Compromise, the rod or the reel?

In my opinion you either need to go high end on both or dont waste your money....buying a nice rod and an average reel isnt worth it and visa-versa...id say if you can't afford both save some money for a month or 2 and buy high end on both

I agree somewhat but it does depend on the type of combo you are after.  For example, if I am buying a crankbait combo I will put more money into the reel and the rod doesn't have to be the best of the best.  If I'm after a jigging combo, the rod must be top notch to get that nice sensitivity followed by the reel.  As for rigging, I still tend to go rod first.  Remember, if you can't feel the fish, you won't catch the fish!!  Obviously, it you can afford to go both high end, do so and you won't be disappointed. 

A few years back I would have said you need to spend heavy bucks on both.  In the last few years spinning reels have really come a long way. You can get a quality reel for 50-100 dollars and be quite satisfied.  So i would say from a spinning perspective, I would budget more for the rod. 

From a baitcasting perspective I haven't found anything I like outside of the shimano castaic, shimano calcutta and the shimano chronarch.   You are looking at some bucks for a decent baitcaster IMO..there is a lot of $50 to $75 garbage out there.

I tend to go middle of the road on both the rod and the reel.  I simply can't afford top of the line.

Fishing Devils Lake requires a great deal of flexibility and I hate wasting time re-rigging rods.  Consequently, I leave the dock with a rack full of rods and the rod storage compartments full.  Various rods are rigged for jigging, slip bobbering, lindy rigging, pulling cranks (boards and lead core), etc.

I do have some favorite setups and will change but I hate not having a line in the water.  The ones I like best are due to the sensitivity of the rod so I might tend to err on the side of a good rod. 

i gotta side with the rod... can't catch what you can't feel.  on the other hand as long as the drag works, any decent reel will do.  i've never used any reel other than a spinning reel since the days of the push button zebco.  so, i don't know much about bait casters.  however, in all of my years of fishing and 20 or so reels, i have only had the drag go bad on on spinning reel.  it didn't cost me a fish but it went in the garbage the next day.  so, that leaves me a little confused about why someone would say the reel is even close to as important as the rod.  especially for jigging situations and/or ice fishing.  i break my rods or lose the whole rod and reel combo in the lake long before any reel ever goes bad on me.

I'll put most of my money on a very good rod and buy a mid-range reel that is adequate.  The more expensive reel might buy you a better drag, but I think most medium priced reels give you a pretty good drag too.  In my experience, the more expensive reels don't necessarily last any longer.  Once they start acting up, you can rebuild them but they won't last very long before you have to do it again.  The advantage of the cheaper reels is that you can wear them out and then just chuck them.

 

permo Said:
A few years back I would have said you need to spend heavy bucks on both.  In the last few years spinning reels have really come a long way. You can get a quality reel for 50-100 dollars and be quite satisfied.  So i would say from a spinning perspective, I would budget more for the rod. 

From a baitcasting perspective I haven't found anything I like outside of the shimano castaic, shimano calcutta and the shimano chronarch.   You are looking at some bucks for a decent baitcaster IMO..there is a lot of $50 to $75 garbage out there.

Very good post here. I would agree that in most my fishing circumstances I would prefer to spend more money on the rod and sacrifice some on the reel. There are some great reels out there for $130 and under, some of my favorites would be Pflueger Presidents ($65) to the Pflueger Supremes ($120)

I would LOVE to have a few Shimano Stella's on my rods, as I have a buddy that does and they are simply amazing but I don't know if I could stomach spending $600-700 on a reel. I just don't spend enough time on the water and I can catch fish just as well without.

Just to make a note, I went boat fishing with a few buddies about a month ago and one of them forgot his "good" rods in another boat so he grabbed a $30 combo out of the garage and out-fished me and the other guy. When fishing is a little tougher you will notice the better equipment helping you feel hits and finesse fish in, but any rod and reel with the proper presentation and fishing technique can catch you fish.

