Van Staal VR Spinning Reels

Awesome reel, not as tight as the VS either,can't wait to try it out. J&H is the place to buy all your fishing needs. Thank you guys

Good Reel(Van Staal VR200)and even got Good service from Josh too...will buy in no time again soon..

I've fished a VS on and off for years and they are nice reels, well built but a nightmare to service. I like to take care of my gear. After every use all gear gets a wash down and some light oiling, every reel gets serviced at least once a year. The VS made that a "reel" issue. That's what caught my eye about the VR series. Much like the Zeebaas, this reel is made to be self serviced, and thats a big draw for me. I had ordered and was waiting on a new backordered Zeebaas, but I wanted a new toy for the fall run so I picked up a VR125 over at J&H in the beginning of august. I was a little skeptical as I had read mixed reviews about drag failure and such, so I figured as a first order of business (while she's still under warranty) I better test her out on something big enough to cause failure. So, on my second day as a VR owner, I spooled her up with 300 yards of maxcuatro #30, Loaded up the gear and headed off to the coimbra to see what she can do. Upon arrival we landed on a nice school of Mahi. I was tossing topwaters and pulling in monsters in no time. Several big bulls came on the boat in the first hour. As you probably know if you've fished Mahi before, #30 can get the job done, but it's definitely on the lighter side and a solid drag is essential if you want to land a nice bull. Let me just say WOW... were talking about a 125 here which is the smallest VR made (until the new vr50 is released). However, Small is not a word I would use to describe this reels ability .... the drag on this little reel performed flawlessly. Over and over again line was screaming out and each time I would catch myself saying out loud how sweet this reel handled and how smooth the drag was. I noticed absolutely no backplay in the handle as mentioned in several reviews I read. A few hours later I was lucky enough to hook into something a little more ambitious. Now to be honest at this point I'll admit I was fairly confident that my gear was outmatched, and I did come very close to getting spooled, but long fight made short, I landed a very nice 68lb yellowfin. Since that day this reel has landed countless fish from boat, sand and surf. Bass to 33lbs, monster blues, and even one shark about 5 feet in length of unknown species. I have not so far had a single issue with this reel. Its has performed far beyond what i would have expected. As far quality goes, it's definitely there. I see a lot of reviews that specifically compare the smoothness of this reel to shimano. Why do that? They are reels clearly built for different circumstances. I love my shimano's and there is a time and place to take them out over this VR. But lets be honest, shimano's are born with an allergy to salt water, they are built like a sniper, sitting high and dry off in the distance. They have a smoothness of handling on a whole other level than most reels and while absolutely built for battle, they do not belong in the trenches. I will throw my Stella confidently at just about anything that swims, but I won't throw her in the water or the sand. In fact I don't even like her being to close to water or sand. This VR has been dunked over and over and laid wet in the sand many times, and with a quick rinse it's ready for action again.. try that with your shimano and let me know where it gets you. Its a great reel at a fantastiv price. Go get one... and as always, do your shopping with J&H, Josh and his team have the all products and valuable experience to set you up with the gear you need to get the job done right.