Where to invest $$?

[Paul Roberts]

The rod, hands down.

[islandbass]

3 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

The rod might be more important for "catching", but the reel makes the fishing fun!

This is the truth! I second the motion. 

[FishTank]

The rod for sure.  The reel cast the line and brings in the fish.  If a reel can do that then the rod is what sets the hook and communicates what's going on under the water.  

 

But on the other hand if I am buying an all purpose rod and reel set up for $500 or less> St. Croix Avid MH Fast and a Shimano Curado K. 

[WRB]

55 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

Being relatively “new” getting back into the game, I’m probably more of a 50%-50% guy. But if (when) I start getting into higher-end gear, my guess is that in the long run, more $$$ in the rod probably is a better investment than the reel. 
 

But as my “top of the line” rig is now a Daiwa Fuego CT on a Fenwick HMX, what the heck do I know lol. 

Investment wise reels hold more value then rods as I learned recently selling nearly everything. Example my original Daiwa TD red Fuego casting sold for what I paid for it 15 years ago, my Fenwick Techna Av cost $300 and sold it for $25 including the custom case.

Tom

PS, I offered to give the rod to a local BR member with no interest , state of the art jig  rod and couldn’t give it away because it was 6’6” MF fast!!! 

[NJBasstard]

Most of my current combos fall in the $250 - $400 retail range, but I'm the type to either wait for a sale on what I want or find a deal on something lightly used. I'll spend more on a bottom contact rod than I will on a moving bait rod. For reels I try to stay in the $150 - $225 range. I'm not against spending more but I feel like that's where I've gotten the most value for my money.

[Boomstick]

I would say it varies as you move up the ladder on the gear chain. For example if you have the bottom of the line reel that birds nests all the time on you and a pretty solid rod, you're going to spend your time picking out birds nests and not catching fish. I can catch fish on a Berkley Cherrywood rod and a Daiwa Fuego CT or Shimano SLX reel for example, so at the lower price points the reel is more important for sure.

 

Once you step up to a usable reel, the rod is more important. If I upgrade that Berkley Cherrywood to a better rod, I will be able to feel what's going on better and detect some finicky bites I may not have otherwise been able to feel.

Finally, there is a third factor which is line. This doesn't mean you have to have Tatsu or Shooter necessarily, but something that at least usable. Berkley Big Game is usable and it's cheap. But if I put P-Line fluroclear on my Daiwa Steez rod and reel, I might as well have saved the money and bought generic made in China rod and reel of which the brand none of us have ever heard of.

 

The other thing to consider is purpose. I have a good number of Tatula SVs, but I didn't need a Tatula SV to throw a frog on (not like I'm skipping it) so I saved some money and went with a Tatula CT and it works just as well for that purpose. My #1 spinning reel is still the Daiwa BG I paid $40 for - it's a bit heavier than more expensive reels but the drag is solid so I'm not running out the door to upgrade it.

 

2 hours ago, Michigander said:

Longevity is part of the extra cost of the fancier reels imo. But I have to blow through 8ish discounted Fuegos to break even on one Steez. Assuming it's a purely money equation.

I can't wait to get my Steez SV. And if it lasts me 20 years then it was a good investment.

[BrianMDTX]

20 minutes ago, WRB said:

Investment wise reels hold more value then rods as I learned recently selling nearly everything.

To be frank, I meant investment more from practical aspect rather than a financial one. In other words, I would think most bass anglers would get more benefit out of a more expensive (read: sensitivity, feel, etc.) rod than a more expensive reel. Granted, not all would fit that mold (those who use crankbaits, spinnerbaits, etc. as their most frequently used baits might appreciate that high $$$ reel more). But I would think the sensitivity you get from a really good rod makes more of a difference fishing soft plastics, jigs, etc. than the reel. 

 

Once again, not that I know from experience with $300.00 and up rods and reels lol. 

[Shimano_1]

Most of my setups are a little more money spent on the reels. Usually stick to the 150-200 dollar reels and 100 dollar rods. Find the reels on sale and its closer to 50/50. For me....that price point is where you get pretty good quality and durability without breaking the bank. 

[swhit140]

I'll typically spend a bit more on the rods. All of my rod/reel equipment was purchased on sale/discount so I've never spent full price. Most of my rod/reel setups go from $225-325

[sideways2]

9 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

But as my “top of the line” rig is now a Daiwa Fuego CT on a Fenwick HMX, what the heck do I know lol. 

 

I think this is great!! I put my CT on an Eagle and I'm super pumped to try it this spring!!

 

One more thing... not sure how many of you do but I value drag more than anything. My CT came in last week and I think it'll be very nice. My BG2500 is on it's way and I'm hoping it'll be every bit as good if not better than the Penn Battle 3 I had in my hands the other day... that reel felt awesome!! Like a finely crafted machine... it felt better in my hands than any higher priced Shimano's!!

