Shimano Stella 8000 FA

I can't believe it...it has been 37 days since my last fishing trip!! This is by far the longest gap ever in the past 1 year plus!! :-(

And only 1 posting in the entire month!??! And even that also non-fishing related... :-(

Anyway, it has been a really busy month with work and stuffs. Hence didn't really have time for fishing or any fishing related activities. Fortunately, the future is all bright and exciting!! I've got a trip confirmed to Burma Banks, Myanmar December this year, Spratly next year April, and possible Lucornia next year March. So it's ALL good!! :-D

Lets go back to the MAIN topic....SHIMANO STELLA 8000!!! kekekekkeke....

Been waiting for this baby to arrive at Sykt Kepong for over a month! They have the SWs but I didn't want to pay another RM800 just to get a spare spool. Would rather use the money to pimp my reel. So 2 nights back, finally got a call from KC of Sykt Kepong -

KC - 'Ken! Your FA arrived already! How?'
KY - 'Really ah? What time is it now?' (was taking a nap, hence blur blur a bit)
KC - '8pm something.'
KY - 'erm....how much ah?'
KC - 'RMxxxx'
KY - 'erm...OK!! I come now to take!!'
KC - 'Ok. Bye.'

:-p

Here are some shoots, as usual! And some specs below!

Moment of anticipation! :-)

The package - Instruction guide, schematics, oil, washers, extra T-bar handle, spool wrap and the Shimano STELLA!!! :-p

Shimano Stella 8000 side by side a Shimano Navi 8000

Here are some extracts from the Instruction Guide -

- 15 Stainless steel ball bearings + 1 roller bearing

- A-RB (Anti-Rust Bearings)™ - All 15 ball bearings are A-RB type which are salt-water resistant. These bearings are 10 times more durable compared to normal Stainless Steel Bearings.

- FLUIDRIVE® II Gearing System - features a large-bore master gear developed after thorough research into the optimal shape of the gear teeth. The specially shaped gear tooth surface, polished via a wrapping process, makes the winding smooth and effortless.

- Aluminium Body Construction

- DYNA BALANCE® Wooble Free System

- Super Stopper II Anti-Reverse Bearing - This new anti-reverse system has been designed for maximum durability and instant hooksets. The system uses a one-way roller bearing that has been beefed up with extra thick rollers and race. Under no circumstances should grease be applied to the roller bearings of the Super Stopper. this will impair the movement of the roller and may cause the stopper to cease functioning.

- Oversized Power Roller Line Roller - a special line roller that reduces spinning reel line twist. PowerRoller reduces the line twist arising from repeated casting and retrieving - up to 50%. PowerRoller's special grooved design assures the line will be wrapped on the spool to minimize forward line twist.

- New FLOATING SHAFT™ Design - which is one of the secrets of the reel's performance, is the result of adopting a bearing to support the spool shaft and separate it from the pinion gear. This design improvement greatly reduces friction.

- Superslow Oscillation - The oscillation of the spool has been adjusted to a fraction of the speed of previous models. Line is wound onto the spool slowly and in close proximity, which results in a beautiful line lay. Slow speed oscillation also helps control and minimise energy loss during the cast, which can help realise longer casting performance.

- Super Duralumin, Aircraft Grade Alloy - The master gear is made of A7075 series Super Duralumin aircraft grade aluminium alloy for high strength and low weight. It is further coated with a layer of Black Almite. Black Almite coating is a microscopically thin coating that provides scratch resistance and increased corrosion resistance to saltwater.

- Pure Carbon Drag Washer - The drag washer made from pure carbon provides a smooth performance from zero to maximum drag power. It has also excellent durability.

- Maintenance Port - This is a great feature for easy maintenance. Keep your STELLA in great working condition by directly oiling the inside mechanisms without taking the reel apart through the Maintenance Port.

- Septon® CPD Handle Knob - The STELLA handlebar knob is made of SEPTON® CPD, a thermoplastic elastomer excellent elasticity. It is a PVC-free and solvent-free product that gives a comfortable, tactile feel. (Septon® is a registered trademark of Kuraray Co.,Ltd)

Specifications -

Model - STL-8000FA

Gear Ration - 5.0:1

Weight - 22.8 oz

Line Capacity - 12/325, 16/250

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Kota Kinabalu, Sabah - 13th April- 16th April - PT II

Lets continue on the KK trip.

