Power to the Scorpion

It's been a while since we were last offshore over the east coast jigging in the shallows. We usually head there with a myriad of tackle from ultra light to light jigging tackle and Jackson pintail casting to occasionally popping set-ups. My past few trips there has thought me to prepare a little bit more than the usual across the range tackle set-ups in view of the wide variety of small to big game targets. I use spinning outfit for both ultra light and light jigging. Ultra light tackle can be super fun in the shallows but these waters also hold big fish that will sometimes bust your lines. Light tackle will be the safer bet this time around, but I'm also bringing an extra set of light tackle as we usually spend quite some time jigging.

For this new set-up, I opt for a baitcaster for extra sensitivity and connection when working light jigs. On top of that, recent demand up rise for light jigging meant that more and more brands are coming up with specific gear to match. Previously, there were only a handful of these light jigging overhead reels and they are hard to come by.

The day I picked up this new Scorpion, Shimano decided to announce that they will be releasing a new light jigging reel called the Ocea Conquest. A heavily modified version of the latest fun sized Conquest and Daiwa decided to update their Ryoga Bay Jigging reel *sigh*. Nevertheless, the Scorpion is built as a sturdy 'daily' reel. For a 200 sized reel, I figured this would do very well for light jigging in the shallows with drags to match. All it needs is a nice power handle with big fat knobs to make it more jigging friendly.

Luckily enough, Studio Composite has the perfect part, power handles with over sized EVA knobs for power games. On top of that, the carbon fiber handle is thicker than the usual aftermarket handles. It's even thicker than the stock aluminum handles.

Scorpion ready to power up!

Odd thing for Shimano to be including a spring retainer for free spool bearing support on the crank side. I wonder if there's a cost difference between this spring vs a more efficient pentagon retainer wire.

Alas, a pentagon retainer wire on the brake side free spool support bearing. Why the double standards Shimano?

Careless Shimano folks smearing grease where they shouldn't. This means the one-way bearing needs to be cleaned and oiled with one-way bearing oil.

Lubricated just enough to go fishing with minimal protection. Time to lube everything up!

Here's the interesting bit about the 'Safety Level Wind' which will prevent injuries or damages in the event of foreign object getting stuck between the level wind and reel body. It's a simple design mechanism that acts like a clutch which will slip when there's enough force stopping the level wind from moving. This system is built into the main shaft gear which also drives the satellite gear for the worm gear shaft.

Red arrow points to the gear having notches around the inner ring. The shaft has holes which houses tiny spring loaded clicker tooth. The gear and shaft will act as a clutch which will slip when there's enough force stopping it from rotating therefore preventing damages or injuries.

All bearings are loaded with marine grease for maximum protection and smoothness for mostly salt water application.

Bearings loaded and ready to be reassembled. Crank case given a nice coat of marine grease for protection too.

Custom sized carbontex drags for the new Scorpion to improve drag force and smoothness.

Rubbed with drag grease and maxed out dimensions for the lower drag stack.

Almost a full house.

Scorpion's got new power!

Paired with MajorCraft's Giant Killing Tai Rubber jigging rod. Can't wait to put the gear to test!

Let's see what species are in during this time of the year and we are expecting plenty of reef residents to hopefully give this set-up some stretching in time for next year's diamond trevally hunt.

Fun size Conquest

In line with my original plan to hunt for wild barras and togas, this is the MH to H setup which includes a Shimano Calcutta Conquest paired with Evergreen's Temujin Crossfire Stallion. A setup with an intention of hunting lunkers with big lures and potentially include some light cover hacking.

Again, I managed to source some of the 'pimp up' parts in advanced so I can bolt everything on before the reel gets to wet some lines. The Shimano Calcutta Conquest is the new fun size variant. A welcome change for smaller hands.

Newly designed from ground up. The brake side now includes an externally adjustable SVS brake tuning knob.

Gold everywhere with little contrast. Even the knob is a new design with hollowed inner section for lightness.

Overall modernized design cues with chiseled curves.

The sum of all parts. Almost.

The brake side flips open to reveal the newly designed SVS brake enclosure.

Unlock the enclosure to reveal the spool and SVS brake cams. Fitment is top notch and rock solid even with a combination of aluminum and composite plastics. No free play whatsoever. Impressive.

Stock handle's forged aluminum with hollowed out knobs. Light. To be replaced with Studio Composite's shallow swept handle and ZPI's cork knobs. Lighter. Gives the whole package more contrast.

