Do you need a lot of line capacity for this set up and would you fish tough country that means you have to stop fish fast?

I have a Stella 5000 set up plus some larger reels for 80lb braid when I need that little bit extra to put the hurt on the fish immediately. I only go to the big gear when I need to as the Stella 5K is one strong reel and the lighter combo is such a pleasure to use. You wife would really appreciate the lighter outfit. I'm about to change my set up and put 50lb on the little Stella and build myself a Black Hole Cape Cod Special in the 150g when it comes out in the not too distant future. The reel will easily punch out 8 kilos of drag so I'm really looking forward to smacking some big Reds on it.

In between the Stella 5K and 8/10K sizes you could look at the Penn Torque 5 spinner. It's more like a 6000 size Shimano, noticeably bigger than the 5k body but smaller and lighter than the 8/10K reels. If you check out Alan Hawks review, he rates it as one of the best reels going around.

You are picking a good time to buy a Stella though as prices are coming down as the new model approaches. I saw a brand new 5k get sold for the mid $500s a couple of days ago. I'm seriously thinking of getting another one myself!

We fish in 20-60m o water and occasionally hook into something that needs stopping but if those come around she can swap to the bigger gear. She has a Stradic FI but that is still a bit bulky. Nice reel and plenty capable but compared to the Stella 5000 it is quite big. What sort of line capacity do you expect to fit with the 50lb on the Stella? And looking around at rods, the JM Ocean Devil is around the $300 mark. I wasnt looking at spending too much more than that. I am stoked with mine. What sort of rating would suit the Stella 5000SW? I have the 100-220g, I probably wouldnt look at too much more than the PE 1.5-4 or 3-5 range???

50-lb Daiwa Tournament 8 Accudepth has a diameter of only 0.25mm. That's around PE 2.5 (just under actually). Based on the Stella 5 K spool it says you can get 230 m of 0.3 mm diamter line. I have 30lb Fins PRT on at the moment which is supposedly 0.279mm diameter so pretty close to the Daiwa line. I reckon I got over 200 yards on it easily but not really sure exactly how much.

Either way that is plenty and I fish similar depths to you. You should get at least 200 yards on. There is no chance of being spooled by the target fish and just the other day I hooked a 25 kg GT on it. I never looked like getting spooled and had the fish under control until the Sharks nailed it near the boat. This was using a lighter 8 to 10 kilo rod so I couldn't put as much hurt on it.

I don't have any experience with that particular rod but have not heard any bad reps about it. Jsut make sure to check it's max drag if they do provide one. I would say if it's around the 150 to 220 gram jig range it should be fine. A cheaper option would be the T curve Deep Jig 200. I have one and it is great. I reckon it would feel a tad bulky with a Stella 5000 though, a 6000 size is perfect.

You might have swayed me into the smaller reel. A 25kg GT is nothing to sneeze at!!! Her fishing techniques are getting better so time to get her some decent gear. Something that might come in handy on days that shes at work too... And that thinner diameter line should make a difference in getting a few more wraps on the spool. So you've had no trouble with the 8kg drag? Theres a huge stepup to the 8-10k. I had a Tcurve baitcaster rod and had it snap under some ordinary conditions. Not a bad rod whe it was in one piece. Cheers for the info. Ill be down in Perth in March so I might hold off on the rod and have a look around. Bit more selection than up here, and more reasonably priced.

I doubt I have pushed the drag that high yet. It's still on the lighter rod. I'm going to build a Black Hole Cape Cod Special 150g and push it hard. Can't wait!