A month ago, my Hutan Melintang trip was totally under-gunned. So when I was doing some pre-packing a week before this trip, I told myself 'I'm so gonna OVER-PACK!!'. Outcome...total OVER-gunned. I brought 4 rods (V Fox PE 6-8, Xzoga PE 5-6, G Craft Short Rodder PE 6, JigZam PE 5) and 5 reels (Accurate Boss Magnum 665-80lbs, Daiwa Saltiga Z6500H Dogfight-80lbs, Daiwa Saltist 40-50lbs, Avet SX-40lbs, Shimano Navi 8000-40lbs). Once we were on board, I set up my Accurate with my Xzoga, DogFight with V Fox, Avet with Short Rodder, and left the Jigzam and Navi in the bag. And I think after half a day of jiggin, the Accurate, DogFight, Avet, Xzoga, V Fox, all went back into the bag. Jigzam and Navi became the main arsenal throughout for jigging 100-200grams of jigs. And the G Craft Short Rodder was paired with the Saltist for bottom fishing.

As usual, there's always a 'Gaya Centre' on boat.

This was the catch on our first spot. The moment i saw the boatman reeling up fishes like these...i thought to myself 'wtf? I can get this in PEKAN!! I don't need to fly 2 hours here and paid so much more for this?!?'
The idiot FARTED!! :-p

I didn't catch this. Was just having fun with my Boga Grip all over the boat, gripping anything I can and taking pictures with them. Hehehe...desperate measures....
I didn't catch this either...

This has got to be the most beautiful sunset I've ever captured on camera...

Overall, this was a very unfruitful trip. Proportionately, this has got to be the most expensive trip ever, considering the catch. I jigged very hard throughout the trip. But unfortunately, the elusive ones stayed elusive.

There was a moment on the second day of jigging, where everyone has already given up and some were only doing bottom fishing. I was jigging alone at the far end of the boat with my JigZam and Navi 8000, jigging a 200g jig. Out of nowhere, i felt a strike on my jig. After many jigging trips, a reflex strike as already been built into my system. So without a blink, I lower the rod while reeling in the slack line (within 0.5 seconds) and gave it a good hard strike! To my horror...ultimate ultimate horror...sky tumbling armageddonly horror...my drag was not tighten properly. The only thing I could hear from my bottom to top strike was my lines peeling out from my Shimano Navi. At this moment, I could feel the fish is still there struggling. But from the looseness of my drag, I knew I've not register a solid hook up. Immediately I tighten the drag, while swearing out loud and slapping myself silly in my head, bring down my rod again while reeling in the slack line, and gave it another hard solid strike. This time, I could feel the bend on my rod and the pressure applied to the other end of the line.

This is the beauty of jigging. 1 minute you are all bored and tired from jigging cos nothing seems to pay attention to the dancing jig that you are presenting 100 metres down under. Next minute, you are scrambling all by yourself trying to register a solid hookup from a sudden suprise strike when you have already given up hope. Another minute you engaged yourself in a 'forever never ending' or 'everything seems to happen and finish so fast' tug of war with an unknown opponent. And the final second, everything went silent...either you've landed the fish and it's gaffed and safely in your hands...or they have won the battle...and you come home with the usualy story of 'The Big ONE that Got Away'.

Obviously, this time round its the 'Big One That Got Away' moment...sigh.... :-s

Part I

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah - 13th April- 16th April- PT I

Its been so long since my last posting. Its been even longer since I last have a GOOD fishing trip... So miss Crystal Coral... Anyway, just placed a verbal booking for Sea Maiden I for next year April to Spratly. So at least something to look forward to for the rest of the year :-p

This KK trip was a 'blind' trip. We didn't really know what we are getting ourselves into. We thought it was a private boat but of course we were wrong. We thought it was a pure jigging trip, wrong again. We thought we will have a date with Amberjack, well we didn't. So needless to say, it was yet another disappointing trip.

Air Asia again...

This is where we spent our first nite. The rest was on the boat.
BIG FISH!!!! :-(
The boat is very spacious. And it's even more spacious when there's only 7 of us jigging around. And it became even more spacious when most didn't do much jigging as most of their confidence were crushed when the boatmen and deckhands repeatedly said 'We do bottom all the time. Jig? Seldom la...not much fish jigging la'.
Battle Station and Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Table
Mini kitchen
The boat has SO many Daiwa stickers all around...
Refilling fuel and water. This stupid process took 45 minutes.
The rusted a/c which didn't really work

Gaya Centre? Hahahahah....

- to be continue -

Part II

Pekan - 17th & 18th March 2007 (Part II)

Some additional pictures taken from my friend's camera from the last Pekan trip. Went Semenyih last weekend for some haruans. Unfortunately it started raining the moment we got there. While waiting for the rain to stop, Uncle Wong, the pond owner came and told us it's gonna be LAST CALL fishing there as he just sold the pond... :-(((( Poor Conquest...she's gonna die a virgin soon... We left before the rain stopped...

Watermelon shopping the night before. It's always heaven when you have icey cold melons under the scorching sun.
Breakfast with anticipation
This is where we buy our lunch and snacks
The 'new' boat of Ah Keong




This is one MAMA puffer!!
Part I