Why do you want a Stella.  The best line management Ever in a spinning reel - this is Stradic, which is the same reel made with aluminum body and ci4+ rotor, alloy gears, and a few bushings in place of a few ball bearings (gives up titanium bail, etc).  The extra price in Stella is cost to manufacture magnesium body and rotor, especially the stainless gears, and add a few ball bearings plus the titanium bail. 

No other spinning reel design quite matches this line management.  What you gain with Stella, it will keep this accurate line management longer than my Stradic, and it came with all the gears you will ever need for it.  

Diminishing returns?  Yeah, if you're going to replace it or throw it away when something new catches your eye.  But that's not the case if you plan to keep using it.  

 

I was thinking about this today, because next week is our week-long fall kayak regatta - Redfish Rodeo.  

All my gear is designed for purpose, and it always gives me what I ask, because I designed it that way.  It wasn't cheap, but it also doesn't diminish.  

 

 

Some boats.  I bought one of the first group of Vexus VX21's and loaded it with everything available at the time, figuring that at my age it would probably be the last boat I'll ever buy.  The price of a duplicate has since skyrocketed and I don't know if I'm sad or glad to know what someone else will one day pay for my used boat;  I still love it, and would not switch for anything else.

32 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

The best line management Ever in a spinning reel - this is Stradic, which is the same reel made with aluminum body and ci4+ rotor, alloy gears, and a few bushings in place of a few ball bearings.  The extra price in Stella is cost to manufacture magnesium body and rotor, especially the stainless gears, and add a few ball bearings. 

No other spinning reel design quite matches this line management.  What you gain with Stella, it will keep this accurate line management longer than my Stradic, and it came with all the gears you will ever need for it.  

Diminishing returns?  Yeah, if you're going to replace it or throw it away when something new catches your eye.

 

It's cool that you know all this and now I'll appreciate my Stellas more.

 

32 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

But that's not the case if you plan to keep using it.  

 

That's my plan: Buy quality and grind it into the ground. 

I've never strayed from a certain price point that I'm willing to pay for a rod and reel.

So am I really missing out. ❓Idk

St. Croix Mojo Bass, Dobyns Sierra paired with a Sierra or SLX ...... that's been holy grail.

I recently bought a 13 fishing Omen Gold as a Ned rod and have been very impressed.

High-end to me is the highest I'm willing to pay for gear.

 

When it comes to fishing gear, I side with Hunter S. Thompson: “LIfe's Journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting “Holy-moly, what a ride!” 

My sunglasses are my best high end purchase; I see everything with them and they’re readily available. If I forgot my sunglasses at home for any fishing trip, I’m really not feeling great about that

18 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

When it comes to fishing gear, I side with Hunter S. Thompson: “LIfe's Journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting “Holy-moly, what a ride!” 

You can still have a heck of a ride with expensive gear with not a lot of dings on it.

 

I’ve ingrained the following into my children, they could all repeat it probably word for word:

 

Work hard

Save your money

Buy nice things

Take good care of them

 

I enjoy fishing with expensive gear. You better believe I’m going to treat it very well.    

For me, that would be the Dynamic Duo (Minn Kota Ultrex Quest/Humminbird Xplore) that I added last spring. The irony of it sitting on a 1648 olive drab tiller jon boat is not lost on me.

 

Just spot lock by itself has allowed me to focus on fishing with much regard to where I end up if I take my mind off of using the trolling motor keep my boat positioned. That alone has made fishing much less stressful. 

 

Sitting offshore on a spot, hanging up a lure, moving away to dislodge the lure and then hitting "return to spot"? That is also sublime.

 

Control when at max speed? Much less effort.

 

Max Speed? Not unusual to cruise at 4.4 to 4.6 mph, and I am only using a 24v battery. 

 

The transducer is built in, so no external cable on the TM shaft to damage.

 

It's really the only truly high end Gucci level (IMHO) piece of kit I have ever bought, and so far I have no regrets.

Sunglasses, line, and a solid pair of line cutters/nippers have all proven to be worth spending a little extra money on for me.  

 

I once decided I'd experiment with BP brand braid, that was a mistake.  I've never strayed from Sufix since. Also - just recently scored a pair of Island Optics Mako XL sunglasses during a sale on TW, completely changed the way I look at sunglasses for fishing.  Never thought I'd want to invest much money in a pair, but the comfort and clarity are totally worth it.  Granted, half of that is due to the fact that they're the only pair I've ever owned that actually fit my giant head! 😃

1 hour ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

You can still have a heck of a ride with expensive gear with not a lot of dings on it.

 

Well, sorta, kinda, maybe...IF you stay on paved roads and launch at ramps. However, I get your point.

I like my Ranger boat but I wouldn’t call the version I have “high end.”

 

Two items that I used to skimp on that I don’t anymore come to mind here. My sunglasses and mega bass jerk baits.

 

I went through a $20 pair of cheapie sunglasses every year for a decade. 5 years ago I received Costa shades for Xmas. The difference was like night and day. I’m using these sunglasses for life now while fishing.

 

Megabass jerk baits are better right out of the package. I understand that not everyone is willing to pay 25 bucks for one though. I have about a dozen accumulated over the years.

For me, it's my two G. Loomis Imx Pro/Shimano combos that I use for 90 percent of my fishing. 

 

Imx Pro SJR 901S with a Stradic 1000 FM

Imx Pro MBR 903c with a Curado 200i. 

I scored a great deal on a fishing kayak off Amazon. Normally $1069 got it for $640. I had a sit inside kayak from Costco for the last 6 years, so that has been a nice upgrade. 

 

For rods and reels, I have tried a lot of brands and they have all been good for the most part. My sweet spot now is Dawia rods (aird x, tatula xt, and Rebellion lines) and Daiwa spinning (tatula lt, exceller lt) and Lews Speed Spool LFS and BPS Carbonlite for baitcasting reels. 

