Garry,

Thank you! I was on the Davis Boats Royal Polaris Charter 2005 I used your crimp system and it worked perfect. I got a personal best 275 lb Yellowfin Tuna that I fought for an hour and a half on a 25ft 200lb JB hollow and 130lb Seagar Fluorocarbon top shot with your crimp. I also gave other top shots away that boated personal best YFT over 200lbs. It was such a great feeling of accomplishment to successfully catch the beast on a top shot I made. I recommended your system to all fisherman that like to do things for them self.

Thanks Again,
Mark Hilliard

The crew of the American Angler really stands by the Sato Crimp System for connecting spectra to monofilament top shots for several reasons. The kit comes with a set of detailed instructions which are easy to follow and once mastered, it is a quick and easy way of accomplishing your connections.

And, the best attribute of this system is its "fishability" because the connection goes through the guides as smooth as silk.

- The Guys
Brian Kiyohara and Sam Patella
American Angler

Garry,

I want to thank you for introducing me to your Pro Crimp Kit. I went on my first long range fishing trip and had to learn how to make reliable monofilament to Spectra connections. Your Kit made it very easy! It had step by step instructions and all the necessary tools to do it.

As for the results, I caught numerous Yellowfin tuna and did not have a single connection failure. My largest was a 263 pound cow. I now have full confidence with my connections with the help of your Crimp Kit!

Thank you,
Ken Kobayashi

Garry,

The winder is great. No problems at all. I'm impressed everytime I use it. It was money well spent. I really like the adjustable spool holder.

In one of the Allcoast responses, someone mentioned an older model Sears drill was heating up. On a lark I checked the Milwalkee drill last night after winding line on 4 hard spools from 50 size reels and taking the spectra off a Trinidad 20, 30 and 40 and onto the Swifty washer reels. The drill wasn't even warm and the process was easy. The foot pedal provides perfect control.

The winder has saved me a few trips to the tackle shop and I'll be able to wash my spectra and put fresh mono on my reels more often.

How was the Fred Hall Show? I hope you made a lot of sales. I saw you at the booth on Saturday, but was on my way to one of the seminars. When I stopped by later, I think you were out and about looking, but I talked to the guy from Swifty for about ten minutes. Nice guy.

- Bill

Dear Garry,

At first I thought it was funny when my husband suggested that I write a testimonial for the line winder he recently purchased from you. Especially since I am not really a fisherman.

But after thinking about it though it kind of makes sense. No more “Honey can you hold this spool while I wind this line on?”, “Not so tight!”, “A bit tighter please!”, “Can you please pay attention!!!”, etc.

He tried some other winders but he really wasn’t happy with them at all. No more grumpy moods or frustrated !$*^@!$%* comments when he is getting ready for a trip. He seems quite pleased and can play with his lines and reels now without my help! Thanks!

Sincerely,
Helen Grove

Dear Garry,

This is just a short note to let you know how pleased I am with my heavy-duty line winder. I have used a few line winding tools ranging from the “spool-in-themilk crate” through less expensive motorized winders. They all lacked one feature or another and I always found myself dissatisfied with the effort it would take or the quality of job when I was finished. This was especially true when it came to winding line that needed quite a bit more tension like spectra.

It is really a pleasure to finally find someone who has put all the pieces of the puzzle together correctly. Put simply, this heavy-duty line winder is functional, robust, and easy to use. I can use it for my smaller reels (Newell 338/Torium 20) through my Tiagra 50W. I was able to easily load spectra with both the motor and foot control operating smoothly even while applying strong tension to the spectra spool. The Swifty line tools make it a snap to strip mono or remove and wash the spectra. When I am done loading I can even break down the winder for easy storage (this is important as we have a small garage and little work space).

This winder hands-down beats all the other methods I have used (including cajoling my wife to help put tension on the spectra spool while I manually wind it on) and the results are much better. Any fishermen who want to load their own line will find that your winder is an elegant tool.

Best Regards,
Steve Grove

The Sato winder allows the fisherman to do professional fishing line winding, and removal at home at his or her convenience. Boy, it is sure nice to quickly remove and replace(or move line to another reel) line at home. Another nice thing is Garry Sato is available to answer questions via telephone or email. The winder itself is simple to put together and take apart ! Wish I had one of these jewels years ago!

- Bill

Garry,

A couple of years ago, I started fishing with smaller and smaller reels after the introduction of spectra lines. However, I am all thumbs and couldn't always get a good spectra to mono connection. With much diligence I went in search for answers and heard about your kits. Last fall before a 10 day trip on the Excel, I purchased your PRO CRIMP KIT. What a difference this has made. With very little study, I was able to insert the mono into the spectra and presto. I had a solid connection. But wait, It couldn't be this easy and yet it is. Your product has increased my confidence ten fold. I no longer worry about the prefect knot. I have utilized your crimp system on one day trips for albacore, stripers at the East Cape, and cow tuna at the Hurricane Bank with not a single failure. My largest cow was 252 pounds of pure joy using your crimps with only a 25 foot top shot.

Great Success,
Auggie "Scoop" Roberts

Dear Garry,

I wanted to give you an update on my recent trips using the hollow dacron connection you sent me. First off thank you for all your help the connection is AWESOME!!

