lostproperty Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Looking at purchasing a new reel in the next few months. Main uses will be Live Baiting for Kings in and around the Sydney Harbour area, drifting for flat head wide off Deewhy and the occasional jigging at 12 mile during winter. I currently have a Penn Silver Signature Series (Cheap ***** Reel) which has 30lb Power Pro Braid. I have been using this for all the above purposes successfully however after my first outing jigging I get the feeling with the abuse I intend to throw at it, it probably wont last very long! I've read that the Stradic has a higher retrieve ratio than the Saragosa however I don't understand how this would be less beneficial for jigging? I found while I was using my Penn reel on the weekend that I couldn't retrieve quickly enough in-between "jigs" on some occasions. I did land 2 big barracudas (no kings to be found and no one else around on the reef hooked up to any either) so Im guessing my technique must be ok? Price for the Shimano's are about the same, the Fin Nor seems like it might a bit overkill for what I want to be using it for, and I plan on using 30lb braid with a 10-15kg rod for the new set up (will keep the Penn reel until it falls apart) However the Fin Nor Offshore series have received some pretty good reviews and are also alot cheaper than the Shimano reels in comparison, only thing is I prefer the power grip handle of the shimano reels, not sure if these are available on the Fin Nor? I have used a Saragosa in the past and feels like a good reel (in comparison to the Penn I have been using, it probably isn't hard to beat it!) Dont plan on heading any further offshore than 12 mile either so not looking to be chasing tuna marlin or sharks. Ive read some people have matched up these reels with a 7-12kg rod as well but I was thinking maybe it might be on the light side for kings but I could be wrong? Cheers for the help guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bharris Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Saragosa had a few probs and its heavy as i would be looking at the stradic but the finnor is a tuff reel my dad has had one and he puts his reels though hell and its still working Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catchin Jack Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Pflueger Salt or Pflueger Crank, check them out out Pure Fishing website, great quality reels and I have a Salt and it really is a nice reel, would suit your needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostproperty Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 Saragosa had a few probs and its heavy as i would be looking at the stradic but the finnor is a tuff reel my dad has had one and he puts his reels though hell and its still working Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 2 What kind of problems have u had with the Saragosa? Weight feels fine for me with the one I've used before so not a problem in my eyes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bharris Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Line roller has no bearing just a bit of plastic have to make shore the side plate has to be checked that it is done up tight.just sold my 18000 after three small sharks give it a couple of bigger fish and the smoothness is gone my old sustan 8000 handled better hands down i have to admit but the plugar has my eyes buzzing to give it a try Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Incredible Hull Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) I have both of those reels, and both are awesome! (sara and stradic) I remember a few months back, using the saragosa, I hooked up on a good size Bonito, was easily over 65cm, it looked about 70cm. The saragosa couldn't stop it... I had the drag on so tight, it kept peeling line, duno if thats normal or not. Unfortunately haven't hooked up on a big fish with the stradic yet, so can't really compare. Edited June 27, 2012 by The Incredible Hull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostproperty Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 Could have just been a tough fish mate? I know my mates on has had a big salmon hook up on his and it took a fair bit of line too, we thought it was actually a kingy, but it's handled kings without a problem. Hoping to use it for a bit of soft plastic fishing for kings when it warms up as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screech Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 i have a saragosa 18000 for kings, jigging and live baiting! I believe a tough reel and recommend it. Had big hoolums hooked on locked drag, of course any big fish will peel line but i have a lot of confidence in it! But i can't comment on stradic as i havn't used. Just my 2 cents on the the reel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostproperty Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 I've heard good reviews about both reels being good reels in learning more towards the stradic only thing is people have said its not as good for jigging. However I won't be jigging majority of the time which is why I think the stradic might be better just wanted some feedback about the retrieve ratios on both reels, from what I can see both have similar performance as far as bearings and both water proof drag systems and no on/off anti reverse so sturdy construction. Anyone got the stradic ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spooooled Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 saragosa can surely pull its weight one tough reel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjc123 Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Having used both reels i would say that the stradic is "slightly" better than the saragosa overall. Both have similar specs, good drag (smooth and power) and generous line capacities. For livebaiting i would certainly lean towards the