Which is more important - the reel or the rod?

[triple_illusion]

...dont forget about the value of a good handle...

[mikeysam]

It's easy to get carried away with expensive gear, and yes, the fish have no idea and don't care anyway. Most of this gear is designed to catch anglers and not fish . However we all like our toys and once you have shelled out for some higher end stuff, reels in particular, there's no going back. The thing is are you really good enough to tell the difference between a $400 Loomis and a $150 St.Croix. My guess is no if we are going to be totally honest. I know one very reputable guide in Australia who has never seen the need to pay more than $100 for a rod. His reels are all in the Chronarch class though. Many rods will have the tip broken in a car door before they wear out, whereas a half decent reel WILL go the distance.
JD

If you can't tell the difference between a Nrx and a 150 dollar rod you might consider getting some tests to see if you have some sort of nerve damage.

Hey Mikey, I think Takrat is Australian from the north. In that case, it's true. We use braid on heavy leaders casting moving baits and in general get hit by fish that aren't known to be gentle. I've lost most feeling in my left hand from exactly that, nerve damage and when I use a mates RH wind setup I still feel it... In the elbow. The barramundi is like a giant SM in strike and fitting nature and the jack is a cousin if your red snapper. Down in the south, bream is a major sport fish, with them a good sensitive rod is definitely important but a sienna 1000 & 2500 could easily handle them. All of them are great sport fish however

Under those circumstances I am sure the reel is the most important.

[takrat 67]

This is the good thing about a forum like this one, you get all sorts of input from all sorts of places and fishing styles. I've seen a lot of footage of the dramatic hook sets the blokes in the US do on Largemouth, whereas it's not needed on the majority of our sportfish in Australia. Mycl's pretty close to the mark I do fish for all those animals in the north. My 3 main Barra outfits are Chronarch E200 on a TFO rod, a Curado E5 on a Daiwa Spellbinder rod and a Zillion on a Zillion rod. All have 30lb Braid with a 50-60lb leader and the Zillion rod IS more expensive than the other two, yet they all haul fish. Barra have a tendency to jump and will spit the hooks if you let them. Jacks just go head down for the nearest heavy timber or rock. I haven't fished for Largemouth but judging by the hooksets I've seen the pro's do it seems they don't hook themselves like many of our fish do. I'll stick by my preference for spending more on the reel and less on the rod. Maybe a TT deputation down under might be in order?
JD

[Mcyl]

This is the good thing about a forum like this one, you get all sorts of input from all sorts of places and fishing styles. I've seen a lot of footage of the dramatic hook sets the blokes in the US do on Largemouth, whereas it's not needed on the majority of our sportfish in Australia. Mycl's pretty close to the mark I do fish for all those animals in the north. My 3 main Barra outfits are Chronarch E200 on a TFO rod, a Curado E5 on a Daiwa Spellbinder rod and a Zillion on a Zillion rod. All have 30lb Braid with a 50-60lb leader and the Zillion rod IS more expensive than the other two, yet they all haul fish. Barra have a tendency to jump and will spit the hooks if you let them. Jacks just go head down for the nearest heavy timber or rock. I haven't fished for Largemouth but judging by the hooksets I've seen the pro's do it seems they don't hook themselves like many of our fish do. I'll stick by my preference for spending more on the reel and less on the rod. Maybe a TT deputation down under might be in order?
JD

There is one point to note however, watching KVD, and especially Toshinari Namiki ( the Machine gun ), the way the cast, hookset and fight the fish is very different while in event as opposed to promotion videos. In OSP videos the Machine gun literally takes 5 mins to get a fish in that just gets lifted by KVD and Martens in a tournament. Another example is in Ito's promo videos, the fight involved landing a 6lb LMB, I've used the same rod on barramundi and it comes down to showmanship. Even with the same angler KVDs hookset in BPS vids are much more exaggerated than his pull sets used in tournament. I think the difference in the power sets for promotional video the flex is concentrated in the weaker tip of the rod giving that bent over Kodak moment as opposed to using the backbone and really putting force on the fish.

Takrat, try using Senkos on barra during a minor phase... They'll suck up, spit and repeat with the soft plastic. It's really quite amusing to see them play with their food then go for a bass pro hookset...you can almost see the surprise in their eyes.
.
For me it's still rod over reel when it comes to performance, gotta get the bait in the right spot first... Worry about getting it in later!

[takrat 67]

Never tried Senko's mate, do you get them in from the US, or buy 'em locally?

[Chode]

Never tried Senko's mate, do you get them in from the US, or buy 'em locally?

that is fishing blasphemy

[Mcyl]

Never tried Senko's mate, do you get them in from the US, or buy 'em locally?

Where ya at? I got a heap. I got craws, arkies, tubes, brush hogs...half of them I'm still trying to determine whether they work.
I'll keep an eye out for ya. Maybe zoom would have some here. Wacky rigging them was hilarious, bream and jacks swam up to look at it like a freak show, just hovered there and stared..

[fishingandfords]

I would give the edge to the rod

[tim3716]

I would say rod too

[Mcyl]

A good way would be to fish a crap reel with good rod them vice versa. Or an ancient reel with a good rod. That would be kinda cool.

[Snyder Rods]

A few things to think about:

- You can use a rod without a reel, but you can't use a reel without a rod.

- If you are talking about spinning reels, you can get a pretty decent one under $ 100.00 - perhaps under $ 60.00

- If you want sensitivity for slack-line fishing, you might have trouble finding a very sensitive rod for less than a couple hundred dollars. True, sensitive line such as fluoro and braid can take you a long way, but only a sensitive rod will take you all the way.

[Mcyl]

A few things to think about:

- You can use a rod without a reel, but you can't use a reel without a rod.

- If you are talking about spinning reels, you can get a pretty decent one under $ 100.00 - perhaps under $ 60.00

- If you want sensitivity for slack-line fishing, you might have trouble finding a very sensitive rod for less than a couple hundred dollars. True, sensitive line such as fluoro and braid can take you a long way, but only a sensitive rod will take you all the way.

Hey Snyder, like you I find rods more important but how on earth do you fish without a reel? Fly casting with a bucket to catch the line? Here we have a lot of live bait fishermen who use just line, a hook and a stick to hold the line up.