I had a buddy ask me this question and I had never really thought about it before, so I thought I would pose the question here.  When buying a rod/reel set up do you tend to invest more heavily in the rod?  In the reel?  Or stay as equal as possible?  
 

Say you want to spend $500 total on one set up for a general all around the, would you split your dollars evenly?  Get a better rod/lesser reel?  Get a better reel/lesser rod?

 

I tried to explain different techniques and bottom contact you may want more in your rod and moving baits maybe less in your reel.  Not sure I did a great job.   I tend to want the best I can get of both even when I know I don’t need it.
 

What would you say?

I tend to split evenly quite often.  If I were to go higher it would be the rod.

The rod might be more important for "catching", but the reel makes the fishing fun!

Explain make the fishing fun.  More enjoyable with better castability?

For most applications rod, line, then reel for me. Though in all cases, I'm not skimping on my terminal tackle (hooks, etc).

8 minutes ago, Michigander said:

 Though in all cases, I'm not skimping on my terminal tackle (hooks, etc).

Maybe not what OP is asking, but great point!!  

  For me, I find diminishing returns on reels after around $150.  For rods, I peg that point closer to 200...maybe 250.    So, I'd say hooks, rod, line, reel.   For whatever that's worth.

3 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Maybe not what OP is asking, but great point!!  

  For me, I find diminishing returns on reels after around $150.  For rods, I peg that point closer to 200...maybe 250.    So, I'd say hooks, rod, line, reel.   For whatever that's worth.

Is this true for spinning and casting setups?  

1 minute ago, Msl819 said:

Is this true for spinning and casting setups?  

In my experience, yes. Once you get over the hump of low priced junk, all the reels get pretty good in that $100-150 range. Anything beyond that is just small improvements in performance. A $100 reel probably is twice as good as a $50 but a $300 reel is not twice as good as a $150.

 

Rods follow a similar path up through $150-300. You have to drop some serious dough to get significantly better after that, and usually they are hyper specific rods. Not always, but often.

If I had 500 I could a great set up just by splitting the money evenly. 
get a Shimano reel and a Dobyns rod and I’d be pretty happy. 
 

I think if I only had one set up, I might always focus on reel first then rod. Likely the rod won’t be that great at everything anyway. If I went and got a super sensitive rod for bottom contact, it would likely not be a great moving bait rod. I rather get a great reel and get an ok all around rod after. 
 

I think rods matter more when I have technique specific purposes. I do hear about some high end rods are good for multiple things like expride or megabass p5 x bite. I think again, 500 is a good budget to have enough left over for a curado k which is a great reel. 
 

If instead I only had 300, that might be more of a challenge. I might get a curado k and just get a Dobyns fury. If instead I got a nice rod like a Dobyns champion and got like an abu black max, I might not be as happy haha. I would notice the black max was cheaper more than I’d notice the fury was cheaper. 

 

For a casting outfit, I'm going $225 max on the rod, $175 max on the reel, and banking the extra $100 

 

For spinning, $100 max on the reel, probably under $200 on the rod, and banking $200+  

 

If I can get all of this cheaper by catching a clearance or discount, or even a lightly used item, especially the rod, I'm there and banking even more...probably enough to get a second outfit 

4 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

For a casting outfit, I'm going $225 max on the rod, $175 max on the reel, and banking the extra $100 

 

For spinning, $100 max on the reel, probably under $200 on the rod, and banking $200+  

 

If I can get all of this cheaper by catching a clearance or discount, or even a lightly used item, especially the rod, I'm there and banking even more...probably enough to get a second outfit 

Thanks... I tend to agree, especially on buying quality and slightly used.  Just to clarify, $500 is an arbitrary amount.  I chose it assuming it allowed rod and reel to be in that mid-priced range with good quality options on both.  
 

How does your line of thought change of you slide the total cost down to $250?

I spend more on my reels, much more usually.  I appreciate the fine craftsmanship of a nice reel, almost like a fine watch.  With rods, I'm not super concerned because I've broken a fair amount of them.  I can fix a malfunctioning $300 reel no problem, but a $300 rod goes into the trash if it breaks and the warranty is up.  I'm known to be careless when it comes to closing a tailgate or bed cover.