 

They all have something in common, which is bang for your buck. A sweet spot for me, balancing quality, reliability, and cost. I have tried both lower and higher end stuff, but I think I have it finally dialed in for my style. 

5 hours ago, Micro Module Police said:

I'd say that if you're someone who sees fishing gear as "tools", and you don't baby them, nothing high end is worth it. A $100 rod and a $200 reel is enough.

Every person i know, or spoke to, if they don't take care of their stuff, they're the kind that wouldn't be able to tell a difference between a steez and a Tatula. Not everyone notices and cares about the smoothness and how silent high reels are. Same with rods.

Why did you capitalize Tatula, but not Steez?  Have you switched to the tatula team?

Seems really easy to me.  A hammer is a tool - too many reels get treated like hammers.  

A violin is an instrument - this is how you should treat nice tackle - keep it nice for the 5th generation and beyond.  

 

My choices here are both in the line catagory. I disliked fluorocarbon line for years until I bit the bullet and picked up some Sunline Shooter. Although there are more 8 strand braids on the market now, I love my Sufix 832. When it was first introduced, it was pricey.

 

It has been said, you get what you pay for and sometimes what you get isn't what you paid for it.

For the record, when I put sunglasses as my high-end item, I didn’t mention I’m talking $5 YUM’s from Wally lmao

Line and hooks are two things that I don’t mind paying premium for.

13 hours ago, Big Hands said:

For me, that would be the Dynamic Duo (Minn Kota Ultrex Quest/Humminbird Xplore) that I added last spring. The irony of it sitting on a 1648 olive drab tiller jon boat is not lost on me.

 

Just spot lock by itself has allowed me to focus on fishing with much regard to where I end up if I take my mind off of using the trolling motor keep my boat positioned. That alone has made fishing much less stressful. 

 

Sitting offshore on a spot, hanging up a lure, moving away to dislodge the lure and then hitting "return to spot"? That is also sublime.

 

Control when at max speed? Much less effort.

 

Max Speed? Not unusual to cruise at 4.4 to 4.6 mph, and I am only using a 24v battery. 

 

The transducer is built in, so no external cable on the TM shaft to damage.

 

It's really the only truly high end Gucci level (IMHO) piece of kit I have ever bought, and so far I have no regrets.

A high end trolling motor..... I believe this is one of the most over looked things in fishing. I have seen more fish caught and more tournaments won, not by having the best high end gear but by having good boat positioning. If you can find the fish and hold that spot, it is the best advantage you can give yourself on the water. Having the best trolling motor you can afford is the key.

10 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

Seems really easy to me.  A hammer is a tool - too many reels get treated like hammers.  

A violin is an instrument - this is how you should treat nice tackle - keep it nice for the 5th generation and beyond.  

 

I do understand your position and I respect it. We've just walked different roads. My roads have been bouncy. I've driven logging roads that delivered a violent ride. Everything was tossed, including me. 

 

13 minutes ago, FishTank said:

Having the best trolling motor you can afford is the key.

 

Such a trolling motor is the piece of tech I'd like.

i like high end rods. i dont fish exclusively with them but enjoy the ones i have and plan to add more.for reels I agree stradics and curados give me great performance i dont feel i need anything more. Rain gear i feel is worth paying up for. my rain suit was $450 but when it rains im dry.my ultrex is worth every penny. when it really comes down to it i guess if you enjoy it then its worth it but there are certain items where the high end definetley out performs cheaper.

Line and hooks for sure.

For me expensive/high end gear gave access to niche stuff that suited my style or biomechanics or whatever you want to call it.  That being said 20% of my gear falls into that category.  The rest being old high-end stuff or average Joe level.

@Swamp Girl

 

Cheep and worth every penny.  

17 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

You are confident, but have you done side-by-side comparison tests or anything equivalent? There are features that certain lures have that give me confidence, but beyond those features, I don't care who manufactured them. For example, having used several soft plastic crawdads, I like the ones where the pinchers have "feet," like the ones made by Rapala, Yamamoto, and Rage Tail. I see that those feet give the pinchers better action and so I look for the "feet" when replacing my crawdads, which I do a LOT because they catch a lot of bass. If a cheaper lure has those "feet," I'll buy it.

Maybe not side-by-side for all of them, but some. The ones that haven't been side-by-side tested, have gone through many rounds of experimentation. Let's talk plastic craws for instance. I've easily tested 30+ varieties from Yum to Megabass. I'll cycle through multiple varieties in a trip to try and settle on the best one. After doing that 10 or 20 times, I start to see a pattern that X model catches more or bigger fish than Y model 80% of the time. Once I've found that pattern, I'll remove the inferior ones from the rotation and focus on the 2 or 3 "best" ones come tournament time. For my standard "flapping craw" style, I started with things like Yum Christy Craws, Bandito Bugs Zoom Speed Craws. After a year or so of figuring it out, I settled on Zoom Z craws. Those got phased out by Rapala Cleanup Craws. At some point Rage Bugs got tested and became a confidence bait so they're still in the mix in certain situations. I'm currently testing MaxScent Crud Craws and they seem like they may have their own place in the rotation. 

12 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

Seems really easy to me.  A hammer is a tool - too many reels get treated like hammers.  

A violin is an instrument - this is how you should treat nice tackle - keep it nice for the 5th generation and beyond.  

 

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

I do understand your position and I respect it. We've just walked different roads. My roads have been bouncy. I've driven logging roads that delivered a violent ride. Everything was tossed, including me. 

 

I find it quite possible to appreciate both paths that strive to climb the same mountain. That's because I sincerely do appreciate both of your 'approaches' and TBH, I see a bit of both of you in myself.