I have been using the SOM NL spool since it was released and thought it might be useful to provide some observations after using it for such a length of time.
The SOM NL has gone from being a wonderful piece of bling to pretty much an essential piece of equipment to making a Stella 10000 perform the way it should. It has a significantly improved drag and more line capacity over the standard 10000 spool. In fact, it carries enough to make it an ideal spool for PE8.
If I remember correctly, the SOM NL has a claimed maximum drag around 20kg. I have never wound it to that point as I couldn't fish it but based on having had it to the mid-teens, it has significantly more drag to go on it so I have no reason to doubt what is claimed. I have found the drag to be very smooth under heavy load. An excellent thread On the drag of the spool and servicing it was posted by Enoch Li a while back so there is no need for me to go into this.
If there is a weakness to the drag on this spool though, it is that it is susceptible to getting wet. I suspect that the holes in the spool which look great cosmetically and which reduce the overall weight unfortunately also make it easier for water to get into the drag system. I have found that if your reel is exposed to waves, spray, rain etc, moisture can get into the drag. A tiny bit of moisture sees the drag get a bit jerky but more moisture will see the drag start slipping badly. It won't even pull five kgs once it gets to that point.
Fixing this is as though - you just need to strip it all out and dry it thoroughly.
I have found this spool to be very corrosion resistant in that I have not found a mark of rust on the spool itself anywhere, not even under the braid to date. What you do need to watch though is that if you have one of the original releases where the underside section is attached by screws, the screws themselves are a point where rust can build up but that is the only point where I have noticed any corrosion build-up at all.
Overall, it's been a terrific product that has performed admirably. We have landed some very big fish using this spool and it's capacity has proven to be adequate.
Very recently, Jigging Master have released a very similar product. I have one and will be testing it out over the next year. The drag system looks pretty impressive to me although cosmetically, it doesn't look as good as the SOM NL.