I say spend more on the rod and if you have to cut somewhere do it with the reel purchase, but you can still get a darn good reel for a decent price.

Ditto exactly on what Solocam said. Before last spring I always just went the cheaper route for both didn't think it mattered that much.
 
Last spring I spent some money on a real nice rigging rod and it certainly was worth the investment. I definatley caught more fish because of the rod, no doubt in my mind. I still have a cheaper spinning reel on it, but I definatley didn't loose any fish because of the cheaper reel....but again, with no doubt caught more fish because of the rod.

As an example, on a discount fishing website I bought 4 Daiwa Regal (Maybe Z?) 2500 spinning reels for $76.   I bought these reels to use on my slip bobber rods on DL.  Heavy line, heavy drags, heavy duty.  These reels have been nothing short of stupendous, doing what they are asked to do.  The drag is cranked to the max almost 100% of the time...I have never had a problem and I use them in tournament situations...that is how much I trust them.


I didn't state above that the one area that I won't budge on is trolling reels.  You kind of get what you pay for there.  Daiwa Sealine's are on all of my combo's, specifically size 27.  

"The drag is cranked to the max almost 100% of the time...":

i could be missing something (motivation this morning )... but, i don't get that statement.  doesn't that defeat the purpose of the drag?  please explain.  thanks in advance. 

espringers Said:
"The drag is cranked to the max almost 100% of the time...":

i could be missing something (motivation this morning )... but, i don't get that statement.  doesn't that defeat the purpose of the drag?  please explain.  thanks in advance. 

Getting fish out of thick nasty cover/snags isn't delicate or finesse and is best accomplished as quickly as possible.

This is very situation dependent for me.

Jigging and rigging more for the rod.

For casting cranks rod length and action are the most important part of the rod....  Not the sensitivity.  The reel has to stand up to alot of abuse, so I put more money into them.

Bobber rods are much like rods for casting cranks.  No sensitivity needed, just the length and action is of significant importance.  The reel just needs to have a drag that can be cranked down hard for tourneys an used more "normally" when fishing for fun.  That doesnt make a high end reel important in either case.

Trolling rods are more action specific as well.  The reel (more importantly the drags) is what gets the abuse so I go with Daiwa Accudepth 17s and 27s for longlining and 47s for lead.

As Permo said, in the last 10 years reels have come a long ways.  I love my Stradics for abuse and signifcant use situations.  I have used Stellas, but for the extra 450 over the Stradic they are not at all worth it.  You can get very respectable reels for 40-100 that will last for years with minimal if any maintainance at all.

A whole other discussion could be made for line.  For me Power Pro 10lb for everything but bobbers and longlining cranks. For bobbs and cranking 20 lb PP is the ticket for me.

Depends on the fishing style.  Jigging or casting rod.  I wouldn't skimp on either.  Rigging, I think you can kinda skimp on both.  However, if you are rigging and like to hold onto one of the fishing rods and put one in the holder I would invest in at least a pretty good fishing rod for the one you hold.  If you hold onto a bottom bouncer or even a lindy all day long it can tire a guy out and make you not fish efficiently and effective.   Still think you can skimp on the real.

Cranking.  I think you can kinda skimp on the reel but the rod should be one that has good action for the style and depth of cranking you do most often.  Cranking can offer you fairly inexpensive rods but you better be able to trust those "cheaper" purchases.  Will drive a guy nuts if he can't tell if a crank is running properly.

Other considerations to how a fishing rod feels is to make sure it can handly the fish and style you are using to catch those fish.  In other words action.  Of course, you can get skimpy with your purchases but buyer must pay attention to that.

Ice rods?  Jury out.  Never owned an expensive one but I can tell you this, I am not going to skimp on my ice real.  The drag (I don't back reel) is the most important thing when it comes to ice fishing.  If a fish runs you need to have a drag that works properly because the rods just aren't big enough to handle an eager fish.