bailed Van Staal

[NIB]

wELL IT'S CLEAR TO ME UR SPENDIN ALL UR MONEY ON REELS.
OOPS.cAPS LOCK
No smiley faces so i do this, ;-)

[Water Treater]

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.

[SeaWolf]

why bailed? - i have to agree w/ pete that some people have asked for a bailed reel and vs listened. kudos to vs. also, to stay in competion w/ the diawa's and shimano's, they really needed to make this. i personally have no use for a bailed reel, but that's my choice. people asked and vs listened.

judging by a couple of the changes/upgrades made to this model, it sounds like vs is also listening to their service dept and customers complaints and/or suggestions on issues w/ the current models. hopefully these improvements will be available to current models in the future. so far, i like what i'm seeing.

[JFigliuolo]

ok... How do you free spool with your VS? How do you put the line back on the roller once the fish takes your eel? I always come VERY close to mangling my finger.

[BernOC]

Having no need for a bail myself, others do. They should still lower the profile of the drag nob though for possible line wraps.

[Pete_G]

Personally I think it would be foolish for them to NOT offer a bailed reel. If you think about it, they are targeting a SMALL market with a bailess reel. So basically you just excluded a bunch of potential customers in a very small market. Not smart. This is a very logical option to offer, if you ask me. Joe is a perfect example, he just doesn't like bailess.

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by Pete_G

Personally I think it would be foolish for them to NOT offer a bailed reel. If you think about it, they are targeting a SMALL market with a bailess reel. So basically you just excluded a bunch of potential customers in a very small market. Not smart. This is a very logical option to offer, if you ask me. Joe is a perfect example, he just doesn't like bailess.

I think Pete is right. One of the main reasons I sold my VS's and switched to Saltigas was the bail-less design. Like Joe said above, too much looking down & effort into the casting/starting to reel motion with bail-less.

If the new manual bail on the VS is like the Saltiga's bail it is a big plus IMO.

[Sea Dangles]

Originally Posted by JFigliuolo

ok... How do you free spool with your VS? How do you put the line back on the roller once the fish takes your eel? I always come VERY close to mangling my finger.

I cast my eel and reel it in slowly with the rod held at almost 12o'clock.When I feel the tap,I lower the rod to 9o'clock.This gives the beast enough time to do what she wants and when the line tightens;BANG.Less gut hooks and better hookup ratio since the Iron Man showed me this technique.

[tattoobob]

I like the idea and I am going to wait now for the larger size like the 250
although now that I am thinking of it I need both

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

I cast my eel and reel it in slowly with the rod held at almost 12o'clock.When I feel the tap,I lower the rod to 9o'clock.This gives the beast enough time to do what she wants and when the line tightens;BANG.Less gut hooks and better hookup ratio since the Iron Man showed me this technique.

If you're fishing from a place where you can take 2-3 steps forward without falling off a rock or stepping into deeper water on the beach, you can drop the tip, step and give it a few extra seconds before it comes tight.

Another way to feed line on a manual pickup reel when drifting a live bait is to hold the line on your finger while drifiting, release the line when you feel a pick up, drop the rod to 9 and raise it quickly to 12 to throw some slack, and get the line back on the roller before it comes tight and your fingertip goes flying

[Joe]

I'm surprised at the bad reviews before its even in the stores....

[JFigliuolo]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

I cast my eel and reel it in slowly with the rod held at almost 12o'clock.When I feel the tap,I lower the rod to 9o'clock.This gives the beast enough time to do what she wants and when the line tightens;BANG.Less gut hooks and better hookup ratio since the Iron Man showed me this technique.

I was thinking more about freespooling in the current...

[Karl F]

Held one of these today, very light, bail isn't automatic, you must close it manually, doesn't snap shut when you crank, nice skirt on the spool, knob and handle, is the biggest improvement, second would be the anti reverse feels tighter..
very smooth, and very light, think it weighed meybe 12 ounces tops, with a full spool of braid.
I think they will sell a ton of these... hope they put that knob and handle on the other ones, for you guys that buy 'em.