Is there a limit to cost and tech of rods & reels?

[justfishin]

I have noticed over the last few years that rods and reels, both spinning and baitcasting, have rocketed as far as price and technology. Where is the ceiling? Although I enjoy some of the advancements in technology and the quality of this new equipment, the prices are getting insane. I am old school, especially on my baitcasting reels. I love my Curado's, don't get me wrong, but, I still use my Abu Garcia 5600 C3's most of the time. I also love the C4's. I don't mind spending a few hundred bucks on a good rod and reel. Most of my rods and reels cost me around two to three hundred bucks apiece. No problem. I am talking about the reels that cost four hundred bucks with the addition of a four hundred dollar rod. We are talking eight hundred bucks a outfit. Is it really worth it? I know a lot of fisherman around here that own this kind of equipment that are horrible fisherman. They don't know jack, but, they have the best money can buy. I guess my question, to the point is, where do you draw the line? Is that thousand dollar rod and reel going to fish that much better than a three hundred dollar setup? I would like to hear some points made on this subject with some backup. Good luck to all this season and may your rods stay bent !  

[cart7t]

When you're spending mega bucks for a high end rod a good deal of the cost is for the lifetime warranty as much as for the rod itself.  The high end stuff is lighter and more sensitive at the cost of fragility.  As for the reels, you're usually talking about high end materials used in construction that make the reels lighter.  Scads of bearing packs that create the illusion that this thing is a true mechanical work of art.  In the long run, as manufacturing techniques with these materials improve and the cost of the raw materials lowers, these same features will make it down the line to rods and reels most of us can afford.

Fear not,  you're really not missing out on that much not owning a dozen rods and reels that cost as much as a small car.

[KYbass1276]

I personally won't go over $500 on a combo myself

[Hot n Tot]

I personally won't go over $500 on a combo myself

I agree, once you get beyond Legend Elites, GLX, Shimano Chronarchs, you are not getting alot of value for the extra dollars, although if someone has the money, then why not? I also collect and shoot handguns, and they usually cost in excess of $1000 a pop, and I can't take them all to the range at once, but when I do take them I enjoy them. About the same with fishing rods, I collect them as well and have more than I can use in any one fishing outing. It's more than I need, but if I can afford it and enjoy it what does it hurt? Some (including my wife ) think it's excessive, but if I enjoy it, why not? It's my leisure time here and I'm not going to put a price limit on what I enjoy as long as I can afford it and still save for retirement. Back to handguns, you can buy a Kimber Gold Match (1911 clone), for under $1200, but easily spend twice that for a custom 1911. Will the custom shoot better? usually not, finished nicer? yeah probably, better handgun? yeah, sure marginally, and lots of guys say it's not worth twice the price.  But there are enough shooters who will willing plunk down the dollars to keep the custom shops in business. Lot's of people today looking for ways to spend their leisure dollars. Hey, my wife likes to cruise in the caribbean, we can easily drop $4000 for a week in the sun counting air fare, souveniers, cruise ship fees, you name it. Me, I'd rather have a new GLX and Chronarch that I'll have for years. ;D

[dodgeguy]

i also think the prices are ridiculous.that said, if i could afford it i would fish with all diawa steez rods and reels.they are just sooooo light!!!but since i can't afford it i'm happy with my pflueger reels on bass pro rods.

[RiskKid.]

I get what you are saying. However I guess I fall into the category of buying nice equipment that someone with more experience may appreciate more. Not that I'm a horrible fisherman but I'm not very good yet as I've only been at it 1 1/2 years. However I have worked hard and paid some dues over the years to get myself to a point where I can splurge every now and then. At Christmas I bought myself a Steez baicast reel as a present to myself. Even with my limited experience I can detect the difference (the light weight is great). It is a pleasure and joy to use. I know its not going to help me catch any more fish than I would on my Citica but I enjoy using it. It is probably not worth a penny more than the Citica if you measure its worth by how many more fish you will catch (a cadillac or a chevy will get you to the destination) but its nice to have an occasional luxury if you can afford it. Just for the record I really like using my Citica too. It's like having a Chevy and a Cadillac, you can enjoy them both. Plus I'd bet there are alot of not so good drivers out there in Cadillacs.  ;D

[cart7t]

I think everyone thinks in the terms of buying new everything.  If you spend some time on bass fishing forums that have swap and sell forums you'll often find used equipment in great condition costing way below new.  