Insides, once again, typical Shimano. Sufficient but I'll need to lather everything with maximum protection. Micro module gear employed here.

Stock drags a combination. Top stack is carbon fiber and lower stack is of their typical fiber material. Most probably paper based fiber.

Originals on the left. Custom sized carbontex drags on the right. Slightly bigger disc for the lower stack. Top stack will be replaced with thicker disc. I will be performing a controlled test on drag characteristics changes based on different modifications. Stay tune for that.

All bearings nicely packed with marine grease and free spool bearing being replaced with RPC hybrid ceramic bearings for the added distance. Main gear's covered in Shimano's heavy grease, smooth and creamy when cranked.

Fancy bearings inside. Red bit sticks out and will be replaced when the gold nut retainer arrives.

This could be the better side for now without the sticky red bits.

Ready for some action dialing up a bit more of the old schoolness with cork knobs.

This fun sized Shimano Calcutta Conquest is a solidly built reel and the dramatic scale down is quite impressive while maintaining or even improving most of the core features of the original Conquest. I'm sure something's going to give when downsizing and I'm keeping my mind open with what this reel can do when it comes to cranking power. Can't wait to haul some monsters with this.

Poppin new Stella

Once again, someone offered to buy off my trusty pre-loved Twinpower SW8000 which I regularly used for GT popping at Jarak as well as a back up set for Maldives. It's in pristine condition and served me well with no reliability issues with proper care, maintenance, and battle prepared.

And without hesitation, I quickly got myself the new Stella SW8000 after a short trial period with the excellent SW6000. I kept the Studio Composite carbon fiber knob from my Twinpower as it is my favourite type of knob for medium to big game fishing.

I quickly got to work on preparing the reel for battle as there will be an upcoming trip to Jarak with the hopes that the GTs are around to pull some drags.

Stout and solid. That's what this reel feels like.

Jam pack the original bearings with marine grease to ensure maximum durability and smoothness. Original knob looks good but a tad heavy as I opt for the super light Studio Composite carbon fiber knob.

Top, drag stack has a new wavy leaf spring for better force distribution. Bottom, line roller has DLC coating oon the outer surface and a tad more grease than I usually see from Shimano reels. Good start, but not good enough for me. They should just include rubber seals here just like the Daiwas.

Line roller assembly being jammed with marine grease. Bearings' jam packed too. That's how I like to pack it.

A friend told me that the local Shimano folks here isn't equipped to disassemble this new SW Stella as they require some form of 'jig' to hold the rubber seal in place for reassembly. I've also read somewhere that people took it apart and was shocked to see that the rubber seal doesn't fit the frame like a glove. The thing with rubber seals is that they are designed to be slightly bigger than the fitment guide and only with proper fitment and compression will the rubber seal do its job properly.

To close the case with the rubber seal properly seated, it's all about intricate placement and fine adjustment of the rubber seals while finding a solid seal takes quite a bit of patience, it is possible. Just like the back case of a typical modern day wristwatch with o-ring seals. It regularly wants to pop out of its placement.

Above, exposed dry crank case. Bottom, main gear support bearing being packed with marine grease before locking it back into the housing.

Above, thoroughly coated internals with some magic touch on the rubber seal before closing the case. Below, ready to take on some big bad GTs. Fingers crossed that they are around.

If you notice the picture above, the spool's got some patchy coat over it. That's because I've coated it with a very light coat of marine grease to avoid salt water corrosion or pitting on the spool. It has become part of my ritual in preparing reels for battle even for bait casters.

I can't wait to put this reel on a proper work out and do hope that the GTs are around Jarak and willing to bite.

Jiggy new Stella

Out with the old, in comes the new. My heavy jigging outfit, a Majorcraft Giant Killing paired with a Shimano Twinpower, have served me very well hauling up countless species of all sizes. I was happy to be able to part ways with the Twinpower like it's new and the new owner wouldn't believe that I've fished hard with it with no signs of wear and sparkling new exterior. It even has the out-of-the-box signature smoothness. Drag was also in excellent condition, smooth and heavy. This is in part of the extra care I put into them and preparing them for maximum protection.

On top of being able to part ways with the Twinpower on excellent terms, I was given a good deal for the new 2013 Stella SW series and it was a no brainer upgrade for even better durability and performance. As expected, I received quite a bit of queries as to why get the new Stella when the old Stella is a much better reel? So I asked if they've tried both of them to know which is better? No surprises there when all of them said no but some of their 'friends' have tried it and prefer the old one but didn't elaborate 'why'. Therefore they didn't bother with the new and started hunting for the older model.

