STATE OF CONFUSION

[Buffdaddy54]

Would someone please explain to me how it is worth it to me a,fresh off the boat newbie, that spending 100 dollars as opposed to spending 50 dollars on a Rod is going to A) make me a better angler and B ) how it is going to make me catch more fish. Again I'm not talking aboutYOU who is an experienced angler, I'm talking about me, a person as far as fishing is concerned, knows nothing about nothing.  And please don't tell me "if you just spend 10 more dollars...." How is that going to help me? I don't mind spending 100 dollars but as of right now if it is really not going to get me to catch more fish why should I? 

I know that the Fury and the Ghost are good rods but if my skills and sense of touch are not there yet why? It's like a golf swing, if your swing is not groves to the point that it repeats itself time and time again it makes no sense in spending 500 dollars on a driver. Groove the swing first, then go get that bright shiny new toy.

Hoping for some insight

[Onvacation]

My wife is new to fishing this year. She has been out with me a few times fishing with one of my old BPS Bionic Blade rods. I bought her a MLXF St. Croix Mojo for her birthday and a Pflueger Supreme XT. She fished it tonight for the first time with a 1/20 oz Ned rig and caught six bass in the first thirty minutes.  She said the reason she was catching them is because she was able to feel every little change in the movement of the bait and when she did, she would just set the hook.  I was fishing with a MF BPS Carbonlite and relying strictly on watching line movement. i would say her rod was a significant improvement over anything else she had ever fished with and it put more fish in her hands. She wouldn't go back. 

[lmbfisherman]

Similar story for my wife.  She always fished with a cheap rod and reel, when she used my Fenwick ET Smallmouth Spinning rod, she was amazed how much she could feel.  So now when she does go out she doesn't like that 70 dollar Shimano Zirca spinning rod anymore.  She wants to use the Fenwick.

[MickD]

I suggest you look for the sales to allow you to get the best rod you can for the money you're willing to pay.  True that most more expensive rods provide more feel.  They are also more fragile, easier to break if you don't know how to handle a good rod.  Try to get the rod that is the lightest for the power rating and you'll be getting the best. You also can help the feel situation a great deal by using braid line, which has no significant stretch.  I think that may be a bigger factor than rod sensitivity.  I like no heavier than about 15 pound on a spinning outfit.

 

http://www.rodbuilding.org/library/rodusage.pdf

[Fishin' Fool]

If you think that you'll want to continue to get better stuff I'd save up for the best you can afford up front. It will save you from buying a $50 rod, then a $100 rod then a $150 rod. Just buy the best you can afford upfront.  Oh by the way go to Sportman's Outfitters online and you can get a $150 Daiwa Tatula rod for $110 and I believe it's free shipping too.

[Master Bait'r]

I hear you but you're thinking small ball.  Short game.  

 

My advice would be to spend enough on this rod so that it is still worth selling when it's time to upgrade.  If you buy a quality rod, you can fold some of that purchase price back into the upgrade cost, thus reducing the sting in doing so.  

[Klebs01]

I was in a similar spot to the guys wives above. I started fishing a couple years ago with a $15 cabelas Combo, the upgraded to an ugly stick, then tried a st croix avid and it was a game changer. The ability to feel what was going on with my bait changed my fishing and has definitely put many more fish in the boat.  

In you analogy to golf the $500 driver is like the $500 rod. Both tend to be for the avid enthusiast.  But the $100-200 rods are like a decent set of clubs that fit you. Yeah, you can hit the ball with some Walmart clubs, but getting clubs that are appropriate to a persons swing will make a big difference even for high handicaps. 

[Senko lover]

It ain't the rod that makes the angler! I learned to fish on $50 rods, and still use two of them to this day, although I'm working on replacing them. 

[strikefc34]

I won't even say its the feel as much as the way the rods are designed. I haven't fished with a $50 rod in a long time, but they always felt sloppy from the tip to the butt. Never seemed like there was enough backbone to turn fish, or enough tip to work a bait properly. While you can certainly catch fish on a $50 rod, I think to learn to properly work a bait your better off spending twice that and getting a decent rod. When I was younger I bought a bunch of Bass Pro Extreme combos, they held up well and fished well. I sold them to a friend who fished them for years...the rods anyway...over the last 10 years they caught a pile of fish. I moved onto Dobyns Champions, and turned him onto the Fury series...he can't believe what a difference a newer $109 rod has made in his fishing. 

I'll leave you with this, $20 sunglasses will help you see into the water, Costa's or Maui Jims can make all the difference in the world. You can get by with one, the other can be a game changer.

[Cgrinder]

Yeah there are some $100 rods that give you a lot of sensitivity for the money. Better,  more durable components in some cases too. 

[EvanT123]

Stick with the $50 rods. 

[Raul]

I can whup a lot of butts with a $50 dollars rod and a $40 dollars reel, but that´s me.

[Airman4754]

Reaction baits any rod that isn't under powered is fine. Bottom contact is a completely different story. 

[new2BC4bass]

14 minutes ago, Raul said:

I can whup a lot of butts with a $50 dollars rod and a $40 dollars reel, but that´s me.

Maybe, but I bet you enjoy the $150 rod more.   

I caught a lot of fish as a pre-teen and teen with a rod that I'm sure didn't cost $20.  I would never go back to such a rod if given a choice.  Much of my pleasure is knowing I am using decent gear.  Not top-of-the-line, just decent.  Caught more fish back then, but lived in an area where fishing was much better, plus we didn't have the fishing pressure back then that is prevalent today.