[=Matt 5.0=]

Meh, I dunno. Some of this stuff is just insane-o. I'll fish with a bamboo rod and some kite string just to be out on the water....

[Raul]

I know a lot of fisherman around here that own this kind of equipment that are horrible fisherman.

Having expensive state of the art and techologically advanced equipment does not equal being a good consistent angler and knowing how to get the most out of it. It 's like owning a high performance car, you may own it but that doesn 't mean you can drive it like Schumacher does, and if you want to drive it like he does better have your life insurance policy updated cuz most probably you are going to need it.

Will I go for a $500 combo ? ..... hey, why so little ?; don 't limit me. I already have 500 bucks combos.

[Garnet]

Thats the great thing about fishing, money will not buy success.

Doesn't matter how much you spend it takes time.

If tournament fishing success is what you want hire the best stick you can and pay all his cost for your tournaments.

This is the only short cut I've seen.

Garnet

[Alpster]

Meh, I dunno. Some of this stuff is just insane-o. I'll fish with a bamboo rod and some kite string just to be out on the water....

There are some custom bamboo fly rods that sell for $5000 and more. My deal is, that any time I get to spend on the water is precious time and I intend to enjoy it to the fullest. I sometimes load the boat with fish and sometimes I get skunked. It may be hard for some to understand the joy that I find in fishing with a finely tuned, light, balanced, fishing rig. Yep, it can be expensive, but even when I don't catch fish, I enjoy the fact that I brought my best to the water. You don't have to be winning racer to enjoy driving fast car. All of us would fish with high end equipment if money were no object. It just happens to be an object LOL.  JMHO

Ronnie

[Bud]

                             There are some custom bamboo fly rods that sell for $5000 and more. My deal is, that any time I get to spend on the water is precious time and I intend to enjoy it to the fullest. I sometimes load the boat with fish and sometimes I get skunked. It may be hard for some to understand the joy that I find in fishing with a finely tuned, light, balanced, fishing rig. Yep, it can be expensive, but even when I don't catch fish, I enjoy the fact that I brought my best to the water. You don't have to be winning racer to enjoy driving fast car. All of us would fish with high end equipment if money were no object. It just happens to be an object LOL.  JMHO

 

Nicely said Ronnie

[Hot n Tot]

Yeah, Ronnie has a way of nicely putting things into context. I totally agree with the above.

[justfishin]

:)Well put Ronnie. I guess you pretty much hit the nail on the head.

[Long Mike]

All rhetoric aside, it's very simple.  Buy the best equipment that you can afford.  Assuming the skill level of the fisherman is a constant, there is an obvious "price of equpment" vs "number of fish caught" point where the number of fish caught does not increase with the price of the equipment.  I have no idea what that break-over point is but I think the rod is the most important component of that ratio.  So, as I said, buy the best equipment you can afford, but spend at least two-thirds of your money on the rod.

[flechero]

Well put, Alpster.

I'm not big on the high tech reels [yet] but i certainly fall into the nerd category on rods...  I am almost counting the days until we have sub 1oz blanks in the 784 or 844 range.  Someday [i hope] we will have to be looking to reduce the weight behind a reel because just the split cork grip will be too much and cause negative balance.    Ahh...  I can't wait!  And yes, I will be willing to pay a hefty price for it.  ...lol  I can't take it with me when I die!!

[justfishin]

Thanks for the input guys. I think I will put a ceiling on my rod and reel setup of $500.00 tops. I know, I know, never say never,lol.

[Raul]

Exactly, never say "I will not drink from that well " .... you are going to drown in it.  

Also, if you never try you can never know nor have an educated opinion on something that 's completely foreign to you.

You have no idea the pleasure I get when I grab my reel and appreciate the aesthetics of it, how it feels when you have it in your hand, the joy I get when I mount it on one of my rods and when I cast a weightless 4 inch grub into the wind and it flies into the next zip code, if I don 't catch anything it doesn 't matter at all, catching a fish is just the cherry on the top of the cake.

