22 Stella Question - My experience disappointing so far

[Dan B]

In all honesty I think you are just used to the lightness/lack of resistance of the Vanquish/Exsence. If you purchased USDM I'd strongly consider just returning the Stella. If you purchased JDM, I'd strongly consider taking a small loss and selling it. Either way, I think you'll be happier if you just get the new Vanquish.

I have a new Vanquish (and the 2019 version)... amazing reels.

I did purchase JDM but they paid for shipping back so I'm good.
I've had all kinds of reels over the years, with and without aluminum rotors, nothing felt this bad before. Everything from the Stradic FL and up felt smoother than this reel.

[Dan B]

UPDATED: The Stella was shipped back to JapanLS over a week ago. Received an email saying they got it, "this is the normal Stella feel so they won't replace the reel" and they can't exchange it for a different reel anyways because the little sticker off the spool was missing. I again explained that the startup on that reel is not normal and it's very very noticeable how resistant the reel is when underload while fishing.

Long story short, I got them to agree to change out the entire body of the reel and swap the spool (with the missing sticker of great importance). I received it back from Japan today.

IMMEDIATELY out of the box is was a different reel. Yes it has the "Stella feel", however the startup inertia and the ease of turning the handle once it was going was so so much less. I put line on it and went to the pond and reeling in a small swimbait was a dream. No longer did it feel like a 2.8 keitech was a 1/2oz chatterbait worth of resistance. Now I have the Stella I expected to buy in the first place.

To celebrate, I continued my original plan of putting together the ultimate travel system. My 2500SHG Stella will now be sitting on a Megabass Triza Ageha 3pc rod. Once I receive that I might just by a ticket and fly to Washington, possibly fish the Columbia River for Smallmouth and some trout. Got to put the travel setup (rod,reel,bag,etc) to the test right?

[Dan B]

PSA to all the people new to fishing: Trust YOUR gut when it comes to your fishing gear. I had people on these forums, Facebook, IRL, and even Japanlureshops telling me how this is just the "Normal Stella feel". I could have possibly screwed myself with a $800 paperweight.

Also another good point is don't trust stuff just because it's "high-end" gear. My experience is a perfect example that even Shimano's best isn't subject to issues from time to time.

[Drakestar]

UPDATED: The Stella was shipped back to JapanLS over a week ago. Received an email saying they got it, "this is the normal Stella feel so they won't replace the reel" and they can't exchange it for a different reel anyways because the little sticker off the spool was missing. I again explained that the startup on that reel is not normal and it's very very noticeable how resistant the reel is when underload while fishing.

Long story short, I got them to agree to change out the entire body of the reel and swap the spool (with the missing sticker of great importance). I received it back from Japan today.

IMMEDIATELY out of the box is was a different reel. Yes it has the "Stella feel", however the startup inertia and the ease of turning the handle once it was going was so so much less. I put line on it and went to the pond and reeling in a small swimbait was a dream. No longer did it feel like a 2.8 keitech was a 1/2oz chatterbait worth of resistance. Now I have the Stella I expected to buy in the first place.

To celebrate, I continued my original plan of putting together the ultimate travel system. My 2500SHG Stella will now be sitting on a Megabass Triza Ageha 3pc rod. Once I receive that I might just by a ticket and fly to Washington, possibly fish the Columbia River for Smallmouth and some trout. Got to put the travel setup (rod,reel,bag,etc) to the test right?

Nice, glad this had a (hard-earned) happy ending. When something feels like "that can't be it, right?" but you have no reference (because all this gear is so expensive and rare), things get tricky.

I just took a Triza Lopros to Germany/Holland together with the 2500 Stella FK and it was a joy to use when fishing for zander and perch. These pairings create killer combos.

[Dan B]

Nice, glad this had a (hard-earned) happy ending. When something feels like "that can't be it, right?" but you have no reference (because all this gear is so expensive and rare), things get tricky.

I just took a Triza Lopros to Germany/Holland together with the 2500 Stella FK and it was a joy to use when fishing for zander and perch. These pairings create killer combos.

Nice we about on the same page with the combos. Can't wait to see how they pair up. I also have a 2019 Certate that I've heard pairs nicely with the Triza reel seat. If I get another at some point (which would probably be the Lopros), that might be the route I go. Lopros would be a great dedicated small river / stream trout rod for stuff like MB Humpbacks and X70 jerkbaits.

I don't know what I would want for the second one though... thought about maybe doing a BFS setup first before another spinning rod.

[reason162]

PSA to all the people new to fishing: Trust YOUR gut when it comes to your fishing gear. I had people on these forums, Facebook, IRL, and even Japanlureshops telling me how this is just the "Normal Stella feel". I could have possibly screwed myself with a $800 paperweight.

Also another good point is don't trust stuff just because it's "high-end" gear. My experience is a perfect example that even Shimano's best isn't subject to issues from time to time.

To be fair, it's hard to determine through the screen what level of resistance you were experiencing, that's why people urged you to compare your reel against another stella. But when in doubt returning/exchanging is always good policy Glad you got it sorted, happy you're experiencing that heavy refined rotation unique to Stella!