A bunch of low end or a few high end

[fishindrummer217]

Would you rather own 8 to 10 $100-$200 rods or 3 or 4 $300-500 rods? I have about six more rods I want in my arsenal which will likely be majority powell because that what I can afford. Having never used a high end rod I am tempted to make a few of those purchases GLXs or Champ X's, if I do that though that six will probably be cut to three. So have a few great or a bunch good, or retie often or use 3 lures haha.

[fishingandfords]

boat or shore fishing? you only have 2 hands and before technique specific rods came out most guys have 2 rods for everything. there are some greats rods in the 170 - 200 mark. I have a ton of combos and usually only bring 2 out unless i'm in a boat and even then i only use 2- 4

[flywatersmallie]

Here is what I did.... Aside from one Legend Elite that I can't bring myself to get rid of, I have all Dobyns rods now. Of those, a bunch are Savvy series rods. Those handle the reaction type baits, spinnerbaits, traps, jerks and the like. Things where sensitivity is not paramount. Mixed in, I have a few few Champion Extremes for techniques like T-rigs, plastics, jigs and other slow moving stuff. I have a Champion crank rod, only because one isn't offered in the Savvy line. Also a Champion flipping stick. I felt its a nice compromise. I get good sensitivity out of it but I don't use it often enough to really justify spending all the cash for an Extreme on that particular technique. I have a pair of "general purpose" river smallie spinning rods. Those are both Extremes but then again, I use them nearly every day.

I guess it really comes down to the techniques you are looking to employ, how much sensitivity you need and how much you will use any given rod. Food for thought though..... Even the "budget" sticks now, are better than the high end stuff of not too many years ago.

[slipperybob]

I have a whole bunch of low end rods, they're called Ugly Sticks. So about as technique specific as I can get is a dropshot rod and a crankbait rod. Those are still under $200 rods. I think selecting a rod, based on it's attributes is far more important then just the sticker price. If it so happens to merely be the expensive rod, then it's gonna have to be the expensive one.

[Steve Williams]

If I had to choose, and if you are tournament fishing, I'd pick 3 or 4 high end "feel" rods that fit your style of fishing. I have rods ranging from $50 up to $375 customs but when I am fishing a tournament, I find myself picking up the same rods over and over for "feel" techniques. I am primarily going to be looking for a jig bite on any lake I go to and follow that up with a crankbait bite deep or shallow (I prefer it to be offshore when I can find it.) Anything else that I am doing is "defending" myself. Given that, I typically will have a frog (just love to throw it), swim jig, football jig and flipping jig tied on when I start the day. I might replace the frog with a punch rig later in the day, but the others rarely change.

For me, there are 3 "high end" rods I could not do without. The DX795, DX784 and DX744 spend a LOT of time in my hands during touranments. The DX795 is my flip, pitch, frog rod. It is long, powerful and a heavy cover fish extracting tool. You can flip/punch with it all day and it wont' wear you out. The DX784 does a lot of things really well, but primarily football jig, riggin and flutter spoon. It is also long, moves a lot of line on deep hooksets and wont' wear you out. The DX744 I use for lighter jigs/texas rigs, spinnerbaits, senkos.

I have some Savvy rods, some Champion rods, some custom built rods and a few others, but the above spend the most time in my hand and are in my rod bag whenever I am fishing with someone else.

[USA-RET]

Ultimately, it really comes down to what you can afford and what makes you happy.

I personally lean towards the high end. I find that if I buy high end, I only buy it once. Otherwise I'm always trading "up".

If you really need 6 rods and your budget is limited then your only option is less expensive rods. If however, you think you can get by with 3 or 4 rods rather than 6, I'd go with the high end offerings. You can always add to your collection later, (one rod at a time) as financial situations change.

Just my perspective. Your perspective may vary

[Jason Penn]

I've gone with high end, but I wouldn't say everyone should. I only carry 4 casters with me, and I don't fish T's.

I went high end on the rods (Steez) but I'm using BPS Pro Qualifier Tournaments & a Carbonlite, so it's not like I have to have high end. I use the rods because they feel and work the way I want them too and same with the reels. It doesn't have to cost a lot for me to use it, just work the way I want it to.

