Premium high dollar or Wally World bargain bin?

[ronaultmtd]

Been there done that..been on both sides of this...Shakespeare Ugly Sticks to custom rods and lots in between...building my own rods using all premium parts, blanks, grips reel seats...63 years ago a Mitchell 300 was my fist spinning reel...2020 brought me a shiny new Shimano Stradic 2500 HG FL...on a Shimano Teramar SE Inshore 7’ medium rod... I am 74 years old and I have got 63 years of fishing experiences in the rear view mirror. Balanced tackle, smooth drag, incredible sensitivity so you feel the light bites is very important to me..and 99% off my fishing is light spinning tackle using artificial lures...if I did 99% of my fishing with natural baits and mostly bottom fished my tackle would be completely different and not nearly as expensive. Casting lures for hours on end at my age makes light weight, yet strong, sensitive rods and light durable reels mandatory for me . Buying factory made rods that meet these requirements run in the $125-160 minimum price range And the sky is the limit if you go for custom rods..reels can be in the $100-300 range depending on your preference. Lighter usually means pricer reels...Diawa Ballistic LT and Shimano Stradic CI-4(+) are two of the leading reels in this category. Can you get by with $39 rods and $49 reels, sure you can. And you can catch some big fish on them. Like driving a Yugo car will get you back and forth...my Dad told me something a long time ago when I was a teenager-Buy the best fishing tackle you can afford...any reel may work but you get what you pay for and good tackle last longer so it is cheaper in the long run. If you fish twice a week or more like I do you put a premium on your gear.

[ski357]

Two sayings from my dad that I'll always use: "It's a joy to work with the proper tools" and "A man can never have to many boats"

[Mark]

Ron,

I agree with you to avoid bargain bin gear but I do believe that there is a middle ground price range that offers dependable gear sufficient for most kayak anglers. I think it also depends on your target fish. If you routinely fish for cow stripers or go offshore in high salinity waters for brutish fish, you're going to need tackle that exceeds the specs and cost of what I use. But for catching white perch, channel cats and 19 to 24 inch stripers in the Bay, or bass and pan fish in freshwaters, I believe moderately priced outfits will suffice. Those environments and fish do not generally tax the capabilities of store brand rods and reels (Bass Pro and Cabela's for example).

For spinning reels on the above catches, I been using moderately priced Pflueger Presidents for years. They're lightweight and dependable. But again, I don't stress them with big fish or salty waters. I also have enough rods with Pfluegers to rotate their use. They don't get overworked. Additionally, I keep them clean and lubricated. I do own one well-used old Stradic and one Mitchell 308. The Presidents are much smoother than either of those reels and none has ever failed me on the water.

I've mentioned here before that I have seen great leaps in tackle quality without corresponding increases in price during my time as an angler. Perhaps the most notable change was the advent of graphite rods. They offered strength and resilience in a lightweight package over traditional fiberglass rods. They were also very expensive when they came out about 50 years ago. Today they are not. Add to that offshore production...which I realize is an ignition point for debate...and rod prices today are a fraction of what they used to be. You no longer have to pay $400 or $500 for a quality fly rod or spinning rod. You can if you want to. Orvis and St. Croix will gladly comply with domestically produced rods at high cost.
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But I would challenge you to determine if the extra cost you pay them provides commensurate benefit to your fishing experience. Even those two companies now offer customers offshore-produced versions of their products made to their specs with guarantees at much lower prices. Those are the rods I now purchase and they have been sufficient for me.

I have St. Croix Legend flyrods that cost me a fortune when I could least afford them given family obligations at the time. They have been great for 30 years. In fact, I used one on my last outing. But none of my most recent rod purchases have cost as much as I paid for those Legends so long ago in 1990 dollars. But guess what? The actions of my newer rods are great. They cast equally fine. They're just as lightweight. Their components (guides, handles) are excellent. Will they last another 30 years? Well, sadly that doesn't matter because I surely won't.

So yes. I agree that buying knock off brands or exceedingly cheap gear is a waste of money. Such gear will only disappoint you. But we live in a good time concerning fishing tackle when much quality gear is affordable to most anglers, depending of course where you fish and what you fish for.