Rod prices Vs. rod features

[Radnine]

Hi All,

I am sure that this topic has been covered before, so please bear with me, but I am wondering about the vast fluctuation in rod prices. I am also wondering what features are worth having and which ones are complete luxuries.

Note that I am asking the average fishing types that pay for their rods by posting here (as opposed to writing to Bob Izumi).

I am also not trying to get people to justify why they bought what they did or paid what they did. I am just trying to figure out what makes a $300 rod a $300 rod (coming from a user of $60 rods).

Thanks,

Jim

[BITEME]

My friend im a $60 rod user and I will go toe to toe with anyone on this board who wants to have a fish off with their $300 rod spend the money on a decent reel I hope this answers your question

[GBW]

You know what, I spent a whole $20 on a Shimano Stimula 7' rod and it's been great!

the $300 rod's are all about the weight, guides and backbone. however, I'll be looking at the new Mojo rod's by St. Croix very soon as I've seen them, held it and liked the feel of it very much. It's in the $100 range.

Edited November 14, 2008 by GBW

[krawler]

Quantum Coldwater Series are the cheapest and the strongest in my opinion. I only buy quantum now.

[danbo]

I like IM7 blanks.

[bassjnkie]

I own a few $300 rods, but they are custom, what I want on it and made to my specs. I will probably never spend $300 on a shelf rod. I don't think the money is worth it.

[dp3200]

The only expensive rod that I own is my fly rod. I notice the difference between it and my old rod after a day of casting. I don't catch more fish, it's just more enjoyable to use.

 

I think having the right type of rod is more important than anything. For example, I have an 11 foot noodle rod for fishing in small creeks, and a 14 footer for the pier. That makes a huge difference.

[forrest]

I agree with someone earlier in the post....weight is a big factor. You will not get super light weight rod for $60.

[bassjnkie]

The only difference between $50 all around rod and $200 all around rod, as someone said, is weight and construction, eg. Better reel seats, way better guides, lifetime warranties. I will say it again I rather buy custom. But don't get me wrong I can catch a 10lb bass with and Ugly Stick as I could with loomis or st. croix. IMO, it's all personal preference.

[kemper]

Check out the number of guides on a high priced rod vs a low one, cheap rods are always short on a couple of guides. Also I find the cheap rods to the really wobbly and flimsy.

 

That said, I only spend big money on my float rods, and I have ONE good spinning and ONE good casting mixed in with a bunch of el cheapo other stuff

[Canuck2fan]

I agree with someone earlier in the post....weight is a big factor. You will not get super light weight rod for $60.

 

I agree with your theory but in practice with careful shopping you can come close. I have been very lucky and have gotten some rods that were selling for over 300 bucks on close out sales for under 100.... All modern IM-6 or better rods are going to feel light as a feather to any rod 10 yrs old.

 

My 7ft Shimano Bull Whip which retailed for 140.00 fifteen years ago. Weighs 7 ozs more than my 60 dollar 11.5ft Catera. That is one heck of a difference over the course of 8 hrs casting LOL. However my 80.00 11.5ft Swan Noodle Company emerald is 4ozs lighter than the Catera.... The black is 2.5ozs lighter than the emerald... It just gets better and better.

 

I find the most important feature on a good rod is the quality of the reel seat and how it effects the feel and balance of the rod. A good graphite reel seat on a rod can make an average one feel spectacular while a poor reel seat on an otherwise great rod can almost ruin it IMO.

 

Another thing that totally changes the feel of a rod is if it has double foot guides or single foot. You can get a lot of backbone in the lower part by having double foot eyes and leave a tip sensitive just by having single foot eyes for the last 3 or 4.

 

I am just amazed though at the progress of rods in the last 5 yrs. I can't wait to see what we will be fishing with in another 5 LOL

[DRIFTER_016]

Higher priced rods use better materials in their construction.

The most important materials are in the blank it's self. Higher quality graphite is stronger lighter and more sensitive.

Sensitivity is probably the most important aspect of almost any fishing rod. The ability to feel the light bites alows you to put more fish in the boat or on the bank. This is especially true when jigging. Other components such as guides are also made of better materials on the more expensive sticks. An inexpensive rod will most likely have aluminum oxide guides while the more expensive rod will most likely have ceramic guides.

Big deal you say they look the same...........the better guides are stronger and lighter. The big deal is the ability to reduce weight, especially on the tip section of the rod. Heavier guides will damp the vibrations transmitter through the blank more than will the lighter guides. This does two things slows the ability of the rod to recover after casting and impedes strike detection. The ability to recover after casting is extremely important in fly casting.

Having the tip continue to bounce around for a second decreases control which effects casting accuracy and distance.

