Casting rod price points...

[nralover]

Guys, at what price point can a truly good rod be bought? I have spent 100.00 on some spinning rods, but I'll go higher if need be. In your opinions, at what cost do you notice a step up in durability, build quality, and most of all sensitivity. Further, at what price point do you start getting diminishing returns?

[Raul]

Durability ? the rod is as durable as you make it durable, my oldest rods date back when I began fishing, that would be 36 years ago.

Build quality ? you can get build quality from a 25 dollars rod, quality components ? now that 's a different story.

Sensitivity ? depends on how much you want/need, from 70 and up you begin to obtain sensitivity an you begin the diminishing returns around the 250 mark.

[0119]

No matter how much I try to like my Cumara's, and St Croix Legends Tournament rods, I cant say I enjoy using them anymore than my St Croix Premier or Mojo $90 rods.  Look for clearances at local shops too.  My favorite rod is a Crucial crankbait rod I found at a small shop cut to $60.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Good quality components can be assemble and hand fit for a spinning rod suitable for bass fishing for about $85. Top of the line SC V graphite blank, titanium alconite guides and premium reel seat can be done for $190. Butt wraps, decals etc can all be added at additional cost. You choose wrap color, grip style and length, power and action of rod.

IMHO once get above $200 on a production rod, your paying for brand and marketing and have limited choices.

Mike

[Paul Roberts]

Good quality components can be assemble and hand fit for a spinning rod suitable for bass fishing for about $85. Top of the line SC V graphite blank, titanium alconite guides and premium reel seat can be done for $190. Butt wraps, decals etc can all be added at additional cost. You choose wrap color, grip style and length, power and action of rod.

IMHO once get above $200 on a production rod, your paying for brand and marketing and have limited choices.

Mike

Excellent post.

You decide what you are willing to afford. You DO gain sensitivity as you move up the price scale, to somewhere near $200.00, but it's not linear. That is, a Cumara is NOT twice the sensitivity of a Compre. And a Compre is NOT twice the sensitivity of a Clarus.

The Convergence series at ~$40 bucks is a good IM6 stick, as good as we had so many years ago, and we caught a lot of bass then too. Just using Shimano's here, for comparison. There are LOTS of good rods out there.

Where you start to notice a difference in performance is in longer and/or stronger blanks. Short, light power rods can get by with lesser quality materials. Longer more powerful blanks get cumbersome as more of that lesser quality material needs to be built up to get the power and rigidity needed. This is esp noticeable in fly-rods. You can get good performance in a 7ft fly rod for a pittance. But similar performance in a 9fter requires higher quality materials. This is also noticeable in spinning and casting rods too. Compare a top rod and a mid-price rod in 7ftMH up, and you start to see what I mean. Rods lower on the price scale feel cumbersome by comparison. Low end rods feel "rubbery", lacking MOE. So, a 7ftMH Convergence is going to be cumbersome and a bit rubbery in the tip, a Cumara will remain light and crisp.

Best deals in the house? If money is an issue, forget brand, and styling, and look at the clearance rack of every shop you enter.

[roadwarrior]

I think you should consider higher end rods

for jigs and soft plastics. Everything else can

be fished just fine on less expensive equipment.

On the high end I fish G. Loomis GLX and St.

Croix Legend Elite. The majority of my rods

are Avids.

8-)

[SWMIBASSER]

I think you should consider higher end rods

for jigs and soft plastics. Everything else can

be fished just fine on less expensive equipment.

On the high end I fish G. Loomis GLX and St.

Croix Legend Elite. The majority of my rods

are Avids.

8-)

Agree

If you are on a limited budget, but want good rods, spend more on jig/worm rods and less on crankbait/spinnerbait/swimbait rods.

As for price points, $100 now a days gets you a pretty good rod. $100 today, gives you way more options, and better rods than it did 5+ years ago.

A really good rod, that was my entry level high end rod is the Falcon Lowrider rods. Good components, durable, pretty sensitive, and made in USA.

[zach t]

As stated, 100-120 gets you a fine rod.