Quote:
Originally Posted by dredey
i would be surprised, but does anyone in this forum own one? if so please share. van staals get alot of bashing, but in my opinion they are well worth the money. no company, as of yet, has been able to match what van staal has to offer. especially with surfcasting. with that said, and if you do own a zee baas and you stand behind it let us know what you think of it.
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Dredey, I'll try to answer some of your question.
VS did get a lot of bashing initially but its less and less now that so many guys fish them. They've sold quite a few reels and the sticker shock has worn off. Now there is ZeeBaas.
Rob Koelewyn ,a surf fisherman and original designer of the great (IMO) Van Staal
reel has designed the ZeeBaas reel. They are a small operation out of Milford, CT . Rob has made quite a few changes from his old design
in terms of materials ,gaskets,gearing,finish, and the ability to change spool size while keeping the main frame the same. You can get a longer handle with a bigger knob is you have big mits or like the extra torque that a longer handle provides. It is self servicable and comes with a small set of simple tools to do this. It comes with a life time warranty. Its about the size of a VS 150 mabey a little bigger.
Rob is passionate about surf fishing and designing reels and spent the better part of 2 hours explaining the hows and whys of his reel when I met him.
I liked the concept behind his reel and think the workmanship is top notch. It lays line straight and the drag system is linear (smooth with no jumps) and precise in its adjustment. Its very waterproof.
I'm looking forward to fishing mine hard every night come spring. I've used VS 150's up untill now and look forward to comparing the two. I like the fact that ZeeBaas a small business and the product is made 3 hours from my door. I also like the fact that I can speak to the owner by picking up the phone.
To be honest, the price didnt bother me that much. I can appreciate the quality of the reel and while I can't afford Range Rover Defender or a Porshe 911 Turbo or even a new Toyota Tundra I can afford a ZeeBAas and I like fishing better than driving anyway!
These threads usually come down to the old why get a Rolex when my Timex works just fine argument and thats all just personal . Seems like guys get their panties in a bunch over fishing reels for some reason. I'm not sure why. I guess I'm from the other side of the bridge.