 

That's my .02

[MJL]

For every small incremental increase in performance, there is an exponential increase in price.

 

I am guilty of owning (or have previously owned) fly rods, float rods and carp rods valued in excess of $650. I’m a sucker for the marketing – Rods built for the extreme angler LOL.

 

For rods, most high-end companies – By high end I’m talking about rods in excess of $150 – Strive towards the same goal as every other company. Make it lighter, stronger, faster and more sensitive than its competition and predecessor models.

 

A lot of the cost of high end rods has to do with R&D and labour involved in building them. Most high end rod blanks nowadays come from the US (Sage and Loomis are in Washington State) or the UK (Zziplex, Century, Harrison and House of Hardy (Sans Greys or Chub)). Labour isn’t cheap however the quality standards are more strict than in say China or Korea – Century Composites (Based in Scotland) are actually ISO certified.

 

From my own experiences as a rod builder (and obviously a field tester of rods which weren’t mine) and speaking to a couple friends in the composite industry, designing and manufacturing uber high modulus graphic and carbon (as seen on more expensive, higher performance rods) is not easy. High modulus graphite – despite being lighter, more sensitive and less prone to softening over time (due to lower resin levels) – has one huge inherent weakness…It is brittle.

 

Finding the right balance between sensitivity and strength and making it better than its competition is difficult. Simply rolling more high modulus (low resin) graphite around the mandrel or adding an outer layer of carbon weave (as seen on many carp rods) theoretically increases strength but it also adds weight to the blank and reduces the casting performance and feel – Hence the need to find the right balance between super high performance materials and high strength materials. This research costs $.

 

Beyond the blank, many companies used stepped up components on their higher end rods compared to their value rods. Fuji Alconite guides VS Fuji Hardloys. Fuji SIC guides VS Fuji Alconites. Fuji Titanium framed SIC guides VS Fuji Stainless SIC guides and the progression continues onto cosmetic components like cork and reel seats. Better warranties may also be factored into the price of the rod as well.

 

With all this said about high cost/high performance rods, I still think there are high performing rods and blanks in the market at value prices. To the average or beginning angler, IMHO, other than being lighter, they probably won’t even notice much of a difference in performance between the average $60 rod on a BPS shelf or a Loomis GLX and both rods would serve them well.

[MJL]

Check out the number of guides on a high priced rod vs a low one, cheap rods are always short on a couple of guides. Also I find the cheap rods to the really wobbly and flimsy.

 

There has been a recent trend towards developing new guides and guide spacings to improve the efficiency of rods. Many companies (low and high end) use the Fuji concept guide spacing charts as a reference when putting guides on their rods. The 'Fuji doctrine' is “use the least and smallest guides necessary.” The theory behind it is to reduce the amount of weight on the rod (especially at the tip) which improves casting performance and the recovery of the blank. Similarly, guides (however slick the ceramic or wire inserts are), they increase friction on the line and theoretically reduce casting distance. Of course there are instances when the Fuji concept is less efficient as is the case with extreme distance casting where larger diameter (but lightweight) guides are better to match spool sizes on wide-spooled distance casting big-pit reels.

[BITEME]

Dont waste your money just FISH dammit

[wallyboss]

I think that it is better to chose a rod that with your reel attached is well-balanced. I had a 200.00 rod that I had an okuma spinning reel on and it felt like a 20.00 Walmart special. until I found at BPS a rod balancer kit. That you add weight to the tip of the handle part to balance out your setup. Now it feels like a 350.00 setup.

[bigugli]

Because I walk a lot of shoreline and bush when backpacking the rod has got to be durable. It also has got to feel good in your hand.

When it comes to sensitivity and light bites, there is no diff tween a Walmart special and a St Croix. I just watch my rod tip. Arthritis has buggered up a lot of the feeling in the hands so I can't justify the $2-400 price tag

[canadadude]

The biggest problem I have is once I started drifting $300+ rods it's tough to go back the under $100 rods. The lightness, sensitivity and all out enjoyment I get from fishing the high-end products make my experience much more enjoyable. It may just be physcological thing but I find my fishing experience is greatly enhanced when I'm drifting with a high end rod. My only rant is with warranty issues from loomis canada, I'll tell you guys they may advertise a $75.00 no strings attached lifetime warranty but just try to collect, I've been jumping through hoops for 2 weeks now and still no rod

Edited November 15, 2008 by canadadude

[Rich]

Look into Ugly Stik Lite

[holdfast]

Trust me, Ive picked up expensive Rods (for me $70 plus) and (cheap $40 and less) and broke the tips off the more expensive just by trying them out. You'd be surprised how many tips are brittle no matter the price. So far Ive been lucky that I havent had to pay for one. This is why for me price can be a gimmick like anything else.