The Stella 1000FE ultralight greatness

A cousin of mine was recently introduced to lure fishing and was knee deep into the Japanese luring industry. This is for his ultralight setup and the regular go-to reel for our application is no other than a Shimano Stella 1000FE. Regular spool as opposed to the newly launched shallow spool which is more for the Japanese finesse market.

The stock reel is good and ready for battle out of the box but there's always room for improvement and slight pimpin.

Before serious action, the handle's already been pimped up with ZIP's aluminum knob.

First thing to get some TLC. Line roller assembly. Dry out of the box.

Packed with marine grease as the reel will be used for salt water application too.

Shimano's drag good out of the box, it can be made slightly stronger, smoother and more durable.

The usual suspects, carbon fiber drag sheets.

Cut to measure carbon fibre drag discs.

Nicely lathered with drag grease and ready to be reinstalled into the spool.

The insides are dry and needs plenty of marine grease coating for redundant protection.

As you can tell, this is a fairly straight forward preparation without much need for any inspection. Just packing and coating all the surfaces with marine grease for that added longevity and protection. As for the drag, it's an upgrade that's hard to ignore as the stock drag is good, just a little weak on power and durability. With carbon fiber drag discs, smoothness and power is ensured on top of durability.