# Spend big on the reel or rod?



## Guest (Feb 23, 2008)

I know that ideally, an kayak fishing outfit should be perfectly matched with a top quality rod and reel. But lets say that you have a relatively modest budget and can either afford just a good quality (as opposed to reasonable or great) rod and reel, or otherwise a reasonable quality reel and a great quality rod or visa versa, which road would you take?

Personally speaking, I reckon the rod is more important than the reel. None of my reels are fantastic quality as such, but my rods are. And I can't recall the reel ever being much of a problem when landing fish, but I can certainly recall the rod being a major hurdle before I stepped up to the Nitros. In fact, my largest, heaviest fish landed on a kayak (that 13kg longtail) was reeled in with an el-cheapo Jarvis Walker reel. I was able to land it as easily as I did because of the rod I was using (Nitro Godzilla) - most of the pressure was absorbed by the rod, not so much the reel. Most of the rods I was using before the Nitros came along would have failed for sure.

I did, however, upgrade that reel a few days after catching that fish (didn't want to risk it again) but could only afford to spend about $250 at the time. One day I'll upgrade to the Certate or something similar, but right now I'm just not seeing that much need to step up. Of course, if I had a swiss bank account, I wouldn't hesitate to arm myself with insanely priced reels but I don't think I'll ever feel a need to switch from the Nitros though.


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## Astro (Nov 27, 2006)

i like the precision of quality reels but agree with your assessment on the rods, when the budget allows i will be getting nitros as well


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## GoneFishn (May 17, 2007)

Would love to have the best of both  but if I had the choice I would go the better quality real. The reason is I have had one real fail me big time on a 4.5kg snapper mind you it was under $100 the rod it was on, an Ugly stick which had no problem. I now have a SOL2500 and is a beautiful real the drag is smooth as silk and has heaps of drag.


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## Redfish (Apr 25, 2007)

Ahhhh. a question for the ages!

I'd choose a good quality reel. You can get some reasonable quality rods quite cheaply. I think it's harder to say the same about reels. I got an okuma eclipz, which is not a bad reel, but it failed me with a big fish (brand new at the time), and feels very rough compared with my sol's. That said I'd find it hard to justify more than a sol (glad to see you got a sol Kelly!).

For fly fishing I'd say the opposite is true.


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## GoneFishn (May 17, 2007)

After having a squiz at yours Redfish I couldn't resist :lol:


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## Deepsouth (Feb 17, 2008)

Having just got back into fishing, I was looking at a fairly modest rig for about $300 with a good rod and reel.
Found the local tackle shop had a sale and walked away with a top of the range okuma v-system v30 and shimano raider finesse bream for $300. 
As a package its awesome! The okuma reel is fantastic and in my opinion for what you get for under $300 you cannot come close with a shimano or daiwa unless you are looking at paying $600+
The rod is awesome as well, and has fantastic action, very smooth casting and when striking has an almost automatic set its great!
So if you shop around you can get a pretty darn good package, and Okuma, look out for them!
Ebay has heaps of them from the US for better than here prices so check that out too  
Also the berkley lighting rods are going for about $50 USD which is not bad value for what they can do 
Shop around and you can get both! The way we like it! 8)


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Hey Josh

Very good question.............. I would have said in the old days the reel was as important if not more..... but then that was before Mr king came into town... YUP your right about having to absorb some of those serious runs and then lever the fish up... but I think that if the drag on the reel was sticky then before you even had a chance to use the rod you might be busted off by a sticky drag.... so I think both as are important.... But I certainly dont think you need to spend big on either........ as long as your a dab hand at stripping stuff down and maintaining reels..... or go the Alvey route (if thats your bag). Personally Ive gone the mid to upper end of the reel game.. and you know who I 'Sponsor' on the rod front!!! The reels I get I maintain simply ie I do not dissasemble - but they have good components - and I can look after them simply and they seem to be pretty A1 considering the abuse Ive given them. I'll get them serviced if I have to... I'm a bit time poor..... so would rather pay a bit more and maintain less... but thats not to say If you've got a bit more time and knowledge that you can look after a modest priced reel for a long time with a bit of TLC which many of the forum members do...

ANyhow each to his own.. its just a bloody stick in the end and a cotton reel WITH a bent pin on the end !!!!


