Whats is more important do you think, the reel or the rod?

Rod.

The rod and line allows you to feel the fish.  The real allows you bring the fish in.  You cannot bring in what you didn't know was there.  I mostly worm fish with slow presentations.  For crank baits, etc. a reel may be more important for the presentation of bait.

Rods are for "catchin'," reels are for "fishin'."

To be specific, I think a "good" rod with a "great" reel is the way to go if you need to compromise your selection. Even if you are looking at the high end, on average, my reels cost twice as much as my rods.

To be specific, I think a "good" rod with a "great" reel is the way to go if you need to compromise your selection. Even if you are looking at the high end, on average, my reels cost twice as much as my rods.

X2

Those are my thoughts exactly.

If I have to choose I would go with a better rod and I try to keep both toward the high end.

I'll explain my reasons a bit more for the reel being more important than the rod (it's not much difference though):

Drag is everything. Put a big fish on a great rod with a reel that has an iffy drag and you might just break your line, or even the rod. I would rather not know the fish is there than loose a really nice fish (or break the rod) due to a sticky drag. Or have the gears in the reel fail in the middle of a fight, etc. A good drag can be set properly so that nothing will break during a fight (once a fish gets you hung up the fight is over, then the line gets broken).

Yes I will be upgrading my rods, but reels are first for a good reason.

Every reel I have has proven itself in use. My rods are "good enough" with my financial situation, but do need improvement.

Sorry i forgot to give my opinion. I think the rod and the reel are pretty much equally important. the rod gives you the feel for the fish and the reel helps you bring them in without snapping the line.

Reels are more shiny, therefore they get my vote.  

i voted reel for multiple reasons. i really dont care about the rod. i'd like for it to not break under normal circumstances but also not cost me upwards of 100 dollars. this is why i employ an ugly stick lite series, and a berkley lightning rod professional series. each in my pricerange, work just fine, and are durable.

now, about the reel. if your reel craps out, you cant fish. if the handles snap, you cant fish. if the gears fail, you cant fish, if the drag sucks, you cant fight a fish. however, if an eye pops off your rod, sure performance might decrease, but you can still use the rod. if the tip snaps off, then you could either cut off down to the next guide and accept a shorter rod, or you could even get a repair kit. anyway, its not that big of a deal. also, i know when anything is bighting my lure. sure you might not feel it as well on a medium class rod, but, i can still feel it's there and set the hook.

I put both the same BUT your line is most important and even more important then that IMHO is a knot tied proberly ;D

Depends on what I am doing.  If I am casting reactions all day I wan a good reel.  If I am worming or jigging I want a good rod.

I think having a good reel is more important. With poor-average quality reels the frustration can be very immediate and very real. With rods you'll only know about it when you actually start using a good quality rod.

Hands down the rod is more important.   I catch  way more fish with my better rods.  They are more sensitive plus are lighter which cuts down on the fatigue.  

Two inexpensive spinning reels I use are  an Okuma Ignite and a Shakespeare Catera.   $30 reels roughly.   Simply put they work.  I also fish for steelhead with these two reels.   12lb steelie rippin downstream puts the test to the reels for sure.  

 Lots of good baitcasters in the $60-$100 range.  

The rod is more important than the reel.  You have to feel the fish and hook up with a fish before the reel has a chance to screw up. Better rod means more fish caught.

I voted for the reel, however I think for freshwater fishing the rod might be more important for sensitivity. When I am saltwater water fishing I think the reel is more improtant because you need a reel with a good drag, especially when fishing for King Mackeral. A nice size King can spoll a couple hundred yards a line real quick and weak drag can mean the difference between a nice fish and getting skunked.

Big T

A year ago, I would have said the reel.  Now I would say it is the rod.

If you can feel the fish, you'll catch more fish.

Thanks for your input it was very informative might get a better rod now.

Rod is more important for any type of finesse fishing, worm fishing, or jigs but for reaction type baits not as important. I would much much rather fish my $119 curado on a $200+ G-loomis than a chronarch on an ugly stick.

Both is better but if you can't have both, then go with the rod first.  IMPO, a good reel with a bad rod gets you nothing.  Where as a good rod with an ok reel gives you some benefits.  Lighter, stronger, more sensitive, etc.

Perhaps it would depend on if it is a spinning set vs. a casting set up.

I once heard that with spinning gear, the rod should do most of the "work."  Conversely, with casting gear, the reel is the "winch" that takes care of business.

Although I do agree with the statement that if you don't feel the fish...

I tend to "powerfish" more often than not. As a result, the strikes I tend to get are the hard, slashing types of hits that are hard not to notice. Therefore, the reel is more important to me- it's more directly involved with the presentation of the lure in the style of fishing that I fish.

If you are a finesse fisherman, I would imagine that a fine rod is more important- as it translates more directly to presentation in that style of fishing.

you can fish w/ out a reel but not a rod   :)

The rod is the wand.

the reel is a line holder.

I don't care how expensive your reel is, it won't let you feel a 1/16th oz shakey jig work along bottom structure, but my loomis GLX will.

I'd rather put a good reel on a great rod anyday.  No brainer IMHO.

The rod is the wand.

the reel is a line holder.

I don't care how expensive your reel is, it won't let you feel a 1/16th oz shakey jig work along bottom structure, but my loomis GLX will.

I'd rather put a good reel on a great rod anyday.  No brainer IMHO.

Like he says!!!!!!!

being a crankbait fiehrman, the reel is crucial, moreso than the rod to the presentation of the bait. Besides, everyone loves the smoothness of a high quality reel