ware at all in the case or gears.
I think if I do build a outfit it will be a Zeebass and a Ocean Rev rod. I know the issues with the Zee and I have set up many for my friends and never had another problem since. I wish it had the roller clutch setup the stella has but everything has a trade-off. But untill then my Accurates will take care of me. Just sold my B2-665N and replaced it with the BX2665N. I will put that on my Calstar XH for jigging the big hammerd diamonds. That Calstar is a powerhouse. Big in the butt but I like my women that way too : )