[Fishin' Fool]

I don't know if it's coincidence or not but I upped my rods from $100 rods this offseason to my best 3 spinning rods are 2 NRX'S and an IMX. Last year I finished middle of the pack in my club standings 13/28. At the first event last Saturday I would have taken 1st place and big fish of the day but one of my fish died so the penalty dropped me to 3rd. Can I say immediately if having two $550 rods is what made a difference? No. We'll see what happens over the course of the tournament season.

[Raul]

19 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said:

Maybe, but I bet you enjoy the $150 rod more.   

I caught a lot of fish as a pre-teen and teen with a rod that I'm sure didn't cost $20.  I would never go back to such a rod if given a choice.  Much of my pleasure is knowing I am using decent gear.  Not top-of-the-line, just decent.  Caught more fish back then, but lived in an area where fishing was much better, plus we didn't have the fishing pressure back then that is prevalent today.

I still keep my first rod and reel, should have trashed them long time ago and sometimes I go and grab them just to remind me how terrible that gear was, still managed to catch a ton of fish with them, so back to the OP:

 

11 hours ago, Buffdaddy54 said:

that spending 100 dollars as opposed to spending 50 dollars on a Rod is going to A) make me a better angler

YES !!!!

11 hours ago, Buffdaddy54 said:

B ) how it is going to make me catch more fish

It will make you catch more fish just because it works a lot better, for example, setting the hook with a good rod is going to be done with more precision than with a lesser quality rod, the rod reacts better, sets the hook quicker and deeper ----> more hooked fish = more fish caught.

I can do a lot of butt whuping with a 50 dollars rod just because I learned to fish with something WORSE than that.

[MickD]

4 hours ago, Master Bait'r said:

I hear you but you're thinking small ball.  Short game.  

 

My advice would be to spend enough on this rod so that it is still worth selling when it's time to upgrade.  If you buy a quality rod, you can fold some of that purchase price back into the upgrade cost, thus reducing the sting in doing so.  

You NEVER EVER sell a rod.  If it's a good rod, use it. It is not possible to have too many rods. If it's not so good, give it to a kid who needs one.  That's my spin, anyway.

[Master Bait'r]

33 minutes ago, MickD said:

You NEVER EVER sell a rod.  If it's a good rod, use it. It is not possible to have too many rods. If it's not so good, give it to a kid who needs one.  That's my spin, anyway.

 

Hey as long as you know what makes ya happy!  I have space restrictions both at home/boat and limited slots so I have to play it a little different.  I simply view that as an opportunity to maximize my enjoyment of those slots though, and regularly roll-over upgrade/change components as my tastes evolve.  

 

Besides, all my "giveaway" sort of gear has already been given to our kids.  

 

[d-camarena]

You will soon learn how to fish and will have to spend more money for better gear. Or you can buy it just once amd buy the good gear from the beginning

[Raul]

20 minutes ago, d-camarena said:

You will soon learn how to fish and will have to spend more money for better gear. Or you can buy it just once amd buy the good gear from the beginning

^^^^ That´s exactly the point, but why spend in subpar gear to "learn" ? the hell with it, just go ahead and purchase the better stuff ( notice I said better, I didn´t say the most expensive ).

"Gear to learn math":

Oh well, let me get this 50 dollars rod and this 50 dollars reel while I "learn", 

$50+$50 = 100

6 months later you have "learned" ( yeah, right ) now let me get this 70 dollars ( better because now "I know " ) rod.......WHUT ?!?

$70

excuse me sir but you spent $50 dollars in a rod to learn and 6 months later you spend ANOTHER $70 bucks

$50+$70 = $120

Dude, so instead of spending $100 you actually spend $120 and now you have 2 rods that aren´t as good as a $100 dollars rod. 2 wrongs don´t make 1 right...... in what friggin´ planet it makes sense ?

[roadwarrior]

Great gear will not make a poor fisherman good, but it can make a good fisherman better.

 

[Bass Turd]

This is not about swinging a golf club and hitting the ball as hard as you can. Bass fishing is about detecting subtle bites. Sometimes very very subtle.  Just to be clear we're talking bottom baits like Texas rigged worms or jigs not crank baits. If you feel more bites you will catch more fish... simple. I have a very easy way to compare the sensitivity of two rods. Rig one rod and reel and have a friend pull out a casts length of line. Reel up the slack and close your eyes and have him tap on the line with a pencil or pen. Now switch rods and use the same line and reel. You can even leave the tags on the expensive rod and take it back if you don't feel a difference. Maybe your $50 rod is as good as the expensive one... who knows. This is a good way to test it. 

[Buffdaddy54]

Thanks everybody, going to go ahead and get a better Rod than I was originally going to buy. A lot of wisdom gleened from you guys. AND IT WAS FREE?

Boy im in trouble if you ever figure out how to charge me for all this good advice??

Seriously though, THANKS, I APPRECIATE YOU GUYS TAKING THE TIME TO SCHOOL ME!

Now then, do I go Fenwick HMG, Duckett Ghost, Dobbins Fury, or BPS Titanium?

 

[Bass Turd]

...yes!

[Robert Riley]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this, but confidence is a big part too. As people have said, for bottom fishing it is worth it. But for moving baits not so much. I use a $350 Dobyns DX745c for jigs and plastics, and I'm purchasing a $110 Dobyns Fury 734 for moving baits.