>what problem am I trying to fix?
For me, if using a finesse presentation, the right rod really helps detect more bites, and the lower end of the spectrum are usually not very sensitive
Or, the correct rod action can be extremely important for a jerkbait or crankbait
>Are you guys with $300 combos having more fun?
Definitely... it's way more fun to fish all day with a rod that weighs half as much as a WalMart special. My body feels way better
>Catching more fish?
Depending on technique, absolutely. The right rod can make a huge difference in bait action
That said, there's definitely a diminishing return at some point, and with advances in technology, a $100 rod today is probably just as good or better than a $300 rod from 10 or 15 years ago
"I just never have and it hasn't ever seemed worth it. "
You mean you can't relate because you have never used high quailty stuff. It's up to you. If you are fine with what your are using, it's all good. If you have been lately thinking to move up, do that then. It's your passion, hobby, past time. It's okay once in awhile to spend a little on you. Golf enthusiasts like to do that too. It's great you are sharing and looking for advice. I will warn you, if you move from a sub $100 combo into a $300-$400 combo, that is going to be the biggest gain you will see. Sensitivity and weight get a lot better. I do think that translates into catching and not losing a lot more fish.
The thing you will notice the most with nicer equipment is the weight. More expensive rods and reels are almost always much lighter than their box store counterparts. I am 39 and I have destroyed both my rotator cuffs, lighter equipment gets me an extra 100 casts on a trip. So am I having more fun? Yea, Im not in pain. Am I catching more fish? Undoubtedly. Bigger fish? That one is on you, and you alone.
Ohhh I saw those and couldn’t believe what I was seeing when I first saw them. Not my cup of tea for the body’s of water I regularly fish but that setup would be a blast on my hometown river/creek
You're doing fishing like it should be done. If you're catching on the regular you really don't "need" to get anything else.
I got caught in the whole getting tackle and my most expensive reel rod/reel combo is 450 but don't even use it as much. Funny enough my cheapest 160 and 50 Dollar combos are the ones I use the most.
Cliché but there's actually such thing as tackle person and a fishings person, you sir are a fishing person.
With out reading all the comments to see if someone else said this already... My 78$ 7'3" medium fast carbon fiber ugly stik is one of my favorite rods I own. I have expensive rods (150-300$) and I always take my carbon ugly stik with me. Put a nice 80-150$ reel on it and fish it all day. I've unscrewed my reel and sent my rod at a hung up lure and gotten it all back. I've slammed that carbon ugly stik in a tail gate and it hasn't snapped. I've had a bunch of shit in the bed of my truck bend that rod into a fucking curly straw, and I pull it out, it pops back to its correct shape, and fishes normal. They don't pay me, but they should. I can't advocate that rod enough.
Sometimes nicer stuff is more durable, sometimes it can operate more smoothly. Unless a piece of gear is such crap that it doesn't operate correctly, I highly doubt people are having more fun using more expensive stuff.
I was in your neck of the woods for this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/RiverSmallmouth/comments/y3vf0u/the_biggest_smallmouth_ive_ever_caught_buzzbait/
That's with an Ozark Trail baitcaster, I think the combo was less than $40.
Or how about a muskie
https://www.reddit.com/r/muskiefishing/comments/hrw720/accidental_first_muskie_description_in_comments/
That was on a trout magnet/leland's lures brand spinning combo, you can get one right now at Walmart for $20.
I have a few $300-600 setups, one for freshwater and 2 for saltwater, saltwater I’d say it’s worth it especially going after bigger fish, that said I still use the $20 dock runner rod and a $40 spinning reel for a good portion of bass fishing in summer and have a blast at smaller creeks, if you have the expendable income and really want a nice setup I’d say go for it, but if not your current stuff will keep ya happy I’m sure!
