Sustain-able performance over the long haul? (continued)
 

Hiking along the rivers edge we were greeted with plenty of ice, and little area in which we could actually drop our lures in front of fish. We could see fish in the deep pools below the ice, and even came across some monster brown trout that were content to watch us below the protection of the solid sheets of ice.

With small pockets of water accuracy was important, and the Sustain delivered

We even came across some shallow pools which had become cut off from the main river a short while ago. Here we were surprised to see small brook trout frozen completely solid and suspended in the ice. As we trekked further along the rivers edge we came across some deeper pools only half frozen over, here casting accuracy was paramount, and with the crystal clear water we were glad we spooled our reels with 2 and 4lb test.

The Power Roller III

Casting: The Sustain 1000FD will not cast as far as the larger Sustain models because it doesn’t benefit from the larger spool diameter. As a result if you use thicker and more rigid lines you will have a higher chance of shedding line loops. Match the line to the application however and the 1000FD is both a quality and accurate casting reel. With 2lb test even the smallest spinners cast with ease paired with ultralight rods as short as 5.5” in length.

Opening up the reel for maintainance

In this category the Sustain was no better and no worse than both the Stradic and the Stella. The Stella should have cast farther thanks to the Super Slow Oscillation, and surely would have with a larger sized reel, but in the 1000 size class all three were just about the same.

Edge: Three way tie.

A closer look at the guts

Retrieving: The Sustain is very smooth, and retrieves very similar to the Stradic, which exhibited a very similar feel. While the Sustain has two more bearings it just feels a smidgen smoother than the Stradic. Once we started fishing with the Stella FB there really was no comparison. The Stella 1000FB armed with 11 bearings really blows away both the Sustain and Stradic terms of fluid retrieve. In fact after fishing with the Stella it was hard to go back to the other two reels, they suddenly felt just less “refined.”

The Sustain features a gasket behind the rear plate to help keep out the elements

In terms of power the Stella also felt the most powerful with just about any size fish on the line. The Sustain and the Stradic both feature very similar gearing while the Stella features a wider diameter drive gear, super slow oscillation, and a lower gear ratio (5.0:1 versus 6.0:1).

The takedown took less than 10 minutes