Zeebaas

[Sea Crappie]

Anyone fished a Zeebaas yet? The extremely light weight has me interested in it for both jigging and popping in the PE5 to PE6 range.

[peterk814]

Zeebaas makes an awesome reel..smooth dependable, submersible, and bulletproof. Surf casters here in the northeast dream of owning this expensive peice of hardware.

Crazy Al, or alberto knie, a renowned fisherman here in the northeast uses them exclusively and has used them from surfcasting for stripers to roosterfishing and jigging down in the keys.

One problem you may have is with the bailess models. It takes a little getting used to. since there is no bail you gotta catch the line with a finger. Its a bit hard at first, but you get the hang of it relatively quickly and it become second nature.

the reels also are custom color ordered so you can get a mix of spool color, body color etc making for some cool combinations. The drags are smooth. you should look into this reel for sure, if you can get past the bailless i think its a better reel than the stellas or saltigas. Once those expensive reels get wet or submerged they need to be cleaned. Zeebaas are completely sealed

[Sea Crappie]

Peter,

Thanks for the info, that was super helpful. Luckily for me, they make them with bails now as an option (as there's no way I'm using a bailess reel for tuna). I like the all custom idea.

I was worried most about the reel not being smooth, and you directly addressed that. Do you know if anyone (Al included) routinely fishes one on heavy fight drag, say around 20lbs? Do the surf guys cast them with spectra? I was a bit worried about the line lay, as the Stellas and Saltigas are designed to handle braid.

I know they're crazy expensive, but for the prices Shimano is asking for the new Stella, Zeebaas doesn't appear that bad, especially if they're better quality.

[gmack]

I noticed they now have a Z-rough series which sells for under $1000 (including the bailed model). Model ZX27RB/G holds 360 yards of 20# mono, weighs only 19.5oz and says to pull 40#'s of drag! It has a 4.75:1 gear ratio.

I know the Stellas are awsome and everything, but I think I'll be saving up this year to buy either a TwinSpin, VanStall or ZeeBaas next year.

Gary

[gman]

Originally Posted by Sea Crappie

Peter,

Thanks for the info, that was super helpful. Luckily for me, they make them with bails now as an option (as there's no way I'm using a bailess reel for tuna). I like the all custom idea.

I was worried most about the reel not being smooth, and you directly addressed that. Do you know if anyone (Al included) routinely fishes one on heavy fight drag, say around 20lbs? Do the surf guys cast them with spectra? I was a bit worried about the line lay, as the Stellas and Saltigas are designed to handle braid.

I know they're crazy expensive, but for the prices Shimano is asking for the new Stella, Zeebaas doesn't appear that bad, especially if they're better quality.

I have fished them first hand as my friend is a surfacster and I can tell you the reels are amazing. You can totally submerge that thing, get sand on it and its still as smooth as it was when you first got it. The new ones are even better as you can get 40#'s of drag out of it if you need it

My good friends at Tackle Direct have them and promote them alot. Great looks as well

[Reaux]

Originally Posted by gman

I have fished them first hand as my friend is a surfacster and I can tell you the reels are amazing. You can totally submerge that thing, get sand on it and its still as smooth as it was when you first got it. The new ones are even better as you can get 40#'s of drag out of it if you need it

My good friends at Tackle Direct have them and promote them alot. Great looks as well

This is some of the info I have. I was considering going with Stella for school BFT but now I think I'll go with the upgrade to the 2.7. At forty pounds of drag max I can set the drag at 20lbs which will mate nicely with my OTI 50 rod rated up to 7 oz. lure weight and 20lb drag max.

These are the new 2008 Stellas @ over $1,000.00 too.

ZEEBAAS ZX2.7RD - Gear Ratio 4.75 - Drag 18Kg - Weight 531g
STELLA SW10000PG - Gear Ratio 4.9 - Drag 20Kg - Weight 610g
STELLA SW10000XG - Gear Ratio 5.8 - Drag 20Kg - Weight 610g
STELLA SW18000HG - Gear Ratio 5.7 - Drag 25Kg - Weight 850g
STELLA SW20000PG - Gear Ratio 4.4 - Drag 25Kg - Weight 850g

I freely admit that I could be wrong on the line capacity for the ZB but it is the info I currently have on hand.

Line capacity:
ZX2.7RD PE 5 – 450m
10000XG PE 5 – 300m
10000XG PE 5 – 300m
18000HG PE 5 – 500m
20000 PG PE 5 – 600m

And they are meant to be self serviceable.

Reaux

[Sea Crappie]

Reaux,

You've stated very clearly why I'm giving them a serious look, in particular the 2.7. I was looking at the new Shimano Stella 10k XG, but it costs more, weighs more, has less line capacity, and isn't covered under Shimano USA warranties.

Seems like my mind might be made up.

[gman]

keep in mind this is there first real shot at expanding into big game spinning gear while Shimano specifically with the Stella model has been at the top of their game in this department. The Zee Baas reels have definately been the most sought after surf reel for some time. For me the decision was easy ... I never even thought of another brand spinning reel after using my previous Stellas for years. I went for the new 08 model and hope to enjoy it soon

Good Luck either way you go

[Bellyups]

What about the Zeebaas handle? That is one part of the reel that looks like something I couldn't tolerate.

[Sea Crappie]

Originally Posted by gman

keep in mind this is there first real shot at expanding into big game spinning gear while Shimano specifically with the Stella model has been at the top of their game in this department. The Zee Baas reels have definately been the most sought after surf reel for some time. For me the decision was easy ... I never even thought of another brand spinning reel after using my previous Stellas for years. I went for the new 08 model and hope to enjoy it soon

Good Luck either way you go

gman,

I have several stellas, and definitely love them. The biggest problem I have with the new ones is warranty related, at least until the US version arrives. The points you bring up though about big game vs. surf are exactly why I'm asking about the ZB here. I've heard before that the surf guys love them, but I will be using this reel for popping and jigging offshore, with 20lbs of drag.

Bellyups,

They have a "power handle" with a large oval handle.