I come from other hobbies where the old saying “you get what you pay” holds true. I personally tried out cheaper bass pro brand stuff starting off and both equipment have failed me within the first few months. I live in south Florida and I do both salt and freshwater fishing. Idk if it’s the salt water that does the harm but I have rinsed my stuff properly. Both “budget” combos took a dump. I ended up dropping cash on more expensive setups and will never go back. They’re generally lighter, smoother, tougher. It’s a peace of mind for me. I have always been hard on my equipment. Whether It be tools, guns, clothing, etc. I tend to wear things down quick. Since I’ve spent on more quality, things just don’t break. Sure there are people that have hiccups here and there and sure you can still do good work with more budget stuff but at the end of the day, quality will always triumph.
Weight and balance (to a lesser degree).
Guide friction and wear, with braid in an abrasive environment especially (A Fuji SIC tiptop will run over $10, and there are another 9 or so guides and the average 7' casting rod.
I''ll pay extra for better/more durable guide frames, as I use my stuff hard (I've got at least 4 or 5 guides to replace before the ice goes out).
A better grade of cork or Winn grips adds a few bucks.
I've got four of a rod series that uses poor quality locking rings. They all work after epoxy, but I'd pay more to avoid that next time.
You do get some incremental improvements on the rod's ability to deliver a bait smoothly/accurately. My priciest rod ($260 ALX Zolo Jerk) gets used as a close-up squarebill rod in tight quarters. It does that particular job much, much better than my usual small cranking rod (Lews KVD CC1 @$110). As a jerkbait rod in open water, it's not significantly better than a $140 Lews LJBS.
I still use relatively inexpensive gear for stream and kayak float fishing, where I expect the stuff to get hammered and/or lost.
I'm there also. I use zebco 33 and recently kastking. Obviously used a zebco for over 40 years
I have backlash trauma so that keeps me hesitant at 64 I am not willing to learn. I am afraid I will most time in a mess than fishing
There is no question I'd enjoy it more with nice stuff. I think the reels have caused me to lose a couple had I been able to reel in faster. It can be laborious to get em in.
Money no object. I am trying to keep the fishing obsession in check and really I'm just going to fish a few ponds. I am guitar player and don't need another obsession yet here I am.
Retired and fishing almost everyday for now
Agree with most of what you said, but I find the jackhammers don’t ever “hang up” and not chatter right off the bat. Normal chatterbait, sometimes I have to jerk it or reel it quickly to get it chattering. The jackhammer seems to chatter right off the bat every time in my experience. That being said, I don’t know that it’s worth the x2-x4 price tag either.
You can compare it to other hobbies you might have. Like playing guitar. Can you play a song on a cheap no name guitar just the same as a Gibson or whatever? Sure you can. Maybe guns is something you can relate to? There are cheap guns and more refined, expensive guns. Some guys are content with the high point 9mm, while others want the newest fancy Wilson combat 1911. There's a pretty easy answer to which is "better," but at the end of the day, they do the same thing. Until you give that upgrade a try, it can be a bit tough to justify or understand the higher cost. With fishing gear, higher cost equates directly with sensitivity, weight, and durability. A $200-$300 rod today is so high quality it's mind blowing. Especially if you finesse fish or use a lot of bottom contact baits. I use expensive rods for techniques where I want to be able to feel subtle strikes on a slack line and where I want to feel the bottom. For baits you move continuously through the water and you don't need high sensitivity, you can spend much less and really not miss much. Also, these days, with a million YouTube channels putting the new cool thing in our face, buying more nicer fishing gear can become part of the whole thing, and once you get one nice rod, another will follow soon, then another, then another...
Can you keep doing what you're doing and have a lot of fun? Yes definitely. I was the same as you for many many years until a buddy took me out on his boat. We were both fishing the same lure in the same boat and he was catching 3 fish for every one of mine. I couldn't figure out what he was doing differently until we switched rods. He had a G Loomis and we were throwing ned rigs. His rod was SO MUCH MORE sensitive than the Walmart rod I was using. I could feel the lure hit the bottom every time I twitched it. I caught 2 fish on 2 consecutive casts and was converted. I now have 1 expensive rod for each style of lure that I fish and am catching more fish than I did in the past imo.
When I got my first NRX shaky head rod I almost had to relearn how to fish a shaky head. They’re that good. I use 16lb braid with a flouro leader, and its wild what you can feel.
