Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating - View Single Post

Water Treater · 11-15-2005, 10:01 AM

I could never go back to using a spinning reel with an automatic bail. Years ago I converted all my Penn reels to manual bail but then realized these reels (Penn 6500 and 7500) were too heavy for the graphite rods I was using. Switched to Van Staal and never looked back. Also, I needed a reel that will recover when allowed to fall over in the sand. I tag and release what I catch and sometimes to do that I need three hands. My Van Staal reels (certainly not perfect) instantly recover by simply dunking them in the surf.

I took my wife surf fishing for the first time about 6 years ago. Handed her a Van Staal 100VS reel and a 7 foot graphite rod and told her how to manually set the bail after each cast. She had no problem, probably because she had never used a reel with an automatic bail.

I'm all for progress and I'd like to invest in a better made, stronger, and more durabe reel but please, no automatic bails or even manual bail wires. Keep it simple. It works.

11-15-2005, 10:01 AM	#11
Water Treater Registered User iTrader: (0) Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Westwood, MA Posts: 116	Out On Bail I could never go back to using a spinning reel with an automatic bail. Years ago I converted all my Penn reels to manual bail but then realized these reels (Penn 6500 and 7500) were too heavy for the graphite rods I was using. Switched to Van Staal and never looked back. Also, I needed a reel that will recover when allowed to fall over in the sand. I tag and release what I catch and sometimes to do that I need three hands. My Van Staal reels (certainly not perfect) instantly recover by simply dunking them in the surf. I took my wife surf fishing for the first time about 6 years ago. Handed her a Van Staal 100VS reel and a 7 foot graphite rod and told her how to manually set the bail after each cast. She had no problem, probably because she had never used a reel with an automatic bail. I'm all for progress and I'd like to invest in a better made, stronger, and more durabe reel but please, no automatic bails or even manual bail wires. Keep it simple. It works.