zee baas

[wader-dad]

What it comes down to for me as a not very hard core caster is that when I am stressed about paying my mortgage, my home equity line of credit, my car loan, my car insurance, my real estate taxes and figuring out how I am going to fund 3 kids in college, I think about it may be cool to get the very best stuff. I get that feeling of being a kid again and not the dad. But ultimately, if I had something like a Zeebaas it is not going to make me happy. What makes me happy is spending the money to go to Cuttyhunk, to go to the Vineyard to go to Block, Montauk. Those trips cost money. When I am fishing these great places with my Penn reels and my Canyon bag and my $12 Cabelas fish gripper, then the stress disapears. I think it depends what you are looking for in our sport.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by wader-dad

When I am fishing these great places with my Penn reels and my Canyon bag and my $12 Cabelas fish gripper, then the stress disapears. I think it depends what you are looking for in our sport.

Don't forget the $2.99 Ocean State Job Lot "Rockland Tool" needle nose pliers 66% of them even cut braid.

[Flaptail]

$1229.00 for a fishing reel? LMAO!!!!!

In my neighborhood that equates to:

9 weeks of groceries, 3 months of oil heat, 3 car payments, 21.95 pairs of jeans, 24 restaurant meals with my wife, a root canal with x-rays, a year of my kids meal plan at Boston University, 4 new tires and a spare for my sand sled with mounting balancing and wheel alignment, 61.45 full tanks of gas for my skiff............

That much for a spinning reel is retarded. I don't care howe much, how hard or where you fish.

[fishpoopoo]

I'll be honest with you guys ... if the ZeeBaas addresses the deficiences of the Van Staal platform I will consider getting one for myself (once a larger size comparable to a VS 250 is made).

What are the improvements that I am looking at closely?

1) I think the ZeeBaas has a more scratch resistant finish.

2) The ZeeBaas drag knob is more angler friendly and looks like it won't contribute to braid birdsnests like the edged VS drag knob does.

3) I am told by some kooky persons testing this product that the ZeeBaas drag blows the legacy VS drag out of the water. This has me interested.

4) I want to see how evenly the ZeeBaas winds line on the spool. All the VS' that I used (and I've owned quite a few) had a problem of creating line bellies (= tangles/windknots, impaired casting, breakoffs).

5) SELF SERVICE!

Dollarwise, I am indifferent between buying a ZeeBaas over a Van Staal, if I plan on owning and factory servicing a VS over the course of several years.

Let's see how the features pan out.

And Flaptail, if you haven't fished a sudsy rockpile in Rhody or the Vineyard or Montauk, then you just won't have an appreciation for a truly dunkable reel.

Yes, $1,300 is a lot of money for a reel. But I would consider buying if it as close to "perfect" as a reel can get.

[Flaptail]

Originally Posted by Bassturbed

I'll be honest with you guys ... if the ZeeBaas addresses the deficiences of the Van Staal platform I will consider getting one for myself (once a larger size comparable to a VS 250 is made).

What are the improvements that I am looking at closely?

1) I think the ZeeBaas has a more scratch resistant finish.

2) The ZeeBaas drag knob is more angler friendly and looks like it won't contribute to braid birdsnests like the edged VS drag knob does.

3) I am told by some kooky persons testing this product that the ZeeBaas drag blows the legacy VS drag out of the water. This has me interested.

4) I want to see how evenly the ZeeBaas winds line on the spool. All the VS' that I used (and I've owned quite a few) had a problem of creating line bellies (= tangles/windknots, impaired casting, breakoffs).

5) SELF SERVICE!

Dollarwise, I am indifferent between buying a ZeeBaas over a Van Staal, if I plan on owning and factory servicing a VS over the course of several years.

Let's see how the features pan out.

And Flaptail, if you haven't fished a sudsy rockpile in Rhody or the Vineyard or Montauk, then you just won't have an appreciation for a truly dunkable reel.

Yes, $1,300 is a lot of money for a reel. But I would consider buying if it as close to "perfect" as a reel can get.

Rhody, Vineyard or Montauk are not the only places with "sudsy rockpiles" as Numbskull can attest most of our fishing is done on sudsy rockpiles where occasional "dunks" are expected (along with cuts, bruises, edemas, torn ligaments etc).

It's still retarded. But if you have the money and the world is your oyster then go for it. I guess I will never be a real surf fisherman or among the in crowd if I don't have one. Just a middle class slob with a Cabo pt60 wannabee VS Quantum.

[fishpoopoo]

what's crazier to you flap (are you calling me numbskull?) ...

spending $100 on a hunk of painted wood that will be soaked in the brine ...

or

$1,300 on a specialized tool ...

or

several hundred thousand dollars on the lifetime cost of purchasing, maintaining/cleaning, fueling, taxing, towing and fondling a cash flow money pit we call a boat?

[Flaptail]

Originally Posted by Bassturbed

what's crazier to you flap (are you calling me numbskull?) ...

spending $100 on a hunk of painted wood that will be soaked in the brine ...

or

$1,300 on a specialized tool ...

or

several hundred thousand dollars on the lifetime cost of purchasing, maintaining/cleaning, fueling, taxing, towing and fondling a cash flow money pit we call a boat?

Numbskull is a very good friend of mine. If 100.00 is the intial investment on a piece of painted wood that at auction will bring ten fold, thats not a bad choice, a 100.00 to actually fish with for a plug is insane. I do not own a big boat, just a 37 year old skiff that gets me two days of flats fishing on 6 gallons of fuel. Boats are not a good investment as you ably point out. If you really need that specialized of a tool that you think will make you better as a fisherman then go for it. I think it's hype and a lot of people are buying into it.

For example, I have a 17 year old Shimano GT-100 reel. Simple little conventional affair made of graphite with a line guide. I paid 30.00 bucks for it then and you can buy one now for $55.00 (time and ARB bearings brought up the cost) I clean it twice a year, it has had only once the main gears replaced. It has caught literally tons of bass from dinks to large and everywhere in between and has been dunked countless times. All it needs is a spray with the hose and occasional shot of reel lube. Just cannot kill it, got two others as well. Casts like a rocket and weighs nothing with a drag as smooth as silk.

Like you say, if you think you need it themn buy it, nothing against you or anyone who does but it's my humble opinion that it's not nescesary and furthemore the more I have to worry about keeping an eye on my gear when on the truck or anywhere away from home becuase of it's value the less I enjoy the experience.

A Penn 706 will do the same job. I have a Doctor friend who has fished one for years. Seen him go in off the rocks at C-HUNK and other rocky places for years and it still works like a charm.

I realize I am not that popular because I have a bad habit of saying what I feel when I feel I need to say it. It is good for my stress levels though, I don't have any! I am sure I will never be offered a VS by the manufacturer becuase of my past stand on them as well like other scribes and "prominent" fishers, but really I don't give a rat's ass either.

Zeebaas, VanStal it's all hype, great marketing with a pyschological current running through it. I fish five out of seven nights/days a week in season. My choices have proven themselves to be reliable, cost effective and lasting.

Does ZEEBAAS make 300.00 pliers too?

You may fire at will.

[Back Beach]

Get a life guys, its a f#@#$@#$N fishing reel. No need to ever quantify the cost of fishing tackle IMO, its just too dangerous.

Remember, no matter how you break it out,the fisherman's calculator says a fish costs $75 per pound.

For $1,200 though,you could get two saltiga Z4500's and a 229 newell.

That $1,200 gets you one 16# fish if you do the math and apply the fisherman's calculator.

I gotta get back to work now.....