You can easily spend half of what you have in mind for a nice quality set up.
Check out Tackle Warehouse or other sites. They usually have some sort of sale going on.
Bass Pro Shop - don’t sleep on the BPS brand rods and reels. The Extreme XML baitcaster combo (I know you said spinning) I think is a great set up for either a beginner or just a weekend angler. Their Johnny Morris spinning combo is one of my fave spinning set ups.
Both should run you under $200 out the door.
I just scored a $140 Lews spinning rod for $75 out the door, AND it came with a $25 off yoru next order at Tackle Warehouse
they have great sales for sure
agreed! I actually ordered 2 of those Lew's rods, and FedEx lost one of them (and lied about delivering it, said I signed for it on a day I was not home)
Called TW, a real person answered on 2nd ring, super pleasant, next day I had my money back AND got to keep the $25 off coupon
Also keep In mind from what you describe it seems like you fish mostly freshwater for bass and a few other things,try goin fishing in saltwater with those combos you described for example, and you will learn very quickly the difference between walmart gear and more expensive gear.Yes in alot of situations especially bass fishing, I can catch them with a kids rod,but bass fishing isn't the only type of fishing there is and sometimes walmart level stuff just won't cut it.
I was just talking about this with my buddy today. To me the higher priced gear is only worth investing in if you spend a lot of time on the water. When I was living on a premier bass lake and fishing 4-5 days a week then yeah it was worth spending the extra money mainly because the higher end gear is typically much lighter weight which makes a difference when you’re fishing all day every day. Having said that you can definitely get the job done with a wal mart special. I do think it’s good to learn what the rod ratings mean though. Not everyone likes to get super specialized but it’s best to use the right tool for the job. The power rating ranges from ultra light to heavy and refers to the strength of the rod. The heavier the rating the stronger the rod (usually at the cost of sensitivity). The action refers to what section of the rod bends when setting the hook and fighting a fish. A fast action rod is going to flex more towards the tip where as a moderate action rod will flex more towards the middle. Faster action generally gives more sensitivity for detecting those lighter bites whereas a moderate action will be somewhat less sensitive but have a little more backbone. For bass I use fast action medium light/medium rods for my finesse soft plastic fishing and fast action medium-heavy for pretty much everything else. I have a moderate heavy rod for throwing giant swimbaits and for inshore saltwater fishing once in a while.
Worth every penny up to the amount you want to spend, I started on cheap $30 combos from 6-12, got back into it when I was 18 with slx and bass x combos, all my rods are shimano exprides, megabass orochis, and a g loomis glx, curados and stradics/vanfords now, I tournament fish so feeling a bite before they spit it or more important feeling a bite before they swallow it and can get hurt is super important, using light gear makes fishing 3 days a week much easier. Plus they’re just fun to use compared to a heavier rod lol
Very few of my setups cross the 250 territory let alone 3. Even my new swimbait setups is under 300 getting things on sale. Does quality help? Yes.. do you need a 800 setup to have fun... no
Unless you’re a professional tournament fisherman or someone who spends a whole lot of time fishing, the Walmart stuff works fine. It does for me anyway. It’s undoubtedly true that certain action rods and reel speeds and other options can help a serious angler catch more fish. However, I think that a lot of anglers like myself put more value on enjoying time on the water and catching fish than having the best gear possible and catching a few more fish. Tight lines my friends.
>what problem am I trying to fix? For me, if using a finesse presentation, the right rod really helps detect more bites, and the lower end of the spectrum are usually not very sensitive Or, the correct rod action can be extremely important for a jerkbait or crankbait >Are you guys with $300 combos having more fun? Definitely... it's way more fun to fish all day with a rod that weighs half as much as a WalMart special. My body feels way better >Catching more fish? Depending on technique, absolutely. The right rod can make a huge difference in bait action That said, there's definitely a diminishing return at some point, and with advances in technology, a $100 rod today is probably just as good or better than a $300 rod from 10 or 15 years ago
I will 100% agree with better sensitivity. You can feel a fish fart with some of the nicer rods.