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## Dave73 (Dec 3, 2006)

I'd rather have a better reel and an ok rod. Reels that could cease up, have bad drags, grind, not cast well etc...  and how many times do you turn the handle per session when your fishing? Nah, I couldn't do it...
As for a rod, I still have some cheapies but they have been upgraded many times by "better" ones. They suited at the time and caught some great fish.
Spending money on tackle isn't always logical.

Get value and look for sale items, from overseas or not paying extra for either of the 2 premium brands with the big names if other brands can do the job.

Dave


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## Redfish (Apr 25, 2007)

> After having a squiz at yours Redfish I couldn't resist


Gonefishin- That little sol had some trouble with the salt on the back of the kayak- filled up with water and didn't know about it. Sent it off to Daiwa asut and they changed a heap of parts and got it back to new for $20!

Deepsouth- you're right, the vsystems are fantastic reels for the price and got an excellent review on tackletour.com. I think for the prices they go for on eBay they're an excellent yak option, particularly if you're dealing with some swell. The eclipz I have has a rubber gasket to keep the water out, I'm sure the vsystems are the same. As good as the v systems are though I still rate the mid range daiwas and shimano's higher as they have a better degree of workmanship.


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## wiseguy (Jan 18, 2008)

Well I was always of the opinion that it was better to have a good rod and a cheaper reel.

But after reading the comments I think that I'm now going the other way :shock:

Looks like the minister needs to allocate some more funds


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## Milt (Sep 2, 2005)

IMHO

For bigger fish "snapper etc" a better reel is most important with a nice smooth drag
For smaller fish "whiting etc" a better rod is most important for sensitivity

Milt,


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## Garfish (Jun 2, 2006)

id say reel, as most of the time im simply dropping the rig over the edge of the yak, and have never had my rod pushed to the limit...

having said that... i just snapped my black label shimano finesse rod which was about 6 yrs old and replaced it with a cheaper shimano. it now casts terribly


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## Guest (Feb 25, 2008)

Some interesting responses there and has given me some thoughts on a few alternative reels I might look at when I feel a need to upgrade (which at the moment, I don't). I was pretty sure many would go the other way. But I imagine we all agree that in an ideal world, have top quality rod and reel is most ideal. 
Garfish, I too snapped one of those rods - sadly, it was when there was a 20kg+ cobia on it, and the fish was lost as a result. It wasn't my rod either, which made it even worse. And no, normal people wouldn't try and reel in a cobia with a rod like this. The rod was handed to me by my support boat while fishing Findlays reef off Yeppoon by the way - it wasn't hooked in the kayak, but I did try to bring it in on the kayak. This was the day after I got that big Longtail, and was a good reminder of the kind of difference a suitable rod can make.

Gatesy, I do know which reel you're talking about and oh yes, that particular number would probably be my #1 choice at the moment if I could afford it.

Wopfish, agreed. Regardless of the value of the reel, a sticking drag will likely spell disaster on Kings, GTs, mackeral, tuna and the like. But personally speaking, providing the drag is doing it's job, I'll be most confident if the rod is well and truly up to the task.


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## vertigrator (Jul 25, 2006)

Milt said:


> IMHO
> 
> For bigger fish "snapper etc" a better reel is most important with a nice smooth drag
> For smaller fish "whiting etc" a better rod is most important for sensitivity
> ...


Spot on Milt 

Also I'll add that for situations where casting accuracy is paramount and the fish aren't gigantic then a cheaper 'quality' reel will do on a better quality rod. eg fishing for trout in small streams and rivers with lots of over hanging vegetation.

And I also agree with Redfish, in most cases when fly fishing the rod is by far more important than the reel. You may need a high end reel with brilliant drag when chasing tuna on fly but for the most of us any decent reel will do. I say decent because there is a level of quality that you really don't ever want to go below. I did that with a crappy graphite fly reel ($60) once when wanting to try a bit of saltwater fly fishing. I got one season out of it before the drag completely died and the drag adjustment knob fell off too. I relaced it with a quality Gillies XP3 with machined aluminium spool and excellent drag for $170. It's got the quality you get on much more expensive reels like Abels and Ross etc for less than half of what they charge ($500 - $800).


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## fishinswing (May 15, 2006)

I would say both play a huge roll in catching fish, with both rod and reel of good quality, you will have far more chance of landing the fish especially if it's big.


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## craig450 (May 11, 2007)

Personally i think its a waste to have a very good reel on a crap rod, and vice-versa.
I reckon to really compliment a good rod, it needs a good reel to match.
All of my high end reels are on my good rods, and all the mid range stuff is coupled accordingly.


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