If one is truly better than the other, I'd like to know why and specifically with my own approach to using and caring for the reel. I can safely say, no 2 anglers fishes the same way using and caring for their tackle. What works for one may not work well for the other. In fact, by the time I posted this write up, I've actually fished with this reel a good few trips and I can say that I like it very very much and I actually feel that this reel is a step up from the old Stella in feel and solidness. Drag is rock solid and smooth on takes. It's built like a tank from all aspects with some areas with redundant seals as additional layers of protection.

Here's what I did in preparation right out of the box, bringing it to my level of acceptance on protection and durability before wetting lines with it. Here's what I found.

'Rigid Handle' claims are valid, feels like a solid 1 piece handle. The shank is forged, therefore super stiff yet light. I prefer a fatty knob and the original knob is excellent but a tad heavy. Transferring my old trusty studio composite XL carbon knob over would be perfect.

Fatty round knobs seem to work for me when it comes to jigging as I change my grip regularly to reduce fatigue getting stuck in the same position for extended periods. Studio Composite's carbon XL knobs are perfect for my hands and served me very well on the old trusty Twinpower. A transfer would do well on the new Stella.

As for the bearings that comes with the new Stella, they are supposed to be salt water corrosion resistant. They are to a certain extent but they too suffer failures over time and I've seen enough explosions to never use it as it is from out of the box. I'm more comfortable after packing them with marine grease for proper protection.

Shimano supplies very smooth bearings for their Stella reels. But typically for any reels, the inner knob bearings regularly experience spectacular failures from rust.

Most of the fundamental designs are being either brought forward or optimized for better durability and water resistance. The rotor seal cap is now being held together with 3 screws instead of 2. The rotor locking nut's being increased in diameter but shorten in height.

As for the drag knob, the old coil spring's being replaced with wavy leaf spring supposedly better distributes force over the surface of the entire drag stack. The biggest change by switching to this new spring is that you lose the feeling of tension build up when tightening the drag. With the new spring, it's constantly tight and you don't know how strong the drag is unless you do a pull test. Just something to get used to over time.

Above, rotor lock nut (wider and flatter) and cap seal (3 screws instead of 2 for better seal). Below, minor tweaks to the drag knob and top stack of the drag, biggest change is in the drag knob.

The new Stella's crank case is rubber sealed and suppose to be water tight in the event of accidental submersion or excessive water splash. The insides are typical Shimano with 'enough' lubrication. I'll need to coat it thoroughly for maximum protection.

Main gear support bearings are now held solidly in place with 3 screws to reduce or eliminate free play. As I mentioned earlier, this is a redundancy feature to reduce free play and increase rigidness when cranking.

Left, dry case, bearing out of the housing ready to be packed with marine grease. Right, bearing packed with marine grease, case thoroughly coated with marine grease to displace water if any gets into the crank case.

The line roller's got a minor upgrade too with DLC coating for the line roller. Diamond Like Coating is supposed to be super tough, smooth, and durable. A noteworthy upgrade for people who fish hard with their reels. I would expect Shimano to include rubber seals in this assembly as it is one of the most vulnerable area for salt water intrusion creating rust damage. Nevertheless, I'm packing the entire assembly with marine grease leaving no space for water to occupy.

Top left & right, line roller assembly taken apart to be fully stuffed with marine grease. Bottom, nicely prepared and ready to get jiggy!

Overall, the reel's built like a tank and I've already had several off shore sessions where it's performed flawlessly without complains what-so-ever. I wonder if there's really a need for people to be so serious about taking sides over which Stella is better? After all, it's just one part of the equation for tackle set-up while the rest is about how you get the best out of the whole package.

Red Hot Metanium

Here's a little project which I managed to plan way ahead in time so that I receive the reel and the sum of all pimpin parts at around the same time. This eliminates the waiting period in between having a stock standard reel transforming into a fully pimped up reel.

This Shimano Metanium will be used for medium light to medium heavy tackle set-ups. The Shimano Metanium is already a physically light reel to start with and yet there are many parts available to further lighten and pimp it up to your liking.

