Overview
Continuing Shimano’s consistent pursuit of reducing weight, lower start-up inertia, enhanced sensitivity, and overall elevating your fishing experience, the Shimano Vanford FA Spinning Reels raise the bar for Shimano’s MagnumLite lineup of spinning reels with top-tier technologies passed down from flagship reels. Highlighted by an MGL Rotor and ultra lightweight CI4+ body, the Vanford FA Spinning Reels provide significantly low start-up inertia, which enables anglers to maintain control and provide immediate reel action to keep lures in the strike zone with modern techniques.
Internally, the Vanford FA Spinning Reels feature Shimano’s InfinityXross and Infinity Drive technologies that deliver a refined gear design and reduce contact between the spool shaft and pinion gear to create unmatched smoothness and sensitivity. DuraCross drag technology also blends the smooth drag performance of felt but adds the wear resistance of carbon to give anglers tenfold drag durability for battling big fish. Offered in a huge range of sizes, the Shimano Vanford FA Spinning Reels set the new standard as the premier spinning reel for finesse anglers.
Features:
-Infinity Drive
-X-Protect
-Cross Carbon Drag
-S-Compact Body
-HAGANE Body
-CI4+
-InfinityXross
Awards
ICAST 2024 Best of Show
Freshwater Reel
Freshwater Reel
Specifications
| Model | Retrieve | Gear Ratio | Weight | Line Cap. | Bearings | |
| VF2500HGA | Right/Left | 5.8:1 | 6.2 | 8/140, 10/120 | 7BB + 1RB | Buy Now |
| VFC3000XGA | Right/Left | 6.4:1 | 6.3 | 8/170, 10/140 | 7BB + 1RB | Buy Now |
| VF500A | Right/Left | 5.6:1 | 4.9 | 4/100 | 6BB + 1RB | Buy Now |
| VFC2000HGA | Right/Left | 6.0:1 | 5.5 | 6/165, 8/105 | 7BB + 1RB | Buy Now |
| VF4000XGA | Right/Left | 6.2:1 | 7.6 | 10/200, 12/160 | 7BB + 1RB | Buy Now |
| VFC5000XGA | Right/Left | 6.2:1 | 7.9 | 12/195, 14/165 | 7BB + 1RB | Buy Now |
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Customer Reviews
Among the FinestThis reel truly shines. I have several Shimano reels. They're truly great products produced by a great company. This thing absolutely craps on my stradic and hangs with the twin. Nice light weight reel you can throw all day. Like many nice reels, proper care is key. Many new reels can be a bit loud out of the box until broken in. Not this one!
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Awesome reelFirst I would like to say I am a hardcore fisherman I don’t abuse my equipment but it gets used. My fishing is done on the Susquehanna River in PA. I have used the old vanfords since they came out and was happy with the way they performed. When the new ones came out I thought I would give them a try and they are amazing. I went with the 3000 series and I must say I wasn’t disappointed the drag is a lot smoother the performance is night and day also it casts a lot better than the older models whatever they incorporated in this new reel is absolutely amazing it’s like having there high end reel without the price. Amazing job Shimano thanks TW for carrying there line.
Smooth, light, and strongPurchased the 3000 FA a couple months ago. And l’m going to get the 2000. It does feel better than my 2023 Vanfords(l have 3 of the 2500 series) but all of them are great. Caught A 11 lb 4 oz walleye and a 6lb 4 oz SMB and Numerous 4-5 lb SMB so far. I even hooked a large Muskie on my 1000 series Vanford and played him for several minutes before he Got off on 6lb line. These reels are strong and l’ve been using Shimano spinning reels for over 30 years, both spinning and casting. I’ve owned Diawas, Shakespeare, and numerous other brands, but l really like my Shimano. I canoe and kayak fish a lot now, and l’ve dunked my Vanfords 5-10 times at least, and have dunked them also while wading, and it did not affect none of my Vanford spinning reels. Enough said. I am not Affiliated with Shimano in any way, but l highly recommend their reels.
Beast of a spinning reelI spend most of my time with casting gear, if I go finesse I prefer BFS, but I still got a couple spinning setups. Wanted a higher end reel for my strolling/senko/general purpose spinning rod (Expride 6’8”M) than my Miravel, and it just so happened this was announced at ICAST last year around that same time, so preordered it, got it last September. I’ve been fishing it hard since then whenever I decided to set down the casting gear. VERY light and smooth, has held up great. Drag is very smooth on it, doesn’t catch or anything like that, plays big TX largies great. It’s a very nice looking reel too, which is always a plus. It’s not ultra high end like some of my casting gear, but it certainly still feels high end to me! 11/10 in my books
AWESOME REELI needed a new rig for Slider fishing for the huge magnum spotted bass here on the Lower Coosa River. I bought last year's (discontinued) 6'7" ML Poison Adrena Spinning Rod. To match it, I needed the perfect reel. I found that in the new Shimano Vanford FA C2000HG. It's lightweight design, smooth drag, and strong gear perfectly handles these demon-possessed Alabama Spotted Bass! 10lb Smackdown braid to 8lb Tatsu fluoro leader perfectly fits the bill, and with a 1/16oz Spider Slider head and Junebug Zoom finesse worm, you have a system that catches bass 24/7/365. I keep it rigged on my deck all the time. It's NEVER a bad choice to get bit.
2500HG Wow!I was looking for a lightweight, smooth reel specifically for throwing drop shot and wacky rigs. Paired this reel with a Megabass P5 Landsat and first trip out it blew me away. Drag was super smooth...could hear it but not feel it and plenty of winding power. Reel had a solid feel that was comfortable to fish with all day. Had zero problems handling 4 & 5lb smallies...money well spent!
Strong and silky smooth!These reels changed the game for me when it comes to spinning tackle! Super smooth even after catching fish with a drag that actually does what you want it to with consistent pressure and when it starts to slip it's consistent going out. There's no risk of a fish breaking you off close to the boat because this drag will let them run, but won't totally break loose or randomly grab. Perfect reel!
This is Best in Class Bang for your BuckI have fished the New Vanford FA in multiple sizes now since the launch last summer. I have to say the 2500hg and 3000xg are some of my favorite reels to fish with when I want a light combo. Pound for pound these things punch above their weight class for sure in that 250 dollar price point. And yes I own and fish plenty of Daiwas too. Not a fanboy one way or another. Shimano did a nice job with this new version. They even look better
Awesome spinning reel!This has got to be the best spinning reel on the market for the money, I think the new vanford works better than diawas most expensive reel. The vanford will always be on my rods.
Super smoothI’ve own a lot of shamino reels they never seize to amaze me i bought three of them knowing how great they would be looking forward to fishing with them in the spring.