cantab

Well that would have to be the most amazing days fishing I've ever been a part of! Huge thanks to Damo & Bob for not only putting us on the fish of a lifetime but also putting up with our fettish for using the Stella's. Not sure the egg beaters were worth the pain, overhead next time I think. As Bob said ... shouldn't bring a knife to a gun fight. Damo was right, the SBT far exceeds YFT on the chew!!! Again Damo many thanks and we'll be back for sure! (if my back ever comes right). Cheers

what a great day Josh! Well done. If you don't mind me asking what lure did the damage on the Mahi Mahi?

why not flurocarbon leader?

Nice work Mr Rob. How far out off longy? depth?

Thanks for all the advice. I managed to use a mates downrigger for the job. First attempt left me spewing, applied heaps of pressure & wound onto reel off downrigger, only to find, close to the end & near exhaustion the line had a bad taper towards the top of spool! Had to wind all the line off spool, add 2 washers & re do it a few days later. Anyway, finally got it on evenly and to my surprise 550m PE6 80lb.

Thanks SZ1. What lb mono backing did you use? I guess it doesn't really matter as it will sort of act like the tape. I have 600m of PE 6 (80lb) Varivas, hopefully I can get a fair bit on.

ah thanks Hodgy, I thought I was loosing it... I ended up getting the 18000 & am glad I did, it isn't as big as I first thought & enables me to get heaps of line on. Any hints on spooling it up? I have been told to do it myself rather than at a tackle store & make sure I apply HEAPS of pressure when winding on. Also to wrap the spool with a few turns of insulation tape then uni knot to spool & tighten the braid hard enough to just cut into the tape to prevent any slippage.

where on the site is the "For Sale" section? I can't see it

Thanks for all the advice guys, much appreciated. Jim, thats some report & some huge fish you caught, great to see the stella in action. I have just bought the 18000SW, $900 delivered from the states so very happy. Now for the rod, the GT special is the obvious choice for popping but again I'm trying to maximise the use & considering a shimano bluewater spin 10-15kg or 15-24kg in the hope they will enable me to cover more types of fishing. any ideas?

thanks Bentos thats reassuring info and I agree the 10000 would be better for the majority of my fishing. Can anyone tell me if the 10000SW would handle the fishing in Fiji, mainly trolling and GT popping. Obviously the 18000 would be much better but would I get away with the 10000?

Thanks. I guess I want to know ideas on 10000SW v 18000SW for the scenarios above...

Looking for some advice... I am going to Fiji for a 10 day fishing trip in March & am thinking of buying a Stella 18000SW & maybe a Shimano GT Special. I live in Sydney & fish from both rocks & boat both inside & outside harbour, mainly for kingfish. Now this is a lot of cash to outlay but I think I'm in need of a treat and never really splurged on fishing gear too much before. I'm sure the combo above would be great for the 10 days in Fiji but overkill for my usual fishing here in Sydney. So, I thought maybe I could get away with the Stella 10000SW in Fiji, which would also be more usable at home. The other factor which makes it hard is that there is little difference in price between the 10000 & 18000. Any thoughts/advice/past experience much appreciated!

Excellent! Thanks for the help everyone.

Thanks very much guys! Anyone suggest any spots more inshore in the bay as well in case the swell / weather is a bit much towards the heads? Cheers.

Cheers Ray! good luck up Nelson Bay also, I'll be interested to hear how you went!! As we can't enter GPS marks in our sounder anyway we are just keen to hear of approximate areas to fish. hope someone can help ...