A mate has that van staal and uses it for stonking spanglies and northern nasties up in exxy.  Great reel.  I was very impressed with the larger models on Al Bevans boat as well.

Im using the stella 5000SW for the same purpose and also as a demersal reel down here as well.  Cannot fault it one bit.  Got to get me another reel for my PE2 jig outfit- probably going to be a stradic FJ or sustain FG

If the minister of finances let me have a stella I would. Dont like my chances.

I dont know how the Van Staal would be on a 7/8ft graphite rod throwing soft plastics around?

I am also looking at the Sustain 4000/5000 to run 20/30lb on

Dont know if i should spend a little more and look at Certate 3500hd or a twin power

I'd definately prefer a certate over the VS. The van staals are sealed and built like a truck, but then they're also heavy and not nearly as refined as most other reels. Good reels but quite utilitarian in some ways. Want to hang them over the side of the boat, then catch a sambo with one, they're one of the very few reels that'll allow you to do that though ;)

If 20lb, there are certainly a few nice reels from shimano or daiwa in the 3000/4000 sizes. Some shimano 5000's are much bigger though remember (and some are just a little larger than a 4000, its confusing). Depends how long you want it to last too I guess. Day in day out big fish is different than catching a few dozen fish a year for example.

How light do you mean light?

From shore I still wouldnt go any lighter than 20lb.  We use minimum 30lb on the boat and 40lb usually.  This is for plastics or hards/poppers.  He throws the van staal on a custom 7 foot 6 spin stick and 30lb whiplash all day no probs.  He said he really wants to lash out on the stella too but is happy to keep using his VS.

I dont think i have a chance in hell of getting a stella!!

I have a nice 8'2" graphite rod ( cant remember brand ) and a PE 2-3 6' jig rod. so one for the boat, one for the shore. I just cant make up my mind on the reel. New catalina 3500 would be nice.

Just do it, my mrs still doesnt know about my stella

Twinpower SW is a bit cheaper though.

I like my shimano stuff, destroyed a daiwa reel up in exxy- was real grindy after a two week trip and couldnt get it fixed back to how it was before i went.  The stella is still smooth as after a 2 week trip, the stradic fi 4000 is a bit iffy after a two week trip and a few months tangling with big coral trout off dampier- will send it to shimano and see what they can do with it.  But the daiwa I had- it was an exceller , didnt cope.  Same price bracket as the stradic but didnt hack it.  It went to a bloke that used to work for me who didnt care about the grindy feel.  Got a feeling it died since then anyway.  What ever you buy, spend the money on decent reels and they will last you longer.

Brad is your stella a 4000 or 5000

I am going to look into the Twin power a bit more.

I just picked up a stella 5000sw for $750 Complete angler has a sale on atm.

get a saragosa man solid, smooth,  good all round reel for a couple of hundred bucks.

Stella 5000SW mate- we find it the ultimate for pulling spanglies on spin gear- with 13kg of drag you get that rod low, lock the drag and fish 40lb hard.  Gotta put some hurt on those fish or you will get bricked in coral every time and it gets expensive losing lures at $20 a pop.  Havent lost one since buying the stella.  But like I said we fish from a boat.  From shore you might be able to do it with less.  The 5000SW would be good on a PE3 jig outift but from shore look at something along the 4000 size bracket.

Heres one a mate pulled on his custom spangly stick and stella 5000.  Lure is one of the max rap 13's i think.  And losing them is $30 a pop

http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz44/Castawaylogistics/P1000729.jpg

Another vote for the 5000SW.

It is one of the expensive fishing purchases that I've never regretted for a second.

Got everything on mine from red bass, small GTs and coral trout while casting, and also a number of decent sailfish on livies.