stradic, while for jigging i would go for the saragosa. You really have to just weigh up the pro's and con's of each and decide which fits your needs best. Think about which technique (jigging, reef fishing, livebaiting) it will be used for the most. The stradic should certainly handle the jigging but not quite as well as the saragosa from my experience. All in all, both are fantastic reels and it comes down to which one you want/need the most! Cheers, Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anti-Carp Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Having used both reels i would say that the stradic is "slightly" better than the saragosa overall. Both have similar specs, good drag (smooth and power) and generous line capacities. For livebaiting i would certainly lean towards the stradic, while for jigging i would go for the saragosa. You really have to just weigh up the pro's and con's of each and decide which fits your needs best. Think about which technique (jigging, reef fishing, livebaiting) it will be used for the most. The stradic should certainly handle the jigging but not quite as well as the saragosa from my experience. All in all, both are fantastic reels and it comes down to which one you want/need the most! Cheers, Tom I have absolutely no faith in the bail arm assembly of the stradic. I use to own a 1000 FI stradic for bream and bass and it didn't last 3 months. The bail arm got clunky and the reel lost all it's smoothness. If it can't handle bream and bass I doubt it'd stand up to the rigors of jigging. For the money (and you'll probably have cash in hand still) get an Okuma V System these reels have an awesome dual force drag system, the bail arm assembly ain't going to let you down and most of all they are one heck of a solid reel. You also get a life time warranty and i've only heard good things about the after product support from Okuma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjc123 Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) I have absolutely no faith in the bail arm assembly of the stradic. I use to own a 1000 FI stradic for bream and bass and it didn't last 3 months. The bail arm got clunky and the reel lost all it's smoothness. If it can't handle bream and bass I doubt it'd stand up to the rigors of jigging. For the money (and you'll probably have cash in hand still) get an Okuma V System these reels have an awesome dual force drag system, the bail arm assembly ain't going to let you down and most of all they are one heck of a solid reel. You also get a life time warranty and i've only heard good things about the after product support from Okuma. Never had any trouble with the stradic myself but i'm sure there are some problems with it like the bail arm which you mentioned. I also owned a stradic 1000 for a couple of years and never experienced any issues though... Have to agree on the Okuma V-System though. Used it a few times and it comes with a lifetime warranty which is good insurance. I own the baitcaster version and the quality of their reels are top notch! Give it a look for sure! Edited June 27, 2012 by mack attack 79 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowerFisher Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) If your jigging in very deep water and very heavy jigs say 150-200 grams plus, the Saragosa will be a better bet only because with the higher gear ratio you will start to feel the difference, i was fishing off a cliff yesterday with a lower gear ratio reel and i caught a eel i was lifting it up around 50 meters up i didnt even feel it on the rod the reel was doing alot of nice work for me. But ive fished the same cliff with a higher gear ratio and i can feel the extra pressure on the gears with the same size fish. But having said that for jigging i only use around 80-100 grams small jig i still use my higer gear ratio reel as i only mini jig in around 50-60 meters of water and it does the job fine. Edited June 27, 2012 by PowerFisher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostproperty Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 If your jigging in very deep water and very heavy jigs say 150-200 grams plus, the Saragosa will be a better bet only because with the higher gear ratio you will start to feel the difference, i was fishing off a cliff yesterday with a lower gear ratio reel and i caught a eel i was lifting it up around 50 meters up i didnt even feel it on the rod the reel was doing alot of nice work for me. But ive fished the same cliff with a higher gear ratio and i can feel the extra pressure on the gears with the same size fish. But having said that for jigging i only use around 80-100 grams small jig i still use my higer gear ratio reel as i only mini jig in around 50-60 meters of water and it does the job fine. That makes alot of sense, thanks for pointing that out. 12 mile is about 100m deep and jigs we use are usually 250 - 300g. I would rather use a reel that WONT break when I take it jigging as apposed to a reel that MIGHT break but be marginally better for everything else. I don't do any popping with the reel so would still be fine for live baiting from what I can see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formosan Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Shimano stradic fj FTW. It is very smooth lots of drag and contains shimanos latest inovation XSHIP . eXtraSmoothHighPower. New gearing arrangement and extra bearings on the shaft. Tech borrowed from the Stella, only stella sustain and stradic fj has XSHIP. 5000 model up has a very comfortable egg grip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostproperty Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 Looks like I'll be going with the stradic except for the 8000 series for the larger line capacity (250-300m of braid) Thanks for everyone's help ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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