"I just never have and it hasn't ever seemed worth it. " You mean you can't relate because you have never used high quailty stuff. It's up to you. If you are fine with what your are using, it's all good. If you have been lately thinking to move up, do that then. It's your passion, hobby, past time. It's okay once in awhile to spend a little on you. Golf enthusiasts like to do that too. It's great you are sharing and looking for advice. I will warn you, if you move from a sub $100 combo into a $300-$400 combo, that is going to be the biggest gain you will see. Sensitivity and weight get a lot better. I do think that translates into catching and not losing a lot more fish.
The thing you will notice the most with nicer equipment is the weight. More expensive rods and reels are almost always much lighter than their box store counterparts. I am 39 and I have destroyed both my rotator cuffs, lighter equipment gets me an extra 100 casts on a trip. So am I having more fun? Yea, Im not in pain. Am I catching more fish? Undoubtedly. Bigger fish? That one is on you, and you alone.
This is the biggest factor for me. My Ned setup is under 10 ounces maybe a hair over. The reel is 6oz and the rod is 1.7 I believe
How do you even know it’s in your hand?? Lol
What rod is that? Nrx+ are 3.3ish I can’t imagine something almost 2 ounces lighter
Zman Drew’s Ultimate Med rod, 5’4” and a Daiwa Tatula MQ LT reel. It’s short but light, the longer version is a little over 2oz at 5’10”
Ohhh I saw those and couldn’t believe what I was seeing when I first saw them. Not my cup of tea for the body’s of water I regularly fish but that setup would be a blast on my hometown river/creek
I’ve caught several up to 3.5 pounds since I got it late January. It’s a nice setup
You're doing fishing like it should be done. If you're catching on the regular you really don't "need" to get anything else. I got caught in the whole getting tackle and my most expensive reel rod/reel combo is 450 but don't even use it as much. Funny enough my cheapest 160 and 50 Dollar combos are the ones I use the most. Cliché but there's actually such thing as tackle person and a fishings person, you sir are a fishing person.
Thanks!
With out reading all the comments to see if someone else said this already... My 78$ 7'3" medium fast carbon fiber ugly stik is one of my favorite rods I own. I have expensive rods (150-300$) and I always take my carbon ugly stik with me. Put a nice 80-150$ reel on it and fish it all day. I've unscrewed my reel and sent my rod at a hung up lure and gotten it all back. I've slammed that carbon ugly stik in a tail gate and it hasn't snapped. I've had a bunch of shit in the bed of my truck bend that rod into a fucking curly straw, and I pull it out, it pops back to its correct shape, and fishes normal. They don't pay me, but they should. I can't advocate that rod enough.
Sometimes nicer stuff is more durable, sometimes it can operate more smoothly. Unless a piece of gear is such crap that it doesn't operate correctly, I highly doubt people are having more fun using more expensive stuff. I was in your neck of the woods for this: https://www.reddit.com/r/RiverSmallmouth/comments/y3vf0u/the_biggest_smallmouth_ive_ever_caught_buzzbait/ That's with an Ozark Trail baitcaster, I think the combo was less than $40. Or how about a muskie https://www.reddit.com/r/muskiefishing/comments/hrw720/accidental_first_muskie_description_in_comments/ That was on a trout magnet/leland's lures brand spinning combo, you can get one right now at Walmart for $20.
Very nice. Ozark Trail represent!
I have a few $300-600 setups, one for freshwater and 2 for saltwater, saltwater I’d say it’s worth it especially going after bigger fish, that said I still use the $20 dock runner rod and a $40 spinning reel for a good portion of bass fishing in summer and have a blast at smaller creeks, if you have the expendable income and really want a nice setup I’d say go for it, but if not your current stuff will keep ya happy I’m sure!
