Fishing Tackle: Van Staal submersible spin reels

Van Staal’s new-release VR series offers the famous Van Staal features—including all seven seals that keep the reel completely sealed and waterproof—at a mid-level price point. This is great news for kayak, beach and hardcore anglers seeking the most durable spin reel with the best protection against saltwater and sand intrusion.

The new Van Staal VR reels have seals positioned throughout the spool, body and handle assembly. The patented drag system is a stack of six carbon fibre and six stainless steel washers and it is also sealed and waterproof, making the VR reels literally submersible — which in practical terms means far less maintenance and better durability for fishing conditions, such as kayak and beach scenarios where your reel takes on waves or is otherwise in regular contact with saltwater and sand.

The VR Series reels also feature Van Staal’s new braid-optimised oscillating system that delivers the perfect line lay every time, for increased casting distance, control and line capacity. Other VR Series features include: a massive main gear that is spiral-bevelled, as is the pinion gear; a 4.8:1 gear ratio; aluminium handle with Delrin ball-style knob; a titanium-nitride coated main shaft; the body is fully machined from 6061-T6 aluminium; and each reel comes with parts and a tool for easy maintenance and conversion from a bailed reel to manual pick-up.

The VR series is also modular, with the one body used for all four spool sizes — 125, 150, 175 and 200 — with two rotor sizes used for this spread, so you can have one reel with spares to cover multiple tasks. The braid line capacities range from 400yd of 20lb in the VR125 up to the VR200’s capacity of 500yd of 40lb.

Van Staal says if your fishing environment destroys anything but a fully-machined, over-engineered, truly sealed and waterproof reel, then the low maintenance and durability of the its VR Series is what you need. It reckons only one reel is tougher and it’s also a Van Staal.