aquaholik

I think felt is fine if you fish 2-3 lbs of drag. I still have the original felt washers on my 2004 Twinpower and that has seen LOTS of 10lbs+ Jacks, countless 20-35 lbs black drum, 20 or so 50-60 lbs Tarpon. And that's fished with 3-6 lbs drag depending on the species. But the big difference in the Twinpower is bearing inside the spool and on the spool shaft which even the 2015 Stradic FK do not have. I upgraded the shaft bushing to bearing on my 4000 FK just to see if it will extend the life of the felt washers. That one gets used with a constant 5-7 lbs drag for prying snappers of the bottom and away from structures.

Probably a direct drive screw in handle to distinguish from the Nasci. The non tapered bail design is disturbing at this price point. And the handle knob looks like it came from the 2016 Ci4. Verdict, EBAY Stradic FK which is proven in my heavy use.

I've used it (3000FK) two full years on a 7' St Croix Legend Elite in the salt. Burned thru the felt washers in about 6 months and replaced with carbontex. No issue since. Then the roller bearing froze up after two years. Not bad but I thought the new sealing design would prevent that altogether since I take care of my reel even though I fish hard with it. Absolutely ZERO gear wear. I can 100 percent state that it is as quiet and smooth as day 1 and I've confirmed it when I service it myself. No tell tale sign of wear on the gear and whatever little grease is on there is not discolored. Mine is the low gear JDM model so I'm not sure how the HG model will fare since the low gear model of course has bigger gear teeth in the main gear and pinion gear. There is no better bargain than the FK IMHO. And I've got plenty of Stellas and Twinpowers that sit unused and shiny because of it.

Exactly! Love the traditional Elite more than the GLX or NRX.

You tied a good knot. Gliss 40 # unknotted strength is around 35 lbs but it's FG knot strength is only around 24 lbs. I tested two spools multiple time. I can get an FG knot strength of close to 30 lbs if I finish it with a bobbin finish using 18lbs Gliss. And the PR knot comes in at 33 lbs, about 92%. I get similar result with Palomar Knot, 16-17 lbs. Every time I test Palomar knot in braid, it comes in no better than 58% with most results around the 50% mark. Palomar in mono comes in around 70%. For example, J braid 20 lbs. ABS at 45 lbs , Palomar knot broke at 25.90 lbs Suffix Superior mono 30 lbs test. ABS is 48 lbs, and Palomar knot broke at 31.55 lbs. Yes it breaks above the label strength but it is a long way from being a 100% knot in mono or braid. BTW, the Benjamin knot broke at 70% in braid and 100 % in mono. 30lbs Suffix Superior mono broke at 48 lbs and J braid 20 lbs broke at 32.95 lbs(ABS 45 lbs).

You're on the right track. Adding about 2 ft of mono before adding the sliding weight and swivel will reduce braid fouling around the swivel. We do that all the time fishing in saltwater when we need to cast the sliding sinker a long way. I highly recommend FG knot since it's low profile and castable.

Actually the Nasci does have rotor seal and ARB seal

If you ask the reel repair guy to look at a schematic, he'll highlight the difference for you. The main difference is screw in handle to the main gear instead of a pass thru and secure on the other side scheme. The second is the worm gear for a really flat line lay(although locomotive gear has come a long way and lays line pretty flat). The third difference is sealing. Although the body of the FK is not sealed, there is seal on both side of the handle, and seal above the one way anti reverse bearing as well as seal around the rotor nut. These are all trickle down Stella feature. I've punished my FK but I do know how to maintain them and aside from the melted felt drag washers and the drag clicker support falling out of place once, the gear shows ZERO wear. Like I said, that is not babying the gear. I've pushed it hard enough to burn up the felt drag in 3 months of use. Since the upgrade to carbontex washers there have been zero issue. I've replaced a couple of bushing also, one in the handle, one in the worm gear, and one under the spool support. It's now Twinpower quality for a mere $5 in bearings upgrade. Here's the main difference in the Stradic FK vs the Nasci: Don't get too excited yet. And don't let the specs of 20lbs of drag fool you. First thing you should do if you intend to fish more than 2-3lbs of drag on that reel is to replace the felt washers with carbontex washers. The rest of the reel, pinion gear, main gear, is quite capable of 5-6 lbs drag consistently but the felt drag washers will not stand up to those pressure. The rest of the reel is great. Little power house in an 8 oz package. Seal around the spool shaft and rotor, seal around the one way roller clutch, and seal on the handle and nut cap. Also the line roller is seal with a rubber gasket.

