Stella Fella

Argyll,i find your comments interesting about the Berkley braid 'Whiplash'. My son and i,have both used it for 3 yrs now,with no nasty sudden breaking or unusual behaviour from it at all,our local tackle shop still sell it by the 2000 mtr spools,or in 500mtr reel 'spool ups'.i've tried the PowerPro,but i find it too thick,well the stuff i want at around 24kg is about twice the dia. of the Whiplash,so obviously only around half as much can i get onto my reel..,enjoy the distances we get with casting it out. i have big Penn game reel loaded up with 1500mtrs of 37kg for off the beach long distance balloon drifting technique i use,whereby the 10 bar-0 hook with a decent sized bait on it,is slung from a 100lb mono trace,no sinker,and attached by a nylon slotted tag,which holds the balloon and the offshore winds blow it out to sea,where when i want to,i give the rod a few big strikes,which pops the balloon of,and my bait freefalls or straylines way way down,like i've just cast 1500mtrs!!.i couldn't do this with nylon,too much stretch, but easy as with the braid. PS when surfcasting with the braid,we use a about a metre long mono trace of 60lb breaking strain,to help the resist any snags,abrasions or big snapper. [ 23. June 2004, 10:54 AM: Message edited by: Stella Fella ]

This is what i'm using,highly recommended. http://www.tackletactics.co.nz/letago.html web page [ 23. June 2004, 08:10 AM: Message edited by: Stella Fella ]

i'm using 24kg berkley Whiplash braid on two of my fixed spools,matched to my surfcasters,and love the stuff. it casts well, less wind resistance,i can get 750mtrs on my Shimano Stella reels,and is alot less moved around by tidal flow,but i use breakout type sinkers,and that gives me a nice tight line.i also have a 'Letago' line release gadget on my rods,so i can cast as hard as i want to,without ever cutting my finger,a nifty little thing that tapes around your rod at the same height as the bail arm..but the braid is certainly great for bite detections,but loves to bite flesh...and expensive,too..Jim [ 23. June 2004, 08:13 AM: Message edited by: Stella Fella ]

And hello to you,SandTiger,no, not as in that drink,but as an owner of two Shimano reels being the Stella 20000fa models.there aren't that many in NZ,as they were made for the offshore fishing scene in the tropics as in Hawaai etc,and favoured alot by the Japanese business clan,for their big yachts etc,but of course are available to anyone who want one,but they're pricey down here in NZ, at $1000 each...but worth every dollar.. [ 18. June 2004, 05:21 AM: Message edited by: Stella Fella ]

Yakity-Yak,thanks again for your welcome,no,you know they aren't 'flatfish',tho they like to flatten certain rugby teams.ahem...no i'm not into kayaking,not with thenews lately of a few fishos that are being harrassed down this way by huge white pointer sharks,no thanks...i'd run on the water like another well known guy,to escape,if i had to....

Hi Jaffa,thanx,i mainly do the surfcasting thing,and when territory allows,scramble around the rocks,as well,aka LBG (land based gamefishing.)i'ts an amazing place down here,alright,people from all over the world that travel here,reckon we've got it made,heaps of good fishing beaches,just about any where you go,and further up the North Island and in more tropical warm waters,there is an abundance of charter boats that do the marlin trips,some a 3-4 overnighter..and i must mention the climate,tho it's been a bit crappy the last few mths.

Hi to you all from down under here in NZ,dare i mention'All Blacks"(runs for cover)hope to be a regular contributor on here,good to learn how you people go about this great pastime,Cheers..Jim

good gear,alright Norm.B

i've read that one before,still funny ,tho... [ 09. May 2004, 08:31 AM: Message edited by: Stella Fella ]

Chippy,sorry mate,i was just on that exact site....

Hi Chippy,i've not seen that model at all down here. just had a quick look at it, on the shimano site,very nice... [ 06. May 2004, 12:41 PM: Message edited by: Stella Fella ]

As you can tell from my user name and i've posted about it as well,,i'm a Shimano fan,and have several of their reels. Are there many of you on here, who also favour them? Obviously my favourite one is my Stella 20000 FA,just a month old,i also have a 6500b baitrunner,a Tekato 800, a Trinidad 30, Tld15,and 25,and the 2 speed Tld50.

hello wetman,nice to meet you also,no the Stella handle i've given myself, refers to the new Shimano reel i bought a few weeks ago....sorta came easily to my mind.a few new boys on the block,eh?

hi yakity-yak,appears to be a fun site alright.glad you like my verse,i have made up several others as well... [ 05. May 2004, 07:43 AM: Message edited by: Stella Fella ]

Norrie hi,I'm from the North island and in the general area of Wellington.no i don't know him,and i'd suspect that he dosen't know me......