Rod - Reel - Importance and Money Spent

[Sinker]

OK FIRST - Thank You to KaiMan for standing up and offering a different opinion than everyone else. That is why I love this board you can do this without fear of being slammed for it.
Now in all honesty Batman's explanation of a cheap reel was not even realistic in todays times.
Well almost everyone seemed to agree that the REEL was more important than the ROD yet even so some of you still spend more on the ROD than the REEL - WHY?
Hey - Remember Bamboo Rods and String - go figure NO REEL or how about old commercial paired tuna fishing - NO REEL - Had to mention those for some fun.
On a personal note I went through my gear and on AVERAGE my ROD ='s my REEL expenditures but that is across the board. I have some RODS thatcost much more than the REEL they are matched with and vice-versa.
So if the REEL is more important then WHY do some of us spend more on a ROD? Is it so we can have a Custom Rod? To match a ROD with the REEL? hmmmm?
Think you all remember the story of my buddies and I going out and fishing the trout farm - buddy breaks rod, uses kids snoopy pole and out catches all of us. More expensive gear doesn't mean you will catch more fish.
I have had reels fail in the middle of a fight and rods break as well neither of which is fun or leaves you with a good feeling.
I was hoping for some input from some key members but think they kinda saw where this was going ahead of time so they stayed out of it. You see this is an age old question that has many answers for many reasons and the debate can go on forever.
Obviously as Flipper stated the ROD and the REEL are both VERY important pieces of the puzzle and each perform a separate but essential mission in the battle. In todays world the ROD and the REEL is useless without one another.
As with many things these days dollar value does not necessarily equal better quality or value.
So have we answered the question? NO, I think not. I will say though that in todays market I could probably match a less expensive rod with a more expensive reel and end up with a very fine setup that would handle most anything I fish for.
Thanks guys for the input and feel free to offer up additional info and opinions here.

[Batman]

Originally Posted by Sinker

Now in all honesty Batman's explanation of a cheap reel was not even realistic in todays times.

Is it? Does Okuma ring a bell? A few more seconds and my induron would have been totaly locked up which would have meant loosing a fish. Even if I had an arc i would have still broken off.


Batty

[KaiMan]

More expensive in actuality will only help you catch fish if you know how to utilize it over the medium to cheap gear.


I just believe that in sensitivity being the number issue about fishing. If one cannot feel finiky bites, then how are suppose to catch it?


I know of the classic bait and run on game fish, the sensitivityis not an issue,but to find a rod that detect bites for small3-4 inchrockfish with 30-40 lb Mono in 200+ ft of water rockfish is truely remarkable.


It is whyCalstar GF800M, Calstar6480 Glassare in my arsenal.


Reels to usecanvary greatly in pricefrom anything from a penn squider or surfmaster, Jigmaster, Long Beach, Etc.will work. Even my Daiwa HV' work just fine, and they all cost less than the Calstarrods.


Biased Pricing based on former employee discounts


The most realistic standpoint I concur with Mike (Flippper) You u need both to utilize your maximum potential bad self fishing skills.[img]smileys/[/img]Edited by: KaiMan

[Sinker]

Originally Posted by Batman

Is it? Does Okuma ring a bell? A few more seconds and my induron would have been totaly locked up which would have meant loosing a fish. Even if I had an arc i would have still broken off.


Batty

Agreed you would have broken of anyway but your description of a cheap reel in todays market was anything but realistic or fair. I understand why you said what you did and that you were trying to make a point but personally I feel went a bit overboard. Think Arvin and I have discussed Okuma Conventional enough here heheehe if ya know what I mean..... Not bagging on ya Batty after all your are MR Reel right?