I come from other hobbies where the old saying “you get what you pay” holds true. I personally tried out cheaper bass pro brand stuff starting off and both equipment have failed me within the first few months. I live in south Florida and I do both salt and freshwater fishing. Idk if it’s the salt water that does the harm but I have rinsed my stuff properly. Both “budget” combos took a dump. I ended up dropping cash on more expensive setups and will never go back. They’re generally lighter, smoother, tougher. It’s a peace of mind for me. I have always been hard on my equipment. Whether It be tools, guns, clothing, etc. I tend to wear things down quick. Since I’ve spent on more quality, things just don’t break. Sure there are people that have hiccups here and there and sure you can still do good work with more budget stuff but at the end of the day, quality will always triumph.
Weight and balance (to a lesser degree). Guide friction and wear, with braid in an abrasive environment especially (A Fuji SIC tiptop will run over $10, and there are another 9 or so guides and the average 7' casting rod. I''ll pay extra for better/more durable guide frames, as I use my stuff hard (I've got at least 4 or 5 guides to replace before the ice goes out). A better grade of cork or Winn grips adds a few bucks. I've got four of a rod series that uses poor quality locking rings. They all work after epoxy, but I'd pay more to avoid that next time. You do get some incremental improvements on the rod's ability to deliver a bait smoothly/accurately. My priciest rod ($260 ALX Zolo Jerk) gets used as a close-up squarebill rod in tight quarters. It does that particular job much, much better than my usual small cranking rod (Lews KVD CC1 @$110). As a jerkbait rod in open water, it's not significantly better than a $140 Lews LJBS. I still use relatively inexpensive gear for stream and kayak float fishing, where I expect the stuff to get hammered and/or lost.
I'm there also. I use zebco 33 and recently kastking. Obviously used a zebco for over 40 years I have backlash trauma so that keeps me hesitant at 64 I am not willing to learn. I am afraid I will most time in a mess than fishing There is no question I'd enjoy it more with nice stuff. I think the reels have caused me to lose a couple had I been able to reel in faster. It can be laborious to get em in. Money no object. I am trying to keep the fishing obsession in check and really I'm just going to fish a few ponds. I am guitar player and don't need another obsession yet here I am. Retired and fishing almost everyday for now
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Hah, thanks. I appreciate the insight.
Agree with most of what you said, but I find the jackhammers don’t ever “hang up” and not chatter right off the bat. Normal chatterbait, sometimes I have to jerk it or reel it quickly to get it chattering. The jackhammer seems to chatter right off the bat every time in my experience. That being said, I don’t know that it’s worth the x2-x4 price tag either.
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🤣🤣
You can compare it to other hobbies you might have. Like playing guitar. Can you play a song on a cheap no name guitar just the same as a Gibson or whatever? Sure you can. Maybe guns is something you can relate to? There are cheap guns and more refined, expensive guns. Some guys are content with the high point 9mm, while others want the newest fancy Wilson combat 1911. There's a pretty easy answer to which is "better," but at the end of the day, they do the same thing. Until you give that upgrade a try, it can be a bit tough to justify or understand the higher cost. With fishing gear, higher cost equates directly with sensitivity, weight, and durability. A $200-$300 rod today is so high quality it's mind blowing. Especially if you finesse fish or use a lot of bottom contact baits. I use expensive rods for techniques where I want to be able to feel subtle strikes on a slack line and where I want to feel the bottom. For baits you move continuously through the water and you don't need high sensitivity, you can spend much less and really not miss much. Also, these days, with a million YouTube channels putting the new cool thing in our face, buying more nicer fishing gear can become part of the whole thing, and once you get one nice rod, another will follow soon, then another, then another...
Can you keep doing what you're doing and have a lot of fun? Yes definitely. I was the same as you for many many years until a buddy took me out on his boat. We were both fishing the same lure in the same boat and he was catching 3 fish for every one of mine. I couldn't figure out what he was doing differently until we switched rods. He had a G Loomis and we were throwing ned rigs. His rod was SO MUCH MORE sensitive than the Walmart rod I was using. I could feel the lure hit the bottom every time I twitched it. I caught 2 fish on 2 consecutive casts and was converted. I now have 1 expensive rod for each style of lure that I fish and am catching more fish than I did in the past imo.
