Before I start on my review let me tell you how I fish and what I was using.

I fish the open beach out on Fire Island. On the particular beach that I fish there is a lot of beach erosion, which causes sand to slope down towards the water. This in turn causes a rather large and constant shore break. The net result of this break on the sloped beach is that a lot of sand gets thrown up in the wash. It is not uncommon to be covered in head to toe sand. For those of you that fish the suds you know what this can be like!

At this point I was rotating 4 surf reels in and out of service. 2 Penn's and 2 Shimano baitrunners. Now we all know how much shimano's like to get wet (HA HA) , at one point I had a 6500 serviced over the winter with the gears replaced and by August the gears were stripped again. I figured what the hell I'm spending so much on service I'll spring for the BIG BUCKS.

Four years ago I purchased a Van Staal VS250 with an extra spool, and paired it with a custom 11 foot Lamiglas 1132gl. By the way this stick with an oversized (20) tip, is as close to an all around rod as you can find! I cast as low as ½ oz. (more on this later) and even work pencil poppers with it.

To my amazement I actually fished an entire season without taking this reel in for service. On occasion I swim out so I can cast to fish on a bar and if I had to I could use this reel as a bowling ball in the sand! I still had a slight problem with the sand! After fishing in the wash my first crank of the handle wash still stiff. After a turn or two the reel would still work fine but that first crank still needed work.

After my first season of use I called Van Staal and told them my problem. They told me when I send my reel back for annual service they would shave 1/64 of an inch off each spool so the sand would pass though a little easier. (A bargain for the then $35.00 annual service fee) This came with a warning that if I didn't catch the line just as my lure was hitting the water I might get a little extra spillage off the spool. This has not been a problem.

There is on slight problem with reel that a couple of friends and I have. The drag washer knob protrudes out a little too far. When fishing braided line in a crosswind and not paying attention sometimes the line wraps around the knob of the drag washer! If you see it happen right away no problem if not kiss 50 to 100 yards of braided line goodbye. This happens to me once or twice a season but if you re-spool for the fall season no problem. By the way at night I only fish with mono or copolymer lines.

Overall there is no new reel on the market today that can take the abuse a Van Staal can.

I know that Van Staal has a new waterproof drag system out there and I here the drag knobs are smaller I do not know if this is still a problem.
...........Snap

Sharpest Fish Hook Sharpener.

For those of you who have waited patiently for the "sharpest fish hook sharpener article...we'll post that piece in April.