Value alternative to stella?

[Rohit Saqa Lal]

G'day fellas
I had been slowly paying off a 20k stella at a mates shop but due to getting retrenched at my last job I have had to cancel that and look for a cheaper alternative that will get me by

Note....I need a reel for setting up rods and not much actual fishing. I have been looking at the 1800 saragosa as the deposits I have made are about that much. Does anyone know which stella it compares with for body size and spool diameter as well as the way it casts PE8-10

[Jon Li]

Get a previous model Stella 20000FA instead , it's still much sought after reel and very solidly built .

Jon .

[Alex Jordan]

Or go for a Twinpower SW - some of the same parts as the Stella but a tad cheaper

[John Westcott]

I thought a Saragossa 18K was a good value option, to a stella until I took it away GT fishing, lasted 4 days and I guess a picture says it all!
Bang snapped of the rod!
Drag was fine but hard to use in this condition!!

[Rohit Saqa Lal]

Ouch!

What casued that, was it drag spikes?

[John Westcott]

No, drag was pretty smooth, as the reel had only done 4 days fishing!
It just broke off at the body/leg of the reel,(just a weak point I guess) still had three days fishing to do! And a long way from a tackle shop, lesson just get the premium reel even if second hand is my advice.

[Chuen Fan]

jeez.. lucky it didn't damage the rod when it happened..

[John Westcott]

Yes but I had a Monster GT that got away and I almost lost my rod over the side. As I stood stunned hangin on too the Reel and it slid down the line!

[Luke Wyrsta]

Yes but I had a Monster GT that got away and I almost lost my rod over the side. As I stood stunned hangin on too the Reel and it slid down the line!

What happened to make you almost drop the rod?

[Jay Burgess]

Yes but I had a Monster GT that got away and I almost lost my rod over the side. As I stood stunned hangin on too the Reel and it slid down the line!

What happened to make you almost drop the rod?

hehe precisely what I was thinking 

[Bruce Ingram]

As someone who was there at the time (and laughing a lot ), John in his panic held onto the broken reel, the rod went overboard and was being towed away and it was only a smart bit of work by one of the deckies that saved it.

One other bloke took an Okuma V series as his main reel.  It blew up before lunch on the first day.  (Broken by a red bass)

Fortunately the boat had a couple of Spheros for use as required and they did the job without failure.

If I couldn't afford a Stella or Saltiga I'd start out with a Spheros.       

[Rohit Saqa Lal]

Thanks guys, just picked up a Spheros 18K FB model. That should do me for now to setup the jig and pop rods. I have top shelf reels for the types of fishing that I usually do and will add a big stella to the collection when money permits

[John Westcott]

Thanks for your comments Bruce & while it was amusing for one & all (except me) I let go of my rod so I could keep turning the reel and get the fish in. However this was poorly thought through, but I was inexperienced in this type of situation not surprisingly!