Ok, I have to chime in. I have both the Stella and the Daiwa. I can say that Shimano is still playing catch up with Daiwa in terms of the technology present in the reels. This goes for the Stella vs Saltiga convo as well as this. Take a look at the specs as well as the mono body. Try and find an opportunity of ingress with the Daiwa vs the Stella.
I caved and bought me an Exist 3000. Paired with a Steez Bass AGS rod. If I don’t catch any fish, atleast I will look good doing it. The whole set up weighs NOTHING, I can now fish all day!
What is your experience with the Exist ? How long do you fish the reel. I fish the certate with the same engine and i am very disapointed ......I think the Exist is the same shit. I will buy the shimano stella fj....out of the box, daiwa is alwas suberb. but after a few weeks using ..shit...
I believe it's not quite correct to compare Stella and Exist. Stella is much tougher reel, it's like more refined Twin Power. Exist is extra light reel, always was. It's more like Vanquish from Shimano but a little higher end. Daiwa always feels nicer in the shop, once you get on the water, get some heavier lure and you feel the difference straight away. It's not bad or good, it's just a thing to keep in mind. Of course we should not forget the Magseal problems. Anyway Daiwa made a kick with those LT series. Will see how they holding up.
Coza King maybe you’re right. But the thing is we need to check the theory on practice. Only the time will tell whether this is right or maybe this is an old Daiwa in a new body. The first Exist was made in magnesium body as well. It was a nice real, indeed. But wasn’t a power beast. The same thing is with Shimano’s Vanquish, probably my favourite reel but it is not a powerhouse.
I have to disagree. Stella FI is nowhere as tough as the 2015 Exist and i fished 2 seasons with both. I actually like the Exsence a lot better than the stella. I compared the Exist LT to the Stella FJ and i pre-ordered the Exist. I think Shimano has been slacking off a little...just my thought.
Yeah I also disagree. Stella is weaker. How do I know? Because I took both mine apart and looked at the gears and gear teeth and drag power. The Stella gears are smaller, with bigger gear teeth. Look up gear mechanics and try and come to terms with how torque is distributed. Also, the Exist gears are stronger. 2500 size comparrison for example is 9kg for Stella, 10kg for Exist. They're both great reels, but I would not say that the Exist is the Shimano Vanquish lol.
Does the Exist LT use the levelwind worm gear like Shimano's do? I don't own any of the super high end, just Stradic Ci4+FB's and FA's, but bought them over the Daiwa's in that class because of a true worm gear levelwind. The LT series at that price felt very tough and had a very special smooth to them, just always gone casting Daiwa and spinning Shimano... Good comments about the Exsence though, interesting as to where it fits in...
Daniel Dean not sure what you mean, but the exist LT uses a "cross wrap" where the speed of the oscillation allows the line retrieval to wrap around in a cross pattern. I believe the stella FI had a similar technology
I have 4 Stellas. I just purchased an Exist 2000 and an Exceler 2500. The line lay on both Daiwas is off with more line at the top, little less on the bottom and the least line in the middle - hour glassing. The line lay on my Stellas are perfect. That's the only gripe I have with Daiwa. You purchase an expensive reel like the Exist and the line lay isn't perfect. So sad.
Yeah I know it is amazing but I want a top-of-the-line reel to look aesthetic like the old exist. I don't like "simple" design and coloring on these kinda amazing reels.
Digitaka of Japan had them for 700.00 dollars and the Daiwa US. started bringing they over charged the people in the U.S. what a bunch of crap. And Digitaka offered free shipping and Daiwa U.S. stopped them, terrible business !!!!
Digitaka is actually hurting American businesses. They are basically buying direct from Daiwa Japan and bypassing all the people who work at Daiwa USA as well as all of the dealers in the US.
