I assume some of you may have already expected this would be happened soon – as the normal STELLA was renewed in 2018, with bunch of new features.
And now, one of the most powerful salt water reel from SHIMANO is renewed and announced to be released!
Well I know I am always saying this to the other reels though… But yes, this new STELLA SW ’19 is much lighter and stronger than old STELLA SW ’13.
Renewed For All The Big Saltwater Game Fishing
As one of the SHIMANO pro tester – Hitoshi Suzuki – is a pioneer of big saltwater game fishing, this STELLA SW’19 has new features especially for tuna fishing to me.
Stronger and lighter are the main purpose to achieve for all the reel renewal, but this new STELLA SW ’19 has also new feature to the drag system as well.
No More Heating Problem!? New Anti-Heat Drag System
To me, this is the most interesting feature of this STELLA SW ’19.
That is named Heatsink Drag system, which is only for #10000 and #14000.
When you tuna-fishing and hook them, usual fighting method is this – let her run using drag to give her stress, until she gets tired and stop, then wind up, then let her run again… Because tuna swims really fast and if you don’t let her run with full-lock drag, line break can be happened easier. So by letting her run with appropriate tension, keep the line and tire her until you get here nearby.
However, in this method you need to use dragging for long while, especially for black tuna or bigger tuna species, the drag will be heated and you need to cool it down by pouring water, otherwise drag system would get weakened and the line break risk would be gained.
Now this STELLA SW’19 new feature Heatsink Drag system is installed at the bottom of spool and it makes the system stronger, and new heatsink panel will let the heat away by itself, as SHIMANO says 30% gained from old drag system.
And this is only installed to #10000 and #14000, which can be used for kingfish plugging game or tuna game, that you can expect to use drag system very heavily.
30% of Reeling Torque has reduced – Infinity Drive
Which means, new STELLA SW ’19 is smoother and lighter of reeling, for easy word.
Yes it is J
The actual construction of the Infinity Drive is a bit complicated, but previously the reel’s main shaft is supported by pinion gear, and for X-Ship system, pinion gear is also supported by bearings, which gives smoothness and lightness.
This Infinity Drive is advanced of that, the main shaft is not touched to pinion gear, and that gives more smoothness and lightness than previous X-SHIP feature.
So even on heavy load you can reel up easier than ever.
Of Course Line Roller has Water Resistance – X Protect
The newer SHIMANO reel has this – X Protect is also installed to the line roller.
The line roller is one of the most ease-to-rust parts of reels. And at new STELLA SW ’19 the line roller is highly protected from saltwater by X-Protect.
Spec and Release Date
Currently only #8000, #10000 and #14000 are announced against previous STELLA SW ’13 has more. We asked to SHIMANO staff and he told they are creating more size but those would only be next year sometimes.
#8000 and #10000 will be on sale at the end of March, and #14000 will be at the end of this June.
12th April 2020 Added:
#4000 – #6000, and #18000 /#20000 / #30000 is on sale from April 2020.
| Model | Gear Ratio | Drag Power (kg) | Weight (g) | Capacity Braid (Gou-m) | Retrieve Range (cm) | Bearing | Price (yen) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4000HG | 5.7 | 7 / 11 | 355 | #1-490 #1.5-320 #2-240 | 93 | 12 / 1 | 92,000 |
| 4000XG | 6.2 | 7 / 11 | 355 | #1-490 #1.5-320 #2-240 | 101 | 12 / 1 | 92,000 |
| 5000HG | 5.7 | 10 / 13 | 420 | #2-350 #3-240 #4-170 | 97 | 13 / 1 | 108,200 |
| 5000XG | 6.2 | 10 / 13 | 420 | #2-350 #3-240 #4-170 | 105 | 13 / 1 | 108,200 |
| 6000PG | 4.6 | 10 / 13 | 425 | #2-440 #3-300 #4-210 | 83 | 13 / 1 | 108,200 |
| 6000HG | 5.7 | 10 / 13 | 425 | #2-440 #3-300 #4-210 | 103 | 13 / 1 | 108,200 |
| 6000XG | 6.2 | 10 / 13 | 425 | #2-440 #3-300 #4-210 | 112 | 13 / 1 | 108,200 |
| 8000HG | 5.6 | 18.0 / 25.0 | 625 | #3-410 #4-300 #5-250 | 107 | 13 / 1 | 119,000 |
| 8000PG | 4.9 | 18.0 / 25.0 | 625 | #3-410 #4-300 #5-250 | 94 | 13 / 1 | 119,000 |
| 10000PG | 4.9 | 18.0 / 25.0 | 670 | #4-400 #5-300 #6-250 | 102 | 13 / 1 | 119,000 |
| 14000XG | 6.2 | 18.0 / 25.0 | 675 | #6-300 #8-200 #10-165 | 134 | 13 / 1 | 119,000 |
| 14000PG | 4.9 | 18.0 / 25.0 | 675 | #6-300 #8-200 #10-165 | 106 | 13 / 1 | 119,000 |
| 18000HG | 5.7 | 17 / 28 | 875 | #5-500 #6-400 #8-300 | 129 | 13 / 1 | 129,800 |
| 20000PG | 4.4 | 17 / 28 | 885 | #5-600 #6-500 #8-350 | 104 | 13 / 1 | 129,800 |
| 30000 | 4.4 | 17 / 25 | 975 | #8-600 #10-475 #12-375 | 131 | 13 / 1 | 146,100 |
* Braided line capacity is based on Japanese size “Gou”. Please refer to Gou and Diameter table to see diameters of each Gou.
* Braided line capacity is based on SHIMANO Ocea EX-8.
* All product information and images are basically from SHIMANO official website.
