I have had a can staal before and it wasn’t a x series and the line lay was horrible but on the series the line lay is amazing

Been surf fishing all my life, now retired on North Padre Island, and have daily access to the Padre Island National Seashore, one of the top surf fishing locations in the world, 60 miles of driving access to totally non-commercialized seashore. The Van Staal, third one in my tackle, is the only way to go. Handles any and all that takes the hook. As my father told me, “only costs a little bit more to go first class.” Van Staal is first class.
Thanks to my wife for getting me this for Christmas, and she enjoys hers too.

Van Staal is definitely in a class by itself , by farvtje best reel I have ave ever owned. And the price from Tackle Direct beat all the other places i had looked at or considered buying from.

This reel has withstood the toughest conditions in the surf I have experienced, love how it performs.

the vsx is definitely worth the money. you get a fully sealed reel that can be buried in sand and still works, you can even reel while it's fully submerged. very nice reel for the surfcaster

I love this reel rigged,light and smooth .carries a ton of line 47LB drag all I wanted in a reel
going to mexico next month for tuna fishing i'm confident it won't let me down

I’ve been fishing it from the surf and pier and I have zero complaints! My VSX250 holds plenty of line and pairs well with my rods. It’s a beast!

I fish on LI. From the pounding open beach to the lighthouse in Montauk. This reel is the only reel I trust. Yea it's not the smoothest reel on the market (because it has seals) but it's a friggin tank. There is a reason that dam near every North East surf fisherman owns on or two... Salty dunks, crunching sand from massive surf, drops and rocks this reel just keeps preforming. It was designed to take abuse that us surf fisherman put it through. All these people bashing the reel for (wahhhh, it's not smoothe, wahhhhhh it costs a lot, wahhhh you have to buy a power knob, wahhhh it's not made in the USA anymore) the reel was not meant for casual pier fishing. It was literally designed to take a beating in the surf and to just plain work. And as for outsourcing to China that is simply for production cost. 98% of everything is made in china. Don't let the fact that it's made overseas make you think anything less. You want a solid fishing tool, this is the best.

This reel, though it is priced very high, is second to none for serious surfcasters. It will never show wear and will not be the reason for a lost fish. ever. The bailess feature takes about an hour to get used to, but once you do, its super easy and smooth. I recommend buying a power knob for a more comfortable grip.

Reel is amazing. Everything you could want. Can definitely handle big fish in the right situations.

love being able to get the reel soaked and not worry

When I moved to Florida and started fishing the piers, I used to wonder why so many people had these expensive reels. I own 3 now. Enough said, once you fish a Staal you'll understand.

Holds alot of line and built like a tank but still light weight

These Van Staal reels are the very best for central Baja surf casting. Unless you have fished there, you can't imagine how rough Baja is on gear. My Penns, although I've loved them all, don't last more than 6 months at most before they rot and fall apart. The Van Staal reel is bullet proof, seriously. As far as the price, I'll never need another reel, so I guess if you spread the price out over the same time frame that I would have bought 10 other reels, then its a great deal. Took me a long time to pull the trigger on my first VS, but I couldn't be happier. They are by far the very best reels if you need durability and dependability in extreme conditions.

Best reel for surf fishing and a nine foot rod