2 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said:

I spend more on my reels, much more usually.  I appreciate the fine craftsmanship of a nice reel, almost like a fine watch.  With rods, I'm not super concerned because I've broken a fair amount of them.  I can fix a malfunctioning $300 reel no problem, but a $300 rod goes into the trash if it breaks and the warranty is up.  I'm known to be careless when it comes to closing a tailgate or bed cover.

Warranty and longevity is an aspect I have not considered in this equation.  Interesting.

1 minute ago, Msl819 said:

Warranty and longevity is an aspect I have not considered in this equation.  Interesting.

Many of the higher end rods will come with a 5 year, and in some cases a lifetime warranty.  That warranty typically doesn't cover things that occur outside of fishing conditions, like slamming your rod in a car door for instance.  If you're careful with your rods, something higher end may be for you.  Clumsy folks like myself get the short end of the stick on that end.

7 minutes ago, Msl819 said:

Warranty and longevity is an aspect I have not considered in this equation.  Interesting.

Longevity is part of the extra cost of the fancier reels imo. But I have to blow through 8ish discounted Fuegos to break even on one Steez. Assuming it's a purely money equation.

I try and keep the cost as even as possible. 

My bottom contact casting rods are 2/3rds higher cost then my casting reels.

All My other rods were about 50/50 vs reels, including spinning.

$500 budget cover my combo’s.

Tom

19 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said:

Many of the higher end rods will come with a 5 year, and in some cases a lifetime warranty.  That warranty typically doesn't cover things that occur outside of fishing conditions, like slamming your rod in a car door for instance.  If you're careful with your rods, something higher end may be for you.  Clumsy folks like myself get the short end of the stick on that end.

Are there any good links on here to various companies and their warranty in rods?

2 minutes ago, Msl819 said:

Are there any good links on here to various companies and their warranty in rods?

Ones that come to mind are the G. Loomis and higher end Lamiglas rods.  There are others, but I'm not sure which as I'm not into bass fishing as much as I am other species.  

12 minutes ago, Msl819 said:

Are there any good links on here to various companies and their warranty in rods?

You'll probably just have to visit the various websites and take a look. But if a rod has a factory defect that causes a break you'll most likely know in the first trip or two.

   I guess I look at it differently compared to most people:

 

   How many moving parts in a reel?  How many of the pieces are "expensive"?

   How many moving parts in a rod?  How many of the components are "expensive"?

 

   If I had $500, I'd spend $100-200 on the rod, and $300-400 on the reel.  I use a steady retrieve, and that obviously makes some difference. 

   If I had $250, it would be $100 or less for the rod and $150-175 for the reel.     jj

It would be nice to have great combos for every application. But if I have a budget to mind (and I do indeed), I would rather invest more in a setup I'll be using more than one I won't be using as much.

 

Another variable might be that you don't need anything fancy to achieve your objectives for a given rod/reel but you would like to have a dedicated rig for doing primarily that. An example of that might be vertical jigging a 1/4 to 1/2 oz slab/spoon where you might want to usually have one rigged on the deck of your boat, but don't see the need to have a rod/reel that costs a lot of money to do it reasonably well. A $100 to $120 combo could do a fine job under those circumstances.

 

But, if the variables change, then so could the budget demands. 

 

It's situationally dependent, so the more variables you can nail down, the easier it will be to figure out the appropriate budget needed to feasibly achieve your goals.

48 minutes ago, Msl819 said:

Thanks... I tend to agree, especially on buying quality and slightly used.  Just to clarify, $500 is an arbitrary amount.  I chose it assuming it allowed rod and reel to be in that mid-priced range with good quality options on both.  
 

How does your line of thought change if you slide the total cost down to $250?

 

Spinning - $100 reel, $150 rod

Casting - $125 reel, $125 rod

I'm in the reel camp... I enjoy a nice reel... that's usually where my money ends up going...  followed by good line.  As I've had more expensive rods in the past... a decent lower cost one still does the trick... but a really good reel is just such a pleasure to work with!! 

Being relatively “new” getting back into the game, I’m probably more of a 50%-50% guy. But if (when) I start getting into higher-end gear, my guess is that in the long run, more $$$ in the rod probably is a better investment than the reel. 
 

But as my “top of the line” rig is now a Daiwa Fuego CT on a Fenwick HMX, what the heck do I know lol.