[BASSLAYER]

Get yourself a high end stick once you do its hard to go back.

I too had a bunch of LTA, Avids, etc. Now i'm down to 4 rods that cover a bunch of techniques nicely.

Like USA-RET puts it you will find yourself trading up and wondering how a higher end stick feels and fishes.

my .02

[Captain Chaos]

I'm a casual fisherman but love the fishing experience .. so I've slowly created a great little arsenal of higher end combos .. over a period of time .. and they cover most fishing techniques very nicely. I mean, I love my rods and reels ..

Saving up and hitting a good deal here on the forum(when they pop up) or even eBay is a good way of acquiring stuff. And if you don't like something, you can probably get your money back fairly easy(if you resell and there is demand for what you bought).

[brokeneye]

whenever faced with the choice between quantity and quality, i usually opt for the latter.

[Buck2thPerch]

Its all perception of conception. You don't have to have a $500 rod to catch fish. In my experience with high end to Sub $100 rods, its what works. Example: Zillion Rods, which retails $210-$245, performs just as good or almost as good as any $500 Steez Rod. Yes the Steez Rod is tad more sensative and lighter but do you think the Steez Rod should command 2X the premium of a Zillion rod when the Zillion rod performs almost 70% of the Steez Rod? To some every little bit of extra "umpphh!", is worth it thus the answer will be yes. To others such as me, a $200 Rod that performs almost thatt of a $500 rod...no bariner the $200 rod gets my vote.

Don't let others make you think what you think is good or premium, it is what works.

Go $30 Shakespear Ugly Stick!!!!

[Jason Penn]

Its all perception of conception. You don't have to have a $500 rod to catch fish. In my experience with high end to Sub $100 rods, its what works. Example: Zillion Rods, which retails $210-$245, performs just as good or almost as good as any $500 Steez Rod. Yes the Steez Rod is tad more sensative and lighter but do you think the Steez Rod should command 2X the premium of a Zillion rod when the Zillion rod performs almost 70% of the Steez Rod? To some every little bit of extra "umpphh!", is worth it thus the answer will be yes. To others such as me, a $200 Rod that performs almost thatt of a $500 rod...no bariner the $200 rod gets my vote.

I would agree with you if the actions were the same. The Zillion rods are excellent if you like an ex-fast rod.

[thelatrobe33]

The vote seems to be leaning towards less rods but nicer ones. To me, there's not a thing wrong with Powell rods. Sure they aren't NRX or DX rods, but they fill a need. I started with a whole arsenal of Powell rods, but by last year I was down to 1 because I caught the "higher end" bug. Now, I'm up to 3 Powells again. At a certain point you get diminishing returns for each extra dollar spent. If I were you, I'd pick up one premium rod to use for you favorite technique and fill out the rest with Powells. Just don't waste your money on a premium rod to throw reaction baits.

[dux]

Quality, without a doubt, I just enjoy fishing more using quality gear.

[Buck2thPerch]

Its all perception of conception. You don't have to have a $500 rod to catch fish. In my experience with high end to Sub $100 rods, its what works. Example: Zillion Rods, which retails $210-$245, performs just as good or almost as good as any $500 Steez Rod. Yes the Steez Rod is tad more sensative and lighter but do you think the Steez Rod should command 2X the premium of a Zillion rod when the Zillion rod performs almost 70% of the Steez Rod? To some every little bit of extra "umpphh!", is worth it thus the answer will be yes. To others such as me, a $200 Rod that performs almost thatt of a $500 rod...no bariner the $200 rod gets my vote.

I would agree with you if the actions were the same. The Zillion rods are excellent if you like an ex-fast rod.

You are correct. The Zillion Rods are XFast and are just as as good or close to the Steez. But the question is, do you really need a $500 rod for reaction? I think $150-$200 rods would do perfectly for reaction rods vs the XFast feel/sensativity rods. Me, I have Cumara Fast action rods for everything else besides cranks, while my zillion rods with the Xfast tips are for worms and jigs and where sensativity counts. I had a chance to get brandnew Steez Rods for $250 and declined it to get the Zillion rods (for less than $200 ofcourse). Just my opinion.