My first trip was a 3 day senor tuna trip caught a few albacore but never really got into the connection much but it gave me some faith in the system.

My second trip was a June 6th 6 day on the Polaris Supreme. With my trust in the system I set my reels up using spectra and 25" Flurocarbon top shots. All outfits under 40# were made using the hollow dacron connection. Everything 40# and up I used the 2 crimp method.

We had BAD weather and tough fishing conditions and never got an Albacore bite but we did fish for Yellowtail. I got to test the connection on every fish I caught and even a few seals. I never had a connection fail even on the big seals smoking my drags!! even when I buttoned down my drags to break off the seals the connections always held.

I got to test out both types of connections on the seals I am now 100% confident in both connections under any fishing conditions. Not only are these connections clean and smooth I feel by using them along with short top shots has brought my fishing to a new level. I have been fishing the Polaris Supreme for 8 years now and have never placed in a jackpot not only did I place on this trip I won it with a 35.2 pound Yellowtail.

I can't wait for my Aug. and Nov. trips I think they will be awesome this time around. I had a lot of people ask me about how I was rigging my topshots and I told them all that a Sato crimp kit is a must have item!!

- Dan Upchurch

Garry,

I wanted to drop you a line thanking you for providing big game fisherman with such a fail safe system for connecting monofilament and fluorocarbon top shots to hollow spectra. I visited giant Yellowfin Tuna destinations Clipperton Atoll and Hurricane Bank in 2005 aboard the Royal Polaris. Dropping in using the Sato Crimp System for my top shot connections gives me all the confidence I need to pursue those fish.

I was amazed how quickly this system can be learned either by the diagrams you provide or being taught in person. I use Jerry Brown Line One Spectra with the Sato Crimp system using my monofilament or fluorocarbon of choice. In my opinion your crimp system is as sure of a thing as you can get in regards to top shot connection strength.

Thanks a bunch,
Brad Baron

Hi Garry,

I wanna thank you for developing the crimping system for us fisherman to use. I've also learned to serve the topshots, but I noticed using the crimping system the crimp is smaller and stealthier. Also, it takes a good 5 minutes to serve and then glue the connection. With your crimping system, it takes seconds.

Also, most importantly thanks for developing a affordable winder. I have been preparing for my 13 day trip and had to wind some 800 yards of 135lbs spectra on to my Penn 50vsw and it sure makes it easier then doing that by hand. Even my wife is happy I got the line winder. Usually she hates my fishing equipment purchases, but this was one purchase she agreed with. She used to help with me winding line and now, I can do the winding myself. Her and I could not be more happier. :D

Thanks again for meeting Tim and I at your home to show us how to use the crimping system.

- Min

Garry,

I just came back from a 13-day trip aboard the Shogun (Nov 25th to Dec 8th, 2005). There were lots of good experience and lessons learned. One of them was the use of your Sato crimp system which I want to give you a report on.

Just prior to the trip, I decided to go with the Sato crimp system, mainly because you took the time invited me to you home and showed me how to crimp correctly. I did tried serving as well but I tested my own serves and it did not come out too well. At the end, I had more confidence with the Sato crimping system than making my own serves.

The Sato crimp topshots caught 4 fish on my reel, all 4 of them were cows with at 201#, 215#, 230#, and 276#, all weighed at the Fisherman's landing scale at the dock. The 276#er was a hand-off to a fellow angler, Thersa, while I landed the other 3 cows. All 3 cows were my personal best with the previous biggest fish at 122#. I had applied over 45# of drag out of Cofe'd Penn 50SW. The topshots ranged from 125# Softsteel Ultra (great line!!) and 150# Izorline.

I applied 2 crimps for each topshot, roughly 1.5 inch ~ 2 inches apart, then applied JB glue in between for added insurance.

I hooked the 215# YFT at ~300 feet deep with a 4 oz sinker. It was one mean fish. I used the Sato crimp with ~30 feet of 125# Softsteel Ulta mono. The deckhands (Justin and Mark) had to bump my drag up to 40# at strike to stop the fish from taking line.

I got the 230# YFT about 200 yds out flylining a mackerel hooked right behind the head. When I saw boils near where the bait was, I started to crank in the bait making it look lively and that's was when it got bit. I also used Sato crimp with ~ 30 feet of 125# Soft steel Ultra mono topshot. When the fish was up and down, I had to crank up the drag to over 45# and grabing the spool to stop fish from taking line.

The 276# fish I handed over to Thersa and she did a great job fighting and landed that fish. It took her over an hour and half and it was the last fish of the trip. At one time, there was only her and her husband Gary on fish, with one at each corner of the stern. I used the Sato crimps with ~30 feet of 150# Izorline mono topshot on this one. This one too, bumped the drag to over 45# when the fish was up and down.

I wanted to share this experience and endorse the Sato crimping system as it has worked for me. While there are other options available for making topshots, the Sato crimp system is, in my opinion; a simple, convenient, and reliable method of making topshots. It is ideal especially for someone who's new to this type of Long Range fishing. It was with great comfort to know that you don't have to worry about mon sliding out of spectra when you on a big fish of the life time.

Best Regards,
Tim Chen
Huntington Beach, CA