 

But like BrianMDTX said I'm also new coming back so what the heck do I know

[kayaking_kev]

I've had one combo where I've spent more on the reel than the rod and that's only because I got 40% off of a Dobyns Fury and paired it with a SLX XT I got for $90. 

 

My most expensive casting rod is a Conquest and reel is a Metanium MGL 150, followed by an Dobyns Xtasy & and Tatula SV TW. So I typically spend at least twice as much on a rod than reel.

 

My most expensive spinning rod is a Custom X-Ray MB-733 and the reel is a Vanford 2500, which would probably be twice as much as the reel if I didn't build it myself. 

[Randy Price]

If you were looking at a spinning setup in the $ 500.00 range I'd recommend a Shimano Vanford 2500 and a St. Croix Avid in ML or M.  IMO at this price point you're getting a good ROI.  I have several top of the line SC rods and they are better than the AVID but IMO not 2X as good as what they cost.  On the high end rods you're paying for lighter weight, higher end components, and yes they are more sensitive but again IMO not 2X more.

[YoTone]

Id say Id split the two evenly but I get more bang per buck on rods since most of my rods used. Reels with all its parts I usually buy new unless its a steal.

[LCG]

I use to think the rod, but for me it wasn't the most sensitive, it was the one that was the most comfortable and felt like an extension of my arm. It so happens that for me that's a BPS Carbonlite 2.0 casting and spinning. 

 

Reels I upgraded to a Shimano Stradic FL, a Curado K, and an SLX MGL and I can feel the smoothness and retrieve, drag, and overall feel. Solid reels will probably last longer than the rod and its something that you are always interacting with, so why not enjoy a quality reel. 

[txchaser]

On 12/1/2020 at 4:51 PM, Msl819 said:

Is this true for spinning and casting setups?

I think much more so for casting than for spinning.  Queue up the haters, but the difference between my stradic and my okuma epixors is there, but it's tiny. If I had to do it all over again I'd just put better drag in the okuma and be done with it - startup is a little slow/tough vs the stradic.

 

[txchaser]

On 12/1/2020 at 8:01 PM, Boomstick said:

Finally, there is a third factor which is line. This doesn't mean you have to have Tatsu or Shooter necessarily, but something that at least usable. Berkley Big Game is usable and it's cheap. But if I put P-Line fluroclear on my Daiwa Steez rod and reel, I might as well have saved the money and bought generic made in China rod and reel of which the brand none of us have ever heard of.

 

 

Makes a good case to upgrade the line before you upgrade the rod and see how much different it is. Line will still be on the spool if you upgrade the rod. 

 

___
The more I think about it, I think this is all pretty presentation specific. At first I was in the 2/3 rod 1/3 reel, assuming you were hitting the 100 reel price point at a minimum. But then I realized I have at least one presentation where the sensitivity of the rod is a far lower priority to me than the reel or the line - open hook swimming presentation. I like a really specific action on this presentation (something like a mod fast) and fish it with braid. It is something like 20% of my casts if not more (I fish a lot of grass flats and edges) and distance matters, as well as smoothness, because it's a lot of reeling and a lot of casting. If I don't count what is in transit, my most expensive reel is on this rod, and it actually cost more than the rod.

 

Almost inverted on my jig rod though, I don't really care much what reel is on it as long as it's good enough, but I care a lot about the rod and the line. 

 

And everything in the middle I'm probably in the 60 rod/40 reel to 50/50. But on nearly every one of these combos the (not bulk) spool of line cost like 20% of the reel.

 

Net net save $50 of the 500 and buy really nice line. And if you are at the $250 price point stop at $100 on the reel and put the rest into the rod. The difference between $100 rod and $150 rod is pretty noticable, at least to me. 

 

[DitchPanda]

I tend to favor the rod for spinning and even split for casting. Several $300 casting combos $150 rod $150 reel. Most spinning the rods are $100-$150 and the reels are $50-$75. That said there are so many good options around $100 for both spinning and casting rods and reels that a $200 combo of today us better than a $300 combo of 5 years ago.

As you go up in price I completely agree on the point of diminishing returns. I've compared a $200 rod to a $400 one...is there a difference?yes. Is it twice as good? Not in my opinion. Then again that's for everybody to decide for themselves.

[the reel ess]

I tend toward spending more on the reel. There are techniques that don't require a lot of sensitivity that allow you to save $$$ on the rod. For instance, spinnerbaits. I use an old $40 Lightning rod for that. But the reel is a $130 Lew's because I want it to last a long time. It already has, actually.

 

On the other hand I have a $79 Daiwa Fuego on a $130 Falcon Lowrider rod (bought used for $50). But that's the only exception. I'm one of those guys whose pain threshold slows him at around $100. I've never spent more than $130 on a rod or reel.