I actually got mine for $160 shipped.

6lb 832 FG knot to up to 40lbs leader if you want. That'll give you 10lbs of strength at the braid to leader connection. Set drag to 3 lbs and you should be able to land most fish that swims in fresh water. Use the leader size to match the abrasion resistance that you need. Or step up to 10 lbs braid and you can set the drag at 6lbs and horse in most fish. We do that all the time prying 25-35 lbs black drum from bridge pilings. And that's with crappy 10 lbs nanofil to 25 lbs leader. Power pro or spiderwire 10 lbs would be about 5 lbs stronger.

For spinning setup why go with braid that is far stronger than the 6lb mono leader? Stepping down to 6lbs braid will get you more distance and still offer the same terminal knot strength since the 6lbs leader is the weak link. BTW, 4 lbs fireline crystal breaks around 10.8 lb with FG knot.

Shimano USA has the weight and specs correct for the 2500 and 3000 size. Same body, same weight, different gear ratio. Shimano Australia advertised it with worm gear but it's obviously incorrect looking at the schematics from both sites. It's clearly locomotive level wind system. Also It lacks the direct drive screw in handle of the Stradic. Comparing it to the Symetre that is on sale, it is essentially the same except for the Hagan gearing. No seals like the Stradic FK. I was hoping direct drive screw in handle and worm gear but that would kill the Stradic FK sales. I would either buy the on sale Symetre or find a discounted Stradic FK. The Stradic FK is one heck of a reel if you can find it for $180 or less. And this is comparing it directly to the Twinpower and Stella.

8 lb Trilene XL is .25mm or .0098 inches 30 lb Power Pro is .313mm or .012 inches Very few 30lbs braid is actually 8lb mono diameter.

Create a slip knot and loop it in the right direction and carefully wind a few wraps. Then tape the wraps over with blue masking tape and you should be good.

Cast for three months with 10 to 12 lb mono until you know your reel's characteristic, i.e, the balance between spool tension and brakes be it magnetic or centrifugal pins. Don't use braid until you tame your reel.

That all depends on which one is the weak link, the braid or the mono. If your mono is stronger than your braid then you should retie every trip because your braid strength will drop 10 to 20 % after it's worn. But if you are not pushing your drag anywhere near 1/3 of the knot breaking strength then you will never need to retie. If your braid is MUCH stronger than your mono/fluro leader, then there's hardly any need to retie since a 20% drop in your braid strength will still make it the strongest link in your braid/mono setup.

If you are going to invest the time to do the knot then here's my suggestion for doing it correctly. You can use any method to do your weave of the braid over the mono. 1. Exactly ONE locking half hitch. 2. Glove tightened and you will see the color change on the braid. 3. Add a centimeter or two of insurance with alternating half hitches 4. Trim mono flush 5. Build a ramp to ease the leader back in past the tip guide. Skip 5 if you don't reel the leader past the tip guide.

This is actually very true. When you tie enough FG knot, you begin to observe that when the line diameter are close to each other, say 50lbs braid to 12 lbs leader, the extra wraps are counterproductive. While soft braid will always bite down on soft mono no matter how many wraps, stiff and slick braid like Nanofil will have a hard time biting into smaller and stiffer flurocarbon. It needs more than 12 wraps per leg but too many and you will have a hard time drawing the Nanofil tight enough to bite in to the thinner mono. It tends to slide instead of tightening itself and biting down and gripping the mono/fluro leader.

