1 hour ago, Shif29 said:

You're exactly right. I am a Daiwa fanboy but I will never spend more than $200 on a rod or reel. My most expensive setups are around $250. I still get outfished by the old guys I fish with and they use the same old gear they have had for years and everything they have is spooled in 6lb mono. They bring in a couple citations a year too. Just something to think about.

Right. I get outfished routinely by my buddy, who until recently didn't even own a baitcaster. If I was a pro and spent 3 out of every 4 days on the water, then I'd want the best. Although I've seen a a lot of BPS Qualifiers on pros' decks over the years. They're probably specially tuned. My best combo is a $125 Lew's reel and a $130 Falcon Lowrider rod. But i bought the rod for $50 used. I cut corners where I can. I have two Lightning Rods for techniques that don't require sensitivity. They're light and have a great action. In fact, I caught a 7 pounder this spring on a decade old BPS Johnny Morris reel I bought used and a fossil of a Mitchell "100% graphite" rod that I know is more than 30 years old.

Personally, I prefer consistency.  If I pick up the same reel on a rod with the same style of grip it's one less thing to think about to help me concentrate on fishing.  If I have 14 different reels with different grips, handle lengths, braking mechanisms and feels to the drag it annoys the heck out of me taking the time to remember how to adjust each one on the fly.    I have all Revo STX reels and I love them.

 

Nothing wrong with Abu as there's nothing wrong with other brands.   If you like it and it works well for you, why change?

 

And surprisingly (or not), Abu makes a great rod.  I have two of the Villain 2.0 spinning rods and they are the best rods I've ever used for $200.

My first baitcaster was a Abu and I stuck with them for a long time. I now own and fish Abu's, Lew's,  and Shimano. I've been satisfied with all 3 brands but the Shimano's just do everything better except pull fish out of thick grass(less drag than Abu). 

12 hours ago, Bassattackr said:

Personally, I prefer consistency.  If I pick up the same reel on a rod with the same style of grip it's one less thing to think about to help me concentrate on fishing.  If I have 14 different reels with different grips, handle lengths, braking mechanisms and feels to the drag it annoys the heck out of me taking the time to remember how to adjust each one on the fly.    I have all Revo STX reels and I love them.

 

Nothing wrong with Abu as there's nothing wrong with other brands.   If you like it and it works well for you, why change?

 

And surprisingly (or not), Abu makes a great rod.  I have two of the Villain 2.0 spinning rods and they are the best rods I've ever used for $200.

Consistency has been my main focus too.  Minimize variance to maximize my learning.

 

I've been immensely happy with my Abu gear.  And most of the responses in this thread just helped exemplify that at the price points i'm targeting (generally in the 100-150 range for either rod or reel), it's splitting hairs more than anything.  I.E. most things are going to perform comparably, with certain trade-offs per brand.  Just wanted to make sure, i guess, that I wasn't overlooking something significantly better at the same price points.

 

Thanks everyone for your thoughts!  And I'll see about expanding my brands next time I buy some rods/reels.

You don’t want to do that. That’s how the bait monkey gets you. Once you try something new it becomes a virus that takes over your mind and wallet.

I have been criticized for having 10 pairs of shoes that all look very similar. My answer is always, because my feet are the same shape and size no matter what shoe I put them in. I look at rods and reels the same way. I go with what fits best and have several very similar set ups mostly differentiated by weight, but some by rod stiffness and line capacity.