I used to spend twice as much on a rod, but my taste for reels has become more expensive in the last few years. They have become more even and some of my setups lean towards the reel. IMO there are a lot of good rods and reels in the $100-$200 price range(each).

How to allocate your budget depends on the application. For jig, finesse rods etc. I'd scew the budget toward he rod and for cranks and other moving baits toward the reel. You get what you pay for up to a point, but there is a point of diminishing returns.

This is 100% dead on accurate. For contact fishing it's the rod, for power fishing it's the reel. I personally like rods more than reels, but I do have some expensive models of both rods and reels. I personally think I get more "enjoyment" out of premium rods if I could only pick one.

For me it's the rod for freshwater, doesn't mean that it's super expensive just of more importance. Saltwater it's the reel that is more important to me, as long as the rod has adequate backbone I'm ok.

I used to be an expensive reel guy, but in the past year it's flipped. I'm using pretty modest reels actually now (Pro Qualifier Tournaments & Carbonlite), but I'm very happy with them. I have a couple of Steez rods and hope to get 2 more before the year's up.

My most expensive reel now (Fuego w/5:1 gears) is on a 7' MH Daiwa TDS crank rod.

rod

As others have mentioned...

Moving bait setups: reel > rod

Finesse setups: rod > reel

I took a look at the rod and reel spreadsheet I put together for insurance purposes. Of the fourteen baitcasting combos I have left, only five have a rod costing more than the reel.

Average MSRP for all rods is $224, while the reel average MSRP is $254.

Looks like I lean towards the reel side of the equation.

Rod on any bait. The reel may lose you casting distance but the rod will lose fish/accuracy/sensitivity. I'm not saying go out and buy a 500 dollar rod and a 30 dollar real but I would buy a better rod then reel. There is a happy median between them. Only you can answer that for yourself.

Rod greatly helps in feeling bites, and the bottom structure of the lake when you're fishing bottom contact baits. