# High dollar rods?



## deerhunter2002 (Aug 29, 2012)

I'm more asking as far as bass rods but I'm sure it would apply to any target species. I was looking through a fishing catalog recently and was blown away that some bass rods cost $400+. The most I've ever spent on a rod was $110 and that was a big deal. Is there really that much difference in 200, 300, and 400 dollar rods over the $100 ones?


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## Chuck Smith (Mar 22, 2016)

When I started steelhead fishing years ago I bought what I could afford. Several years went by watching others I fished with land many more fish than I did.
I finally figured out that the more expensive rods were much more sensitive than the less expensive ones I had been using .
Sure was a lot more fun catching fish than casting and casting and never feeling the bite to begin with.!


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## K. Trout (Nov 17, 2008)

Bait casting reels have gone way up in price too. I can't justify $600.00 - $700.00 for a rod and reel combo that I only use once and awhile. They are nice but to rich for my blood. Guess I will just have to stick with my 10 year old Shimano stuff.


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## lost leader (Aug 6, 2004)

Buy what you can afford!
The way I justify it is $15000+ for the boat, $1500 for the well each year $300 for a months worth of gas, makes $500 for a quality rod and reel, you will keep for ten years plus seem petty...


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## deerhunter2002 (Aug 29, 2012)

Trust me I'm not going to be buying one anytime in the next 25 years. I'm just curious to those that fish with higher end rods. If someone blind folded you and had you fish with a $500 rod and a $100 rod. Would you be able tell the difference and do you think you would catch 5 times as many fish with the more expensive rod?


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## Joe Archer (Mar 29, 2000)

I don't need to be blind folded. I have straight up compared the $100 rods I use for jigging to much higher priced rods, and still prefer what I am using. Believe me; if the high end rods offered an advantage, I'd be using them!
*For bass fishing, quality of the rod is even less important than it is for jigging*. A good 7 foot graphite - medium action fast rod for finesse (jigs, tubes, worms, jerk bait...etc) is all you need. If you are throwing cranks you will catch just as many fish on fiberglass as you will on graphite.
<----<<<


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## 6667supersport (Oct 10, 2012)

Years back when I started fishing with my son that was 7 at the time I bought 40-50 dollar rods off Ebay some better rods that were slightly used, but most new. I figured if I bought a $100 rod that would be the one he stepped on . As he got older I figured the odds of an accident were less every year and bought better and more expensive rods. Lately I have bought several rods that would usually cost $150-$200 bucks and have been happy with them. I cast quite a bit in the Fall for walleye and last year after following Ebay for months picked up a Shimano Cumara 7'6" spinning rod for less than $150 that retails for $250 and I am very happy with the rod, definetely a big difference from the $125-150 rods that I was using. Earlier this year me and the kid were bluegill fishing and we stopped at a place and my rod was on top so he grabbed it and after hooking a nice 8" gill and reeling it in he immediately said that he could feel everything when reeling the fish in, said he rod was like fishing with a stick compared to it. He has better rods, but was using a $40 rod for bobber fishing. I am now trying to buy him one at a reasonable price for samllie/walleye casting and walleye jigging.

I always remember the line someone on here had on the bottom of their posts that went something like, "who ever said money can't buy happiness has never fished with a dam good fishing rod". If you can afford a good rod and fish a decent amount I would 100% do so, buy it for yourself for your birthday or christmas, etc. Not sure of other quality rods, but go on a website and look at a shimano cumara spinning rod. The reel does not sit against the blank, and your hand is directly on the rod blank when holding the rod, not on cork or foam. Like Chuck Smith said above, I 100% catch more fish becaus of this rod and using good quality line when casting for walleye at night. Many times while twitching in a Husky Jerk, while the bait is sitting still in between twitches of the rod, I felt something set the hook and its a nice walleye on the other end of my line . You will never know how many fish you are missing if you continue to fish with a cheap rod.


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## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

I like decent rods. Not top of the line, not bottom of the barrel. I like some Omen 13 Rods I picked up from SDI the past couple years. Just got an 18 year old Loomis GL2 back from having new guides put on it, that rod was the low end of expensive 18 years ago. I'm never going to spend 500 bucks on a freshwater lure rod. no way. I have got some pretty expensive fly rods, but that's a whole different game, where high end rods pay for themselves.


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## taizer (Feb 6, 2009)

Years ago I was one of those guys that bought expensive rods. I paid about 1200$ for 5 gloomis rods. At the time I thought they were the best until I bought other rods that were cheaper and more sensitive. Now I realized those glx imx rods are garbage compared to a lot of cheaper rods I've bought. 
My favorite rods to this day at are cheaper pflueger/daiwa rods for spinning, I like stainless guides. They don't break, the inserts always have problems for me because I like leaving my rods in my car and they get banged up. 

Nowadays bass pro and cabelas all make great rods that imo are better and way cheaper than loomis or st.croix
Johnny Morris rods are really nice and weigh nothing 100$ if they break they replace them


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## Robert Holmes (Oct 13, 2008)

My $75 combos have outfished guys with $1500 combos. My $2500 boat has outfished many $50,000 boats.


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## -Axiom- (Jul 24, 2010)

deerhunter2002 said:


> Trust me I'm not going to be buying one anytime in the next 25 years. I'm just curious to those that fish with higher end rods. If someone blind folded you and had you fish with a $500 rod and a $100 rod. Would you be able tell the difference and do you think you would catch 5 times as many fish with the more expensive rod?



Certainly the difference is sensitivity, weight, & balance.

