In this bass fishing tips video I give you my opinion on buying expensive gear and where you should spend your money with bass fishing rods, reels, and gear!
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I like a good reel and an average rod typically. If it comes in a full combo I’m focused on the reel first no matter what. So i guess im in the same boat as you lol.
I feel like one of the reasons you gave for buying expensive reels (rod technology rapidly increases) is actually a reason that could be used for not buying expensive reels. The reel technology gets passed down to less expensive reels very quickly. An example would be shimano’s mgl spool.
Get a Daiwa Zillion It's the best reel on the market especially for the price.
Used to be hardcore budget. Starting putting expensive reels and rods on my hand and I can’t go back anymore. But I do agree the reel is more important.
shimano slx and berkley lightning rod is 150 bucks at most and keeps me fishing all the time 😎
I spent money now on both but if was to budget now I’d pend more on the reel.
After most of my fishing rods were destroyed in the back of a truck going down a logging road for two hours up in Canada I just said screw it and use Ugly Stiks for traveling..
I still have some nice rods for musky fishing and a few nice reels but I try to keep my budget under a $100 for a rod and $100 For a reel.
I usually keep a reel for about two years and give them away to kids I see fishing a public area near where I live…I just make sure their parents know about it with a letter and my phone number on it in case they don't believe the kid and think they stole it or something. Mostly poor people fish the wall and their parents may not believe the kid now has a nice reel.
I do agree a good reel is a must
Agree with you 100% I do own 2 higher priced St. Croix spinning rods but other than that I don't own a rod that is over $100. I invest in quality reels that will last a life time.
I agree. You get a lot of bang for your buck with higher quality reels
Once I find a reel brand I like I stick with it, call it brand loyalty if you want it just makes maintenance easier…as for price I try one high end and one lower end at the beginning to test durability and ease of operation and overall performance…in my case Diawa . I apply almost the same technique to my choice of rods and am pleased , that in my case, at least so far so good. Keep the content coming!
Great information and yes I see your point and I am looking at some higher quality reels thank you
Agree a quality reel is most important. For baitcast (bass), I fell in love with the Shimano MGL's (any version) most. I have a few of those and a handful lf Diawa Tatula Elite's. All at the $200 price point. For casting distance and smoothness it's hard to beat and makes a huge difference. And if you can afford a higher end rod like expride, megabass, gloomis, etc. that is a huge plus on top.
It depends on what the purpose of the rod is. I don’t have one ned rig setup under $500.00. That’s my number one way to fish. Jerkbait setup is another I don’t skimp on but all other techniques I don’t spend nearly as much.
I agree 💯 I think cheaper rods break less than high modulus rods, except the high $ rods do have better guides. I don’t need amazing sensitivity because my finger is always on the line when I’m fishing soft baits and jigs. My line transmits everything to my finger. A cheap reel on the other hand can be grindy feeling in the gears and that’ll kill your sensitivity when your feeling all that vibration.
Welllll, dammit. I've been doing it backwards. I've typically spent more on rods than reels, by and large. Not always, but more often than not. I think going forward I'm going to start upgrading my reels where feasible.
I just bought a Daiwa Tatula 100 sv and it’s made me a believer. I think my next purchase will be a Tatula Elite.
Put that money into high dollar rods for bottom contact baits , and budget reels. Budget rods for moving stuff. It WILL make a difference, just my honest opinion cause I use to do the opposite and now I know. But if you have the money spend it on both, cause a high dollar reel and high dollar rod is a confidence builder. If you don’t catch them you can’t blame it on nothing but yourself.🎉
I’m 60/40 when it comes to reels/rods. I use lighter line more often than not for my style of fishing so I depend a lot on how smooth the drag is on a reel, as in how smoothly it releases line and how much pressure it requires to actually release line, because we all know, a hard initial bite and run from a unexpected larger fish, can snap line before the drag releases it. And for that reason, as far as spinning reels go in the particular price point, the shimano stradic and vanford have been my go to for a lot of my setups. The shimano sedona and Sahara in that $65-$80 price point and nasci/miravel in that $100-$130 price point are great reels, but fishing 5-6 days a week like I do, I can notice differences in reels within a price point fairly easy. And in saying that, I’ll never shame a person for using cheaper gear. Plenty of massive fish have been caught on very budget friendly gear.
Im guessing for 90% of all non competitive fisherman it is a matter of economics
For us non competitive fisherman with children who also want to be serious effective and successful fisherman it REALLY becomes all about economics
I absolutely love fishing have for over 50 years thankfully so do both my boys
Thanks to my fishing experience but due more to the fishing experience of the great pro angler's on YT I have been able to learn the skills techniques and what baits and presentations of these baits and what time of year to best use certain luers and presentations myself and my sons are more successful than not while fishing
Now about fishing setup costs
My max budget for a single rod is $75 my budget for a reel regardless is spinning or baitcasting is $50
I very VERY rarely buy a rod or reel that isn't on sale preferably on close out
It is common SOP for me to constantly scouer the internet for high quantity fishing rods on sale for 30-50% off same for reels
I just bought four 13 Black out model casting rods on sale for $25 off at $53 TMD just bought 5 Abu García Pro Max4's $40 off for $50 ea TMD bought three Daiwa Tatula XT spinning rods for under $250 TMD from a vendor on Ebay selling them packages of three only on top of other great sales I found on rods and reels being discontinued and on close out pricing for 30-50% off
Now for an average cost $125 each (<the non-sale regular cost of just the rod) I equipped my two sons and I with two more high quantity baitcasting setups and two more each high quality spinning setups bringing out total of three baitcasting setups and three spin casting setups for each of us in the last year I was able to by 18 higher quality fishing setups for the same cost as less than 5 high-end upper quality baitcasting setups
And next big cost savings is fishing line
I use Yo-Zuri co-polymer for all my requirements except for my frog casting setups and wacky rig setups for those I use Power Pro braid.
A 600 yard spool of Yo-Zuri co-polymer costs <$10 and is IMO absolutely the best line for the $$$ you can buy stuff casts great and is tough and strong as barbed wire
15lb on my baitcasting reels and 8-10lb on all spinning reels
For me and fishing tacke and hunting gear it's NEVER about what I WANT its always about what I can afford and the best I can get for my money
Lots of good perspectives here. I'm probably the appeasing blend. I'm pretty much like your Dad with Abu Garcia and Shimano $50-$90 reel guy for the past 20 years and similar to others with rods ranging from $30-90. The only exceptions are I've got a couple more expensive finesse bass spinning rods around $160. Ugly Stik Carbon, Shimano Clarus/Magnumlite, All Star made in Texas, St Croix, Bass Pro Shop a mix up.
i used to think the opposite but I'm starting to think the reel might be more worth spending more on. I know most pros are sponsored and either get great deals on their gear or get it free but most of the time you see them all fishing rods in the $100-$200ish price range. If they really thought a more expensive rod would give them an advantage you would think they would all be using higher end rods.
I get ur argument but I'm backwards. To me a rod is everything especially when getting bait specific. At the end of the day the reel is just picking up line. The rod is doing all the action and feeling. So for me a $100 reel is where I go. Rods I'll spend 200-400
i put more $ in reels for the most part but there are some great reels out there now for the $100 mark but u are right that u can get by with a lesser rod just use braid if u need more sensitivity. thanks for sharing
I think some rods are worth the higher price. A good bottom contact rod and finesse rod are pretty important. You never get to use the reel if you didn’t know a fish was there. I’ve recently moved all my rods to Dobyns line for the simple reason of the warranty. Also the massive military discount is helpful. I’ve always been happy with mid range reels but have recently started to see them wear out and have started replacing them higher quality reels. The difference is amazing.
I'd say I agree with you 90%. There are two classes of rods where I think money is well spent for higher quality, and the first is the most obvious, which is the finesse spinning rods for, as you mentioned, the sensitivity. It doesn't have to be an NRX+, but better than average.
The second would be a higher quality flipping stick. It's amazing, especially as you age, you don't realize just how heavy a rod is until you've been flipping for a few hours straight. A good quality lightweight rod is a savior on your wrist, shoulder, and in particular… your lower back.