[roadwarrior]

All rhetoric aside, it's very simple. Buy the best equipment that you can afford. Assuming the skill level of the fisherman is a constant, there is an obvious "price of equpment" vs "number of fish caught" point where the number of fish caught does not increase with the price of the equipment. I have no idea what that break-over point is but I think the rod is the most important component of that ratio. So, as I said, buy the best equipment you can afford, but spend at least two-thirds of your money on the rod.

Long Mike,

From a functional standpoint (catching), you may be right, but the reel is what enhances my enjoyment of the "fishing" component. On average, my reels represent 2/3 -3/4 of the total cost of the rig.

[TournyFish001]

do what makes you happy- don't spend more than you can afford.  that being said lighter more sensitive equipment will put more fish in the boat- I will argue that til the end of time.  true a better fisherman with lesser equipment will outfish a not so good fisherman that has high end equipment most of the time.  Let the better fisherman use the high end equipment and he will improve on himself.  the differences in outfits is not always directly cost related: be mindful of what is out there and make an educated well thought out purchase and the $500.00 dollar combo will be just as good as a 8 to 900 dollar Steez combo- IMO...    Just know when you actually need or can use that higher end sensitve gear; I would suggest buying the higher end stuff for worm/jigging/drop-shot/carolina rigging ect, and not spend so much on say top water/spinnerbait/crankbait rigs- the reaction type bites are; they are either on or not- where as you can use the increased sensitivity more on finesse oriented tactics.

[Shadcranker]

My limits are as follows:

Reels- for 90% of my baitcaster fishing Curados- $200 ea. I am probably going to step up and buy a Chronarch or two to treat myself, but I don't need them.

As for spinning reels- the Symetre might be the finest $79 reel ever made. It's all I need.

Rods- I am buying Powell Bass Max Rods now- from $169 to $180, and they're awesome in my opinon. I like both the spinning and BC rods, although most of the rods I'm buying are BC's. As far as spinning rods, the Crucial line works great and is a great value for $129.

I have around $380 in most of my BC combos, and anything above that is overkill to me. Spinning combos around $210 ea, and they're all I need.

Find what works for you, but yes there is a choking point on this stuff.

[MickD]

Let's restate the field we are dealing with-this is a bass fishing site.  So we don't have to worry about runs against the drag of 100 yards or more.  We are dealing with a few feet or yards.  

With spinniing, it's all about the rod.  And with any technology, with added price there is a diminishing return.  Usually what you get with rods above $90-100 are better guides and more guides.  And that is not a lot of gain.  I have never had a guide fail except for grooving the tip top.  So put on a new one every few years.  As for the reel, anything above about $80-90 will not yield much advantage.  It will all be in long term durability and smoothness.  But not a lot.

With bait casting it is all about the reel.  The more money you put into the reel, the better reel and fishing experience you will have, and going up to well over $200 will get you significant performance advantages.  

My opinion, with spinning, get the most expensive rod you can afford with a good $75 reel, and with bait casting get the most expensive reel you can afford with a good $100 rod.  Watch for sales.  and Ebay.

At this site we tend to get a little anal about the small stuff, so use your judgement and you will do OK.  We have all fished with less than the "best" and have had a lot of fun.  Really expensive tackle won't make you a better fisherman, it will just make fishing a little easier or more pleasant.

[sal669]

With spinniing, it's all about the rod. And with any technology, with added price there is a diminishing return. Usually what you get with rods above $90-100 are better guides and more guides. And that is not a lot of gain. I have never had a guide fail except for grooving the tip top. So put on a new one every few years. As for the reel, anything above about $80-90 will not yield much advantage. It will all be in long term durability and smoothness. But not a lot.

With bait casting it is all about the reel. The more money you put into the reel, the better reel and fishing experience you will have, and going up to well over $200 will get you significant performance advantages.

My opinion, with spinning, get the most expensive rod you can afford with a good $75 reel, and with bait casting get the most expensive reel you can afford with a good $100 rod. Watch for sales. and Ebay

I totaly agree !!!  My bc reels make up to 3/4 of the price of the combo (or even more)

[Long Mike]

DanekM, you said what I said, but said it a lot better than I did.  I use spinning equipment exclusively, so never considered the importance of the BC reel.  :-[  RW, feel free to say "I told you so."  It becomes obvious that the reel vs rod cost ratio can easily be inverted depending on your choice of fishing method.  i.e. BC or spinning.  As for the catch ratio vs price of equipment, I still have no idea.