That is very important. Most people do not tighten it and continue to finish the knot by doing more half hitch, rizutto, reverse uni, etc BEFORE they FORM the knot. You don't ever FINISH the knot before you FORM the knot. And you form that knot after EXACTLY one half hitch and GLOVE tightened until the braid changes color. Then choose whatever finish that fancies you. You can make it simple by doing more half hitches, alternating half hitches, build ramps after cutting off the mono tag end, etc. NONE of the finishing wraps affects the knot strength. It only serves to keep the first half hitches from unraveling. But don't make the mistake of trying to finish the knot before forming it.

You said the knot weaken substantially. Did you try to see if you can lift the 7.5 lb dumbbell off the ground again after the knot looks beat up? If so, did the braid or mono broke at the FG knot? 10 lb Suffix 832 has an ABS of well over 20 lbs. ALL BRAIDS weaken any where from 10-20 percents after the coating wears off. I've tested new braid and braid after 6 months of use. Every brand shows a drop in ABS. But you're only using 7lbs leader so the weaken braid should still be much stronger than your leader.

50 LBS Braid to 12 fluro or mono is tough with FG knot. Not enough difference in the diameter for the FG knot to grab and bite down on the mono since 50lbs braid is about the same diameter as 12 lb mono. General rule for FG knot is that braid diameter has to be smaller than the fluro or mono leader. 12 lbs Nanofil to 8lb mono/fluoro leader is even tougher since Nanofil is so slick. Big question if why choose 50 lbs braid to 12 fluro and not 20 or 30 lbs braid to 12 fluro? The weak link in this case is the 12 lb fluro so you can't horse a fish out of cover even with 50lb braid if your weak link, the leader is 12lb test. 8lbs Nanofil to 8lb fluro leader and the FG knot will never break at the connection. The 8lb fluro leader will break first at the terminal connection unless that 8lb fluro has a greater knot strength than 12 lbs.

It lacks the magseal feature of the Procyon and Ballistic. That might not be a bad thing if you service your own reel. Great price but I don't know how much downgrade the internal got from previous Fuego reel.

The initial stiffness and slickness of Nanofil make it real easy to work a jig in the wind without the worries of wind knot or tip wrap. I was jigging with J braid right against a SE wind that was in my face. Tip wrap was annoying with the whipping style of working the jig fast. Nanofil and Fireline is also very kids friendly. I can hand them the setup and not worried about loose loop causing tip wrap and wind knot. It's just a very forgiving line. I use 24lb test Gliss(which test no where near 24 lbs BTW) last year and hooked into a 60-70 lbs Tarpon which I should be able to land in open water. 30 minutes battle and the FG knot broke after upping the pressure to 6-7 lbs and the fish shook it's head. I tested the line after that fight and it went from 15lbs FG knot strength to 11 lbs FG knot strength. I can see the coating wore off and the line begins to fuzz lightly after about only 20 hours of use. But I can see that Gliss and Nanofil are best used in a finesse situation with light weight lure and long cast are needed.

FG knot is about the only knot that will retain 80%+ of its true ABS of close to 20 lbs (Nanofil 10lbs). Tie a uni knot to a swivel, fish it a bit and the line gets frayed from use and your uni knot will drop from 8lbs to 5lbs KBS. Easy to explain why people snap it on a hook set or a hard cast. It even frays on tightening the knot. But 11-13 lb of KBS is still plenty for 5lbs of drag on a spinning reel. In fact enough to burn up the felt drag washers of the Stradic FK 3000 in one season.

Nanofil will go from breaking below labeled strength to breaking 60-70% above labeled strength with FG knot. 10 lbs Nanofil will go from 8lbs uni knot strength to 17 lbs FG knot strength. You can safely put 5lbs of drag on 10 lbs Nanofil and beat some big fish around structure. We normally target 1-3lbs fish but it's plenty strong with FG knot for the bigger by catch.