Van Staal VSB250
REVIEWED
Gear & Tackle
To say that I am hard on my gear is an understatement. Back when I guided duck and goose hunts, I often handed my 12 gauge to customers and asked them how old they thought it was. The responses were usually amusing. While the gun was about fifteen years old at the time, my clients usually missed the mark and opined that the gun must have been at least thirty years old. I even had a few folks guess it was sixty or seventy years old. It probably had something to do with the fact that the vent rib on the barrel looked like a roller coaster at an amusement park, or maybe it was the outdoor furniture paint that I used on the entire gun, including the stock, in an effort to stop it from rusting. Saying that I am hard on my gear is probably too nice. I’m down right brutal.
So when it came to buying a spinning reel, I needed one that was almost indestructible and could take whatever punishment I was likely to dish out. After a lot of internet searches and a lot of reading, I settled on a short wish list. After a little more soul searching, I decided on a Van Staal, model VSB250. This reel is a version of the VS series but sports a bail over the spool. While the bail does not automatically close with a crank of the handle like so many other spinning reels, remembering to shut the bail becomes second nature and after a few casts its not a problem.
Van Staal reels are not cheap. The VSB250 sells for about $850.00. Many anglers will believe the cost puts it out of their price range, but remember, I bought this reel because I needed one that was indestructible. One of my previous reels was priced around $300 and failed when the reel-foot broke after about three years. It did not take me long to do the math. If I got three times the usage out of the Van Staal, I’d make my money back over time. Regardless of whether the math was correct, I learned very quickly that you really do get what you pay for and the VSB250 is worth every penny.
About seven years ago, I started searching for the perfect spinning reel. Having used reels made by at least two other manufacturers, I was somewhat disappointed in my choices. I had one reel-foot break and while the other was very reliable, the drag was not as smooth as I had hoped.