Reels...What are you using

[Monty]

I was exchanging e-mails with Rip-Plugger and he suggested we start a thread about the reels we use. Showing pics and some info on the reels. I thought it was a great idea so I'll recap how I came about taking the plunge for a couple Van Staal reels. It would be great if others also posted info on their reels. We can start building up a little information data base for others to see and use when they are looking to get surf fishing gear.


My experience with reels for fishing the surf until a few years ago was with Penn reels. The 5500SS, 650SS, 750SS etc. I was happy with them as they stood up well to the fishing I was doing. Then I read about other reels better suited for fishing plugs. Reels that were free spinning, smoother, lots of bearings. So I sold a bunch of Penn reels, raised come cash and bought a couple of Tica Taurus reels and was very happy with the smoothness of the reels. I then got a good deal on a Quantum Cabo 40, talk about smoothness, wow.
When I fish I am usually a mile from the jeep, so when the anti-reverse went on the Cabo one morning I was annoyed to say the least. I purchased a back-up Cabo 40 and now lugged around a spare reel. While that Cabo was light and smooth as could be, the bail would close during a violent cast and plug would be launched towards England. Fixed that problem and removed the auto bail mechanism on all my reels. But the Cabos really did not like it when I got sand on them and I tend to treat reels bad (laying them in sand and dunked often. Now I had read about Van Staals and thought that spending $600 on a reel was crazy, but reading how rugged they were and the problems I had with the sand and lugging around the spare reel, I decided to take the plunge and purchased a VS 150 that was used only a couple times ($500). Was not as smooth as the Cabo and I needed to get used to the bailess reel (placing line on spool). But no more back-up reel, no more worries about dunking and sand, no more bail issues, no more anti-reverse issues. I had found the reel that fits all my requirements and that I enjoyed using. The next year (during the winter) I then found a decent deal on a VS 250, hardly used. This reel would match up perfect with the rod I used this past fall. When I caught my first Albie this year and the drag was screaming it felt great landing that fish with that reel and rod. Not one problem this year with those two reels after dunking them and laying them in the sand. My quest for the ultimate reel to fit my style of fishing is over.