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Toby,
I think this thread has missed some key points. What about the weight of a reel, it's ability to recover after falling down on a sandy beach, and it's line capacity?
I need a surf reel that's lightweight but strong and matched to my equally lightweight but strong graphite 10 foot rods. (Serious bicycle riders understand the meaning of "lightweight but strong".) Van Staal reels excell in this category. Per ounce of reel the VS's are among the strongest.
I also need a reel that will instantly recover by simply dunking it underwater in the first wave after it's been dropped on a sandy beach. I tag and release what I catch (need two hands for this)and as a result I need a "goof proof" rod/reel that will occasionally fall over and get caked with sand. The Van Staals are the most goof-proof reels I've ever used.
Lastly, I want a reel with a lot of line capacity so that I can trim off several dozen yards of line after each trip and not need to respool so often. The Van Staals hold the most line per ounce of reel weight.
As an aside, if you are burning through drag washers (any brand reel) on a frequent basis I'll bet you fish with your drag set very tight. Loosen up the drag and you'll see that even cheapo drags last a long time.
For the past 6 years I've fished with a VS 100 on my boat and a VS 150 in the surf. No problems. My next spinning reel will be another VS reel too because I need a lightweight, strong, goof-proof spinning reel with lots of line capacity. I haven't found another reel offering all those qualities.
Bill Brett
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