Need help with medium popper outfit

[Damir Ruk]

Hi Guys.  I am about to purchase a new outfit that consists of a Shimano Stella 10000sw and one of two rods. Either a Shimano Bluewater Spin 1524 7'6" 15-24kg 40-100gm $360 or a Daiwa Saltist Demon Blood DB762X 7'6" P.E 5-6 90-230gm $350. The line i have is a YGK Ultra Jigman X8 78lb P.E 5 and i should get 350-400m on the spool. The question i have is about the stella 10k drag.  Is it really a 23kg drag as stated in the shimano catalogue. After seeing the schematics of this reel i can't see how as it has a standard 6 washer arrangement as apposed to the 18000 and 20000 stella which have a massive dual disc arrangement under the spool as well as a stack inside the spool to make 2kg more than the 10000sw. Has anybody actually tested this on a scale? Is this rating direct line pull from reel or from rod tip with the rod bent over? Has anybody tested these rods? Any feedback would be appreciated. I will be using this outfit at the Goldcoast (Queensland) mainly throwing poppers at GT's and Kingfish at the Seaway. Is this line any good for casting.

[Brandon Khoo]

Damir, my humble opinion is that if you would be well-served with a Studio Oceanmark 16000 No Limit spools if you want to fish heavy drag on the 10000. That said, if you're going to be fishing PE5, the higher drag levels are no more than an academic issue.

[Mark Harris]

I am also not at all sure that those rods would cope well with such heavy drag?

[kriss brown]

hi Damir.I am in goldie as well.I fish of the sea way rock all the time. I am not the expect but what you accuring above  tackle  might be too big for the job . Here i get away with 15lb to 30lb outfit most of the time.May be once in blue moon u might meet those monster .i fish with 3000 size reels most time. only sometimes i go higher but hardly use it.if you are fishing from the boat u can even go with lighter outfit.hope that help .

[Gareth Branicki]

Kriss you got in first both of us know the seaway 
I still fish it on rare occassions
10000 sw is a good choice as you can use it in the seaway and will handle tuna and mackeral over 20 kg no probs line wise 30 50 is ( overkill) tuf line  is best option
Gt's and the seaway 5 kg when running well and that maybe 2 weeks in a year as for kingfish this is not NSW  very light spin gear  if you are not planning a nomad /fuji/ NC trip then for seaway you are going way to heavy mate
if you do have a decent offshore boat talk to fishhead who are sponsers on this site just did a report about pt Lookout off straddie  but if you are sticking to the seaway very light poppers 30lb braid as for rods best entry casting rod is daiwa saltiga 80 tn  for metals and smaller poppers  if you want to go cheaper there are other options mate  for smaller gt's  in esturaies such as the seaway or those on the sunshine coast cheers

[Damir Ruk]

High guys, thanks for your feedback. I ended up getting the Daiwa Demon Blood DB762X and a Stella 10000sw. Great outfit for casting 60-120gm metal slugs and poppers. I ended up testing the drag with a full spool of line direct pull from the line roller and I only got 11kg with the knob locked. I decided to pull it apart and check it out and found it to be quite intricate in design. I also retract my previous statement in saying that it is a standard 6 washer design. It actually has 4 metal/ 3 fibre inside the spool and 1metal/ 1 fibre as the hyper disc beneath the spool. I ended up getting some carbontex washers from Jack Erskine slightly thicker than standard(0.62 to 0.8mm) but I didn't replace all of them just the two larger ones. The washer sizes are 2@ 15mm inner 26mm outer 0.62mm thick, 1@ 15mm inner 29mm outer 0.62mm, and 1@ 11mm 29mm 0.62mm as the hyper disc. With the slightly thicker washers installed and lubed with Cals I am getting well over 16kg at the line roller.

[Damir Ruk]

High guys, I am thinking about another outfit but this time, for a Fiji trip sometime this year. I took on board Brandon's advice for the SOM No Limits 16000 to put PE#8 Varivas or Sunline PE Jigger. The rod I am considering is the Daiwa Demon Blood DB 82XH rated to PE #8 150-300gm 8ft Fuji sic ocean guides Fuji reel seat. Any feedback would be welcome. Only using outfit once or twice a year. 

[Jamie Moir]

I just filled a reel for a pal, I think we got 250m of Daiwa Saltiga Boat Braid PE6/80lb onto the SOM 16k spool.
That Paulus guy has it breaking @ 93lb ATM.

[Mark Harris]

On a SOM 16000 ought be getting 230-250 metres (250 is too full for my liking for casting) of PE8, 300 metres of PE6... based on Varivas Avani braids.

[Damir Ruk]

Hi guys, thanks for quick reply. I ended up fitting 300m of YGK Ultra Jigman PE#5 on the standard spool and i put in well over 1000 casts without one wind knot. My opinion is to retrieve under a bit of pressure every now and then to keep it packed tight. Can't wait for the 16000 SOM spool, it is so beautiful just like the Stella 10000 is. I know the Demon Blood rod is on the cheaper side of the market($400) but any review on the DB82XH would be greatful.

[kriss brown]

hi damir

Great buy on your reel.The pic look to me like you have overfill the line on your spool.I could be wrong.If you are casting all right than it could be fine.May be when you casting with heavier lure and bit of windy day could give bit of wind knot or bird nest.

[Ben Barnes]

Thanks for the drag washer info although upping the drag on these cheaper rods might end in disaster. I'm going to do it to my SOM 16 spool that I use for jigging. Have you snapped the Demon Blood yet? How is the DB762X going? I'm considering getting a DB82XH as a cheap option for throwing poppers and skickbaits at New Zealand kingfish. A cheaper rod wouldn't hurt too much if I snapped it. 

[Damir Ruk]

Nah mate, still going strong. Although only fish it 3 times a year. Might use it on the Kingies of Portland this summer. I also might get DB 802xh. I think stripper guide on this rod should be a 40mm instead of 30mm. Also had to send Stella spool away due to corrosion forming on bottom of lip. It's a shame as I really love how solid this reel feels and I really treat it well. It is like a family member. I rang Shimano service and was told that they have never encountered this before but didn't sound surprised. He also assured me that if it is corrosion according to the service department, he will send new spool. Pretty good service. Does anyone use a corrosion inhibitor on spool or take braid off after a heavy fish for clean?