VS 200
 

Can a Van Staal 200 handle a big fish in the canal, or would I be better suited with a VS250?

Looks like the only difference is line capacity, but a 200 should hold more than enough of 50lb Powerpro.

I hope I am not :deadhorse:

Just to clarify....It will be used for eels...not jigs

I thought it would handle any bass in the canal, but I believe someone recently got spooled with an eel on the reel? :eek5:

3" more line retrieve per crank with the 250 is the biggest difference in my opinion besides line capacity. Weight and spool diameter are basically negligible. Check out the VS site for exact specs. Most canal guys seem to favor the 250 depending on what you're throwing for a rod. In fact many go with the 275... Overkill IMO but huge retrieve of 40". What rod do you use?

I thought the main benefit of the 275 was reel speed for jigging, which is not what I need this reel for.

My rod for the time being is a Lami XS 101 MHS, a 1205 will be built this winter.

Of course the 200 can handle a good fish. It's the same size as a Penn 704, and I can't begin to tell you how many big fish I took out of the Canal tossing eels on my 704--which was loaded with 20# mono.

Never once did I even come close to getting spooled.

I could never imagine getting spooled in the canal either if you had the proper gear unless you were lucky/unlucky enough to get blasted by a tuna or shark. These guys that claim to get spooled apparently know their stuff so I don't know.