I can tell immediately when I switch it's mostly the weight I notice.

It's not the price/cost of the rod that makes it high end.


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## frenchriver1 (Jul 5, 2005)

"Certainly the difference is sensitivity, weight, & balance.

I can tell immediately when I switch *it's mostly the weight I notice*."

Amen, but if you don't believe in it, then you never will.


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## d7645 (May 24, 2014)

I build my own rods and if you have the patience and can afford getting started, it's a good way to go. Ive picked up $200 plus rods at Jays and Cabelas and have noted guides and reel seats not aligned properly. To me that's unacceptable for a rod in that price range. Building your own allows you to build it the way you want it.


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## 357Maximum (Nov 1, 2015)

V


deerhunter2002 said:


> I'm more asking as far as bass rods but I'm sure it would apply to any target species. I was looking through a fishing catalog recently and was blown away that some bass rods cost $400+. The most I've ever spent on a rod was $110 and that was a big deal. Is there really that much difference in 200, 300, and 400 dollar rods over the $100 ones?




NO

VooDoo only works if you believe in it. 

I like nice expensive rods and reels but in all actuality once you get to the Pflueger President/ Shimano Sedona quality of reel and an IM6-IM8 rod, spending more money is a status/ make you feel good symbol/deal. I actually prefer a fiberglass rod for crankbaits ,body, and topwater baits...the $$$ graphite tends to cause too fast a reaction time in my hands. 

Once upon a day I would have argued hard with that statement I just made above(especially with silver fishees) but a very remote parking lot and a van door accident that killed a custom built Sage rod proved me wrong that day. That borrowed $30 Wright and McGill 9 footer and a battered workhorse Pflueger taught me a lot that fateful day. Breaking that Exspen$ive pole saved me a lot of money in the long run ever since.


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## SWMbruiser (Jan 25, 2012)

I went to the store the other day and saw for the first time one of those $400 rods you speak of. I couldn't believe it. I have spent $100 on a rod and that stung a little. Can't imagine spending $400. Won't say there isn't a difference in performance, but for $400 I can buy a lot of fishing stuff. The rod does not seem to be the most important thing to me in terms of helping me catch fish.


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## flowie (Oct 26, 2015)

I have a few rods in the 200-300 dollars range. Personally Ive gone back to using my 100 dollar 9'6" Fenwick for steelhead and few Cabelas Fish Eagle 50's for smallmouth bass and trout.
Im not a professional fisherman but I cant really justify spending much more than 125 per rod, and the rods I own in the higher price range dont really outperform my mid price point rods.

Most of us started out with something cheap like a zebco combo or some hand me down from a brother or uncle. And we caught all kinds of fish on them.


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## raisinrat (Feb 9, 2006)

As a retailer I try to look at rods at each price point and give my customers what I think is the best option or options in that price point. There are good quality rods relative to there price point at all price points. For the most part but not always if you spend between $60 to $150 ish you are going to get a pretty good quality rods these days. There is more to a good quality rod then the "IM" level the tag says it has on it. The way the materials are used can play a huge part in the making of a quality rod. The quality control steps a rod goes throw also weight heavy on the cost of rods. Nothing ticks me off more as a retailer then seeing a brand know for thier quality over the years cut corners like using a cork sheets over foam for a grip and say the rod has a cork handle and charge according to having a solid cork handle.

The best thing I can tell anyone is to do your homework, research, and ask questions about rods that look good to you.


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## TK81 (Mar 28, 2009)

I think it all depends on how you are fishing. For bottom bouncing bait or flies, I like my St Croix Avid with the fast action. I paid $100.00 on ebay for a $260.00 rod that was like new. I got a couple nice 9 ft rainshadows tied up by Hutch that I have using lately with my spinning reels. Got a sweet deal when the original buyer backed out. My pin rods are cheapies...an Okuma and a Temple Forks, and I haven't used them much, but they seem to perform great. For for bass fishing...I'm good with my $30.00 ugly sticks all day long. I also have a couple cheap crappie noodle rods that are great for the pier or the surf. I use them all, cheap or expensive, depending on how I am fishing.


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## Justo (Aug 14, 2012)

deerhunter2002 said:


> I'm more asking as far as bass rods but I'm sure it would apply to any target species. I was looking through a fishing catalog recently and was blown away that some bass rods cost $400+. The most I've ever spent on a rod was $110 and that was a big deal. Is there really that much difference in 200, 300, and 400 dollar rods over the $100 ones?


It is all based on the individual person who is able and willing to spend what they think is a comfortable price for the gear they use. Myself.. I use Gloomis and St. Croix for everything I fish for.. My buddy I steelhead fish with is still using the same rods and reels and somtimes the same line from the 80s and he always out fishes me. I just look like I know what I'm doing. He on the other hand knows what he doing.


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## Lumberman (Sep 27, 2010)

deerhunter2002 said:


> I'm more asking as far as bass rods but I'm sure it would apply to any target species. I was looking through a fishing catalog recently and was blown away that some bass rods cost $400+. The most I've ever spent on a rod was $110 and that was a big deal. Is there really that much difference in 200, 300, and 400 dollar rods over the $100 ones?


Simple answer not much difference at all. When you get around $100-$150 you will have quality guides and materials. After $100 you pay for some balancing and then primarily the marketing costs for the rods. 

I spent my money on reels and never paid much attention to rods. 

For tournament fishing you're much better having multiple style cheaper rods then a limited number of expensive rods. Match your rod to the way you are fishing. I'll pick up the right ugly stick Vs the worn Loomis all day long.


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