Another advantage of planning ahead is that I can work out the theme of my choice. For this instance, red is my choice and for many reasons. 1st reason is because I got the yumeya deep spool along with the reel, which is only available in red. An additional spool will allow me to quickly swap between medium light to medium heavy line setup without the need to take lines off the spool. 2nd reason is that I managed to locate stock availability from hedgehog studio as well as studio composite on all things red. Lastly, this reel will be regularly paired with a warm coloured theme rod of Majorcraft Corzza MH rod with reddish/brown hues as well as cork handles.

While the reel will be taken apart for pimpin, it's only logical that I will take this opportunity to prepare the internals for maximum protection from corrosion and also smoothness in operation.

Almost the sum of all parts in view. Yumeya red deep spool not in view.

Disassembling the Shimano Metanium isn't very difficult as the reel design is very much focused on basic bait casting concept without fancy technical gimmick. Quite a basic reel but the build quality and material used is pretty much up there even when compared with reels above it's price range.

A banner for the micro module gearing inside. Also the SVS infinity brake equipped spool.

On the brake side plate, you have the SVS brake fine tuning assembly. Most parts here's made of carbon composites or simple plastics with no worries about corrosion of any kind. Very little to be done here but to keep the conical brake surface clean of debris and lightly oiled.

Brake fine tuning side in carbon composites and plastics. Just make sure the conical brake surface is clean and lightly oiled.

Typical of Shimano, the insides are lubricated 'enough' for it to function. I'll need to prep it for maximum protection and smoothness.

Dry insides. Stock drags will need to be swapped out with custom sized carbontex drags now that I've measured them. There are no available sets for sale from smoothdrag as yet, so I get to custom order my preferred size.

There's been some debate over the need of a ball bearing for the worm gear support especially on higher end daiwa bait casters but Shimano doesn't seem too bothered by this as they've been producing super smooth BCs without it. Even the Antares doesn't have bearing supports for the worm gear. Good or bad? Rather subjective actually. I personally don't feel the difference between having the worm gear supported by ball bearings and I think it's not necessary as this creates 2 more mechanical parts for potential failure (rust or dirt) and need further protection from water intrusion. The bearings located here will be quite exposed to water intrusion during fishing as well as rinsing down after. I personally can live without them.

Look ma, no bearings! Worm gear connects directly to the small plastic gear with 'C' clips holding it in place.

Shimano however did include something quite nifty for the level winder. A level winder with safety feature which will prevent damage or injury in the event that there's a foreign object or finger got in between the level winder and the reel body. It's a very simple mechanism nicely hidden under the crank shaft's plastic gear (above picture, left) with 2 opposing clicker cams which will slip when there's load preventing the level winder from moving. For this reel, I don't see a need for something like this as the level wind is quite hidden under the housing and front bumper. It'll be super useful for reels with an exposed level winder such as the Calcutta Conquest. Innovative feature nonetheless.

Awkward moment when the ex meet the new bits.

Parts are kept to an optimum number in pursuit of functional performance & lightness. A recent push for the adoption of wave leaf spring on their latest Stella SW meant that they have an excuse to replace the old coil spring for better pressure stability thrusted onto the drag stack.

Even the screws are in red! They are made out of duralumin and extra care has to be given to not strip the thread of the hex cap. Quality tools will be needed for the job.

When inspecting the drag material, I noticed that only the lower drag discs is run wet while the upper drag is left dry. Possibly due to the different materials used. I'll swap them out with custom sized carbontex the minute it's arrived.

Longer star drags. Slightly lighter than the stock star drag. Even the brake knob has red accents!

As described earlier, the level winder is pretty hidden with little chance of exposure to finger or debris. This view is only made possible with the removal of the front bumper.

On to coating every surface found. Not taking any chances here. Bearings are packed with marine grease except for the spool support bearing which is nicely lubed with light oil.

As for the handle from Studio Composite, it comes ready to be bolted on and head to battle. For me, I know too well that the bearings came straight from the factory with minimal lubrication or protection. I generally pack them up with marine grease as well as giving the knob shaft a good coat of marine grease for that extra protection. Knob bearings usually get lots of water intrusion especially the ones closer to the handle.

Here's another view of the underside, now with the bumper back on. Pretty much shielded from any accidental blockage or finger pinching.

Exes, please meet the new red hot Metanium.

This new red hot Metanium will be ready to battle once I've loaded it with lines and I'll be testing the stock drag behaviour over the next few ponding sessions. I suspect it will perform ok but probably not the smoothest of drag as it's semi wet and not of carbon fiber material.

Stay tune for the update of ponding sessions soon.