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 am more of a budget guy. My shakeyhead/drop shot/ jig rods are around $100. The rest are $50 to $70 and I try to find sales. The lew's and Abu baitcasters in the $70 to $90 range are great so that's what I buy. Spinning reels - there are really good ones in the $50 to $70 range from Shimano, diawa, BPS, Pflueger,etc. So that is the price point for me. I fish 40 times per yr on average.
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 agree with this
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.
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!
I think it’s all about feel and what kindve fishing you’re primarily doing. I fish spinning reels often for river smallmouth and I will tell you the more expensive ones make a worlds difference and are worth it for me. All great discussion!
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 used 60 dollars spinning combo all my life. 2 years ago I bought a Quantum smoke rod with micro line guides priced at $130. I have 2 Quantum smoke S3 baitcaster with 7.3 each reel $125. Here in Fredericton New Brunswick Canada we are not allowed 2 rod fishing from the riverbank. I carry one rod and 2 reel with 10lbs and 14lbs pounds on the other reel
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.
I agree. You get a lot of bang for your buck with higher quality reels
My big concerns over high end gear is accidentally kicking them out of the boat or slamming rod tips in the car door (see Bill Dance bloopers).
I invest in good line, great reels and one great rod for contact baits. Everything else is just a bonus.
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’m a Powell rod guy.I mean ya can’t beat the deal for them.They’re 149.00 and with a lifetime warranty!I throw the cheap shimano the SLX.Ive got 25 of them ranging in ratios.
I stick to mainly Shimano Expride rods. They are $280 but I normally get them on sale for around $225. Great rods and i do pair them to $300-$400 dollar reels cause much like you said those reels while not cheap will last me a long time and if for some reason i want to sell on and upgrade they are worth a decent more on resale. Great video.
I split it. Most of my reels are in the 150 to 250 but I have started building my own rods and it’s essentially like half the price. I’ll buy around 200-250 in components but when I’m done it feels like a 4-500 rod.
100% reel first. Buy you a whatever rod run Fluro on it and use tungsten when you can and you’ll feel plenty. Unless you are super finesse fishing the difference in mid rods to high end rods is closer then a mid reel to higher end reel. I go across the middle. I’ve got less reeks $125-175 and 100-125 rods. I’ve been running the same Lews speed spools for nearly a decade fishing 3-4 times a week. Take care and pride in everything you own. 😊
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.
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.
I've got combos that I've used for 5+ yrs that I spent maybe $100 on and still work like new because I make sure I grease and oil them and the rods I'm very careful with
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.🎉
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.
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.
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.
I like to look at anything over $100, but the cheapest I can find for the technique/action that I’m looking for.
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.
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.
Great information and yes I see your point and I am looking at some higher quality reels thank you
I spent money now on both but if was to budget now I’d pend more on the reel.
shimano slx and berkley lightning rod is 150 bucks at most and keeps me fishing all the time 😎
I do agree a good reel is a must
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.
Absolutely!
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 agree100% I feel like a rod mostly has to feel good to you. I still have 2 Shakespeare rods I got at Walmart 20 years ago they are graphite but they were 20.00 apiece. They just feel good when you hook up on a fish . I’ve probably caught a truck load of white trout and specked trout even a 44 lb black drum but I’ve always had decent reels Lews ambassador
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 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 split I usually I’ll grab the reel first then when I get the money up for a good rod then I’ll put them together
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.
Get a Daiwa Zillion It's the best reel on the market especially for the price.
I've never liked a Daiwa I've owned. I had two Tatula and the T-wing system broke in both.
I invest on reels and rods but i think ill choose reels over the rods too
Hmmmm, an Ugly Stick paired to a Metanium. UGH. Seriously, a Black Max on a Shimano Expride works very well and can last for years.
After buying a daiwa cc80 reel and a daiwa arid x rod it's extremely hard to spend more than $200 on a combo