Shimano 24 FA Vanford 3000HG
My Shimanao 24 FA Vanford 3000HG Unboxing and Review.
TACKLE REVIEWS.
Steven Northey
10/31/20254 min read
I ordered my Vanford from Chesil Bait N Tackle online here. The reasons I ordered from them were that they had one in stock, and the other being a member of The Dorset Lure club on Facebook here, where you can get 10% off their website. My Vanford arrived in a few days; it came in a dark silver box with the model and brand on the box. Upon opening it, you have the instructions and a bag of spare washers, etc. The reel was packed securely inside; see images.
Unboxing and Review ...
I screwed on the handle and the reel looked stunning. I attached it to my Black Swan 852M, and the balance was spot on. See images. You have a rod that weighs only 97g, which is unbelievable, and adding on the 180g of the Vanford gives you a combo of 277g—a pretty amazing lightweight setup. As this combo is primarily for fishing in the estuaries, I went lighter on my braid. My preference for braid is Shimano Kairiki Braid; I have used it for a while, and it suits my needs perfectly. I had been using 18lb braid but wanted to go lighter, so I opted for their next one down, the 14lb one in lime green. Now it was time to go and try this setup out.
When I purchased my favorite Black Swan rod, I tried my Shimano Stradic 4000XG on it, but it felt a little too large for such a light rod; I needed a lighter reel. So, I decided to go for something smaller. I do like my Shimano reels, so something similar to my Stradic was what I was searching for. Shimano had recently upgraded their Vanford range of reels, and the black/silver finish with red lines looked nice to go on the Black Swan. The Vanford FA 3000HG met all my needs, and I went for this one ...
My first trip out only produced a couple of micro bass, but on my second trip early one morning, I had an epic couple of hours fishing. You can read more about this in a previous blog I wrote here. This morning was to test this rod and reel and give them both a proper christening. I got set up, and being a dull morning at first light, I clipped on a White N Flash Espetit 95mm Surface Lure. I waded out to Matt from bassluresuk.com, who was already fishing. I had a quick chat and proceeded to start fishing. After being told I had missed all the fun on the third cast, I was hit by an almighty splash on the surface. The rod arched over, and the reel performed beautifully together. I shouted to Matt that this one was decent, and he came and helped net it for me. Upon measuring, it was a new PB for me at 62cm. I landed a couple more nice bass and lost a couple that wonderful morning. The Vanford performed excellently when matched with the Black Swan; this setup will be awesome when fishing with creature baits.
To see the full details of the Vanford range you can check them out here on the Shimano website here.
Conclusion ...
The Shimano Vanford is an excellent reel with a RRP of £249.99. It has several upgraded features from the previous model, and it is one of Shimano’s most sensitive spinning reels. It is ideal for a wide range of finesse fishing styles. I found that using it for surface lures matched with the Black Swan was a perfect balance for this type of fishing. Creature bait fishing into late autumn and winter is where I am hoping to utilize this combination to entice some of the bass who seem to reside in our estuaries here in Cornwall. Anyone who is looking for this size reel, I would recommend checking it out, available at all Shimano stockists. As always, if you are new to lure fishing, I always recommend you go to a local tackle shop and check out a reel before you buy one. Try them on your rod and see that they feel good together; this will help you in your fishing sessions to come.
Thanks for reading my review. Tight lines. Steve@ Kernowbass
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