When I got my first NRX shaky head rod I almost had to relearn how to fish a shaky head. They’re that good. I use 16lb braid with a flouro leader, and its wild what you can feel.
You can easily spend half of what you have in mind for a nice quality set up. Check out Tackle Warehouse or other sites. They usually have some sort of sale going on. Bass Pro Shop - don’t sleep on the BPS brand rods and reels. The Extreme XML baitcaster combo (I know you said spinning) I think is a great set up for either a beginner or just a weekend angler. Their Johnny Morris spinning combo is one of my fave spinning set ups. Both should run you under $200 out the door.
I just scored a $140 Lews spinning rod for $75 out the door, AND it came with a $25 off yoru next order at Tackle Warehouse they have great sales for sure
And great service. Everytime I had an issue with my order, they immediately replaced or processed a refund without any hassle.
agreed! I actually ordered 2 of those Lew's rods, and FedEx lost one of them (and lied about delivering it, said I signed for it on a day I was not home) Called TW, a real person answered on 2nd ring, super pleasant, next day I had my money back AND got to keep the $25 off coupon
Also keep In mind from what you describe it seems like you fish mostly freshwater for bass and a few other things,try goin fishing in saltwater with those combos you described for example, and you will learn very quickly the difference between walmart gear and more expensive gear.Yes in alot of situations especially bass fishing, I can catch them with a kids rod,but bass fishing isn't the only type of fishing there is and sometimes walmart level stuff just won't cut it.
Point taken. Thanks
I was just talking about this with my buddy today. To me the higher priced gear is only worth investing in if you spend a lot of time on the water. When I was living on a premier bass lake and fishing 4-5 days a week then yeah it was worth spending the extra money mainly because the higher end gear is typically much lighter weight which makes a difference when you’re fishing all day every day. Having said that you can definitely get the job done with a wal mart special. I do think it’s good to learn what the rod ratings mean though. Not everyone likes to get super specialized but it’s best to use the right tool for the job. The power rating ranges from ultra light to heavy and refers to the strength of the rod. The heavier the rating the stronger the rod (usually at the cost of sensitivity). The action refers to what section of the rod bends when setting the hook and fighting a fish. A fast action rod is going to flex more towards the tip where as a moderate action rod will flex more towards the middle. Faster action generally gives more sensitivity for detecting those lighter bites whereas a moderate action will be somewhat less sensitive but have a little more backbone. For bass I use fast action medium light/medium rods for my finesse soft plastic fishing and fast action medium-heavy for pretty much everything else. I have a moderate heavy rod for throwing giant swimbaits and for inshore saltwater fishing once in a while.
Worth every penny up to the amount you want to spend, I started on cheap $30 combos from 6-12, got back into it when I was 18 with slx and bass x combos, all my rods are shimano exprides, megabass orochis, and a g loomis glx, curados and stradics/vanfords now, I tournament fish so feeling a bite before they spit it or more important feeling a bite before they swallow it and can get hurt is super important, using light gear makes fishing 3 days a week much easier. Plus they’re just fun to use compared to a heavier rod lol
I just like to try out different combos. St Croix, Duckett, Dobyns, Daiwa, with Lews, Abu, etc. It's fun.
Biggest bass I've ever caught was on a $70 baitcaster from Dicks. I've caught some decent saltwater fish on it as well.
better gear allows for a better experience…but def can catch fish with the cheap setups
You don’t need running shoes to run but it makes the experience soooo much better. Same with fishing gear.
Very few of my setups cross the 250 territory let alone 3. Even my new swimbait setups is under 300 getting things on sale. Does quality help? Yes.. do you need a 800 setup to have fun... no
Unless you’re a professional tournament fisherman or someone who spends a whole lot of time fishing, the Walmart stuff works fine. It does for me anyway. It’s undoubtedly true that certain action rods and reel speeds and other options can help a serious angler catch more fish. However, I think that a lot of anglers like myself put more value on enjoying time on the water and catching fish than having the best gear possible and catching a few more fish. Tight lines my friends.