I don't own one but a friend of mine has one and mainly fishes from a boat with it. He has not landed any huge fish yet with it but has caught a number of fish with it and says it is very sweet. The drag in particular is very nice.

As much as I would like to own one I tend to be a little extra careful with my expensive reels now. This would take it to the next level and i might become anal about getting sand on it. After all it is a custom precsion piece of gear. This is not your everyday spinning reel.

I agree with Mr. Sandman, I would be affraid to use it like I use my other reels!:)

Being that it's all machined, I would ride that reel hard over rocks, sand, and anything else I could find. And I bet it would like it. That's exactly the sort of use it's supposed to be built for.

I bet it looks good with a few scratches in that impenetrable finish.

What it comes down to for me as a not very hard core caster is that when I am stressed about paying my mortgage, my home equity line of credit, my car loan, my car insurance, my real estate taxes and figuring out how I am going to fund 3 kids in college, I think about it may be cool to get the very best stuff. I get that feeling of being a kid again and not the dad. But ultimately, if I had something like a Zeebaas it is not going to make me happy. What makes me happy is spending the money to go to Cuttyhunk, to go to the Vineyard to go to Block, Montauk. Those trips cost money. When I am fishing these great places with my Penn reels and my Canyon bag and my $12 Cabelas fish gripper, then the stress disapears. I think it depends what you are looking for in our sport.

Don't forget the $2.99 Ocean State Job Lot "Rockland Tool" needle nose pliers :btu: 66% of them even cut braid.

$1229.00 for a fishing reel? LMAO!!!!!

In my neighborhood that equates to:

9 weeks of groceries, 3 months of oil heat, 3 car payments, 21.95 pairs of jeans, 24 restaurant meals with my wife, a root canal with x-rays, a year of my kids meal plan at Boston University, 4 new tires and a spare for my sand sled with mounting balancing and wheel alignment, 61.45 full tanks of gas for my skiff............

That much for a spinning reel is retarded. I don't care howe much, how hard or where you fish.:whackin:

I'll be honest with you guys ... if the ZeeBaas addresses the deficiences of the Van Staal platform I will consider getting one for myself (once a larger size comparable to a VS 250 is made).

What are the improvements that I am looking at closely?

1) I think the ZeeBaas has a more scratch resistant finish.

2) The ZeeBaas drag knob is more angler friendly and looks like it won't contribute to braid birdsnests like the edged VS drag knob does.

3) I am told by some kooky persons testing this product that the ZeeBaas drag blows the legacy VS drag out of the water. This has me interested.

4) I want to see how evenly the ZeeBaas winds line on the spool. All the VS' that I used (and I've owned quite a few) had a problem of creating line bellies (= tangles/windknots, impaired casting, breakoffs).

5) SELF SERVICE!

Dollarwise, I am indifferent between buying a ZeeBaas over a Van Staal, if I plan on owning and factory servicing a VS over the course of several years.

Let's see how the features pan out.

And Flaptail, if you haven't fished a sudsy rockpile in Rhody or the Vineyard or Montauk, then you just won't have an appreciation for a truly dunkable reel.

Yes, $1,300 is a lot of money for a reel. But I would consider buying if it as close to "perfect" as a reel can get.

Rhody, Vineyard or Montauk are not the only places with "sudsy rockpiles" as Numbskull can attest most of our fishing is done on sudsy rockpiles where occasional "dunks" are expected (along with cuts, bruises, edemas, torn ligaments etc).

It's still retarded. But if you have the money and the world is your oyster then go for it. I guess I will never be a real surf fisherman or among the in crowd if I don't have one. Just a middle class slob with a Cabo pt60 wannabee VS Quantum.

what's crazier to you flap (are you calling me numbskull?) ...

spending $100 on a hunk of painted wood that will be soaked in the brine ...

or

$1,300 on a specialized tool ...

or

several hundred thousand dollars on the lifetime cost of purchasing, maintaining/cleaning, fueling, taxing, towing and fondling a cash flow money pit we call a boat?

It's the little kid flipping someone off, that shouldn't be condoned. I remember seeing that image being passed around through the internet a couple of years ago.
Sorry, but I just feel that there's nothing cute about it and if it where my kid, he'd have a foot up his oss!

Numbskull is a very good friend of mine. If 100.00 is the intial investment on a piece of painted wood that at auction will bring ten fold, thats not a bad choice, a 100.00 to actually fish with for a plug is insane. I do not own a big boat, just a 37 year old skiff that gets me two days of flats fishing on 6 gallons of fuel. Boats are not a good investment as you ably point out. If you really need that specialized of a tool that you think will make you better as a fisherman then go for it. I think it's hype and a lot of people are buying into it.

For example, I have a 17 year old Shimano GT-100 reel. Simple little conventional affair made of graphite with a line guide. I paid 30.00 bucks for it then and you can buy one now for $55.00 (time and ARB bearings brought up the cost) I clean it twice a year, it has had only once the main gears replaced. It has caught literally tons of bass from dinks to large and everywhere in between and has been dunked countless times. All it needs is a spray with the hose and occasional shot of reel lube. Just cannot kill it, got two others as well. Casts like a rocket and weighs nothing with a drag as smooth as silk.

Like you say, if you think you need it themn buy it, nothing against you or anyone who does but it's my humble opinion that it's not nescesary and furthemore the more I have to worry about keeping an eye on my gear when on the truck or anywhere away from home becuase of it's value the less I enjoy the experience.

A Penn 706 will do the same job. I have a Doctor friend who has fished one for years. Seen him go in off the rocks at C-HUNK and other rocky places for years and it still works like a charm.

I realize I am not that popular because I have a bad habit of saying what I feel when I feel I need to say it. It is good for my stress levels though, I don't have any! I am sure I will never be offered a VS by the manufacturer becuase of my past stand on them as well like other scribes and "prominent" fishers, but really I don't give a rat's ass either.

Zeebaas, VanStal it's all hype, great marketing with a pyschological current running through it. I fish five out of seven nights/days a week in season. My choices have proven themselves to be reliable, cost effective and lasting.

Does ZEEBAAS make 300.00 pliers too?

You may fire at will.:wave:

Get a life guys, its a f#@#$@#$N fishing reel. No need to ever quantify the cost of fishing tackle IMO, its just too dangerous. :usd:

Remember, no matter how you break it out,the fisherman's calculator says a fish costs $75 per pound.:hee:

For $1,200 though,you could get two saltiga Z4500's and a 229 newell. :uhuh:

That $1,200 gets you one 16# fish if you do the math and apply the fisherman's calculator.

I gotta get back to work now.....

"to each his own". i have friends that golf with expensive clubs, because they enjoy it. i do not knock them for their $1200 dollar clubs. my best friend has a $20,000. dollar custom chopper because he enjoys riding. just because i do not ride i do not knock him for it. to each his own. my father has been fishing everyday during the season since the day i was born. he does not use expensive tackle and he catches just as much as the rest of us. and he does not knock me for my expensive tackle because like i said "to each his own" the point is, everyone has ther own interests. that's what makes the world go around. if everyone had the same interests, with the same clothes, and the same shoes and the same cars and the same houses it would be a dull, dull, world. everyone has a right to do as they choose. i know guys that will pay $100 for a plug. just because i won't pay that much for a plug doesn't mean i will knock that person. "to each his own".....period!!!

i see dead people

BM- Dave-you have a great way of putting everything in perspective. :bl2:

What about seals Dave?

kill them kill them all

That's what I'm talking about! I think we all know my past experiences with reels; a handful of VS's, a Saltiga, and a pile of penns, all trashed. I would seriously consider a ZB if it came in a larger, 250 - 275 VS size.

The debate of "is it worth it" or "you're a bonehead" for spending that kind of cash is pointless. We have the right to speak our mind in this country, but to belittle another because of how they choose to spend their own heard earned money is childish and immature to no end. Would half of the people knocking others in this way have the marbles to say it face to face? Seriously, if you don't like something, don't buy it, don't watch it, or don't read it. It will get you nowhere to join in on the bashing at the end of the day. Be a man and walk away if it doesn't suit you.

The moment I had $1200 to spend on a reel...I wouldn't.Instead I'd go to Amsterdam fry my brain and hit the redlight district.

Then I'd come back,fish my 704s and Spheros 8000s on my cheap Batsons and Ticas(and my discounted Lami) and still enjoy fishing but with even a bigger smile on my face!:D :smokin: :humpty:

If I had enough to buy two $1200 reels.....welcome aboard Clammah!!!

But what would you need the Saltigas for?

LOL! You have much to learn about boats if you think $2400 will get you very far.

all I can say is well VS :kewl:

What do you mean, Skitterpop?

Keith's on his third handle for his Accurate Twin-Spin ;)

I think Van Staal secretly makes the Z under this pseudonym to cut down on the number of Van Staal Bashing threads :devil:

I heard of these guys out west who jig several hundred feet down and power crank very large fish to the surface using the longer power handle ZB offers. And that every other spinning reel on the market blew apart under the same conditions. Just what I heard, that's all.

I heard the same thing, but the guys I know are down south.....They use VS's though. All the OTHER lesser reels they tried, broke. True story.:angel: :hs: :hee:

:cputin:

Just posting to see if my new signature works.

i rather see your reel avitar than that filthy pc of chit on ya new one.
If i was U i wouldnt change chit for no one man.

I know two things about life with 100% certitude.
#1 Life is shorter than you think.
#2 You can not take it with you!
Close friend starts is working career like we all do with not much in his pocket. Works incredibly hard and is worth about $30 mill at 60 y/o. Drops dead at 62. The money stay here, he's gone. Never got to spend it all. Buy whatever you want and if someone chides you about it tell them to screw off

gald when I went in 78 , 79 and 80 it didnt cost me 1200 for any of the activities you mentioned and then some . I think it was a 300 DM ($150 ) train ride

if you want to spend 1200 or more for a reel go ahead . would I ? Nope not even with free money from racing . but I have no problem with some that does . I prefer to buy cheaper for reasons I will keep to my self .

but flap you are crazy , at least thats what the other crazy told me .

hey ben will you let me use yours when you buy it ?

You don't love Smuttynose, IPA. One of the best ales on earth? Oops, I shouldn't say that! Too many people might disagree!

I agree with you BM. However, I was warned, that avatar photo has too much bling POP and might cause some bashing to occur.

Your right, my signature is a little too harsh! Sorry, I'll remove some of it now.

It's not the beer that some would find offensive. It's their mascot... ;)

Slinging Seals - now there is a sport!

OK! Be serious now? Tell me some of you guys hate seals that much that this photo might offend someone here?

Hehehehe - enter this in search +seals +cape :rotf3: :bl2:

yup!

This is getting pretty funny. First the Reel, now the Seal.
Whats next, a Redsox Sucks Avatar? I swear were just a couple of surf guys from the stix in NH. We come in peace!!!!

Smuttynose IPA just happens to be our after fishing vice...Actually its our after work vice, We just don't get seals up here.

BigFish loves seals :point:

Oh boy you can tell it is February

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