# anyone familiar with van staal reels?



## ozjoel (Jan 27, 2013)

howdy.
i have a van staal vs 150 ( about a 3000 / 3500 size in normal speak)
i have used this for a while on the barra up here in the north.
they are a fully sealed big geared (actual size of gear drive is BIG) reel with a ratio that is adeqaute for most types of fishing.
my question is, is this to big to target flatties,bream and everything in between around gold coast and sunshine coast? with, being fully sealed and able to be submersible makes them ideal for yaks, surf and rock fishing. 
just after some thoughts and opinions, 
cheers

this is the model i have.
http://www.vanstaal.com/VSS150_reels.htm


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## Marty75 (Oct 23, 2007)

Hi Joel,

Yes I have one and too bought it for it's durability features. It's a solid and relatively heavy reel and you'd be better off buying a small flick stick for the estuary species you mentioned. It's not a smooth reel as you'd attest too not great for flicking light lures etc, or spinning ingeneral for that matter, even off shore. But trolling and bait fishing I reckon it would be great particularly for some of the species you get up there.

I've got mine matched up to a 10-15kg Nitro Godzilla rod running 40lb braid.

Should last you quite a while kayak fishing, just make sure you leash it!

Marty


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## ozjoel (Jan 27, 2013)

yeah its as smooth as a blender lol.
the worse thing, is the smaller bailed series vsb 100 is even heavier lol.
i reckon i will get a jarvis walker exo spin reel, ive always been partial to that brand.
cheers for the help.


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## Marty75 (Oct 23, 2007)

Sorry mate I just realised you have a VS150. Mine is the VM150.

I've no experience with the VS sorry but I found this on the forum posted before http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=54617&p=562579&hilit=van+staal#p562579

It sounds like yours is a smaller reel so may be suited to the smaller lure fishing?

Marty


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## Guest (Jan 31, 2013)

I've never owned one, only used one. You'd be hard pushed to find a more solidly built reel, but for me they're overpriced for what they are.I remember thinking that in terms of feel it was virtually indistinguishable from the Okuma V series I had at the time. They are spectacularly expensive; for less money you could buy a Stella, which is arguably the best reel ever made. Certainly the best reel I have personally used in any case, out of my price range though unfortunately. If I owned the VA I'd be pushing for an ebay swap for a Stella. This would be a lot more versatile, and frankly better for virtually every application. You could probably pick up an extra spool from somewhere for the stella too.

cheers
starling


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## Nbh00d (Feb 12, 2012)

http://www.360tuna.com/forum/f60/stella ... taal-9294/


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## ozjoel (Jan 27, 2013)

for the money i have invested in it, i reckon i will throw it on a 2-4kg 7' spin rod loaded with 4 kg braid and give it a go.
will post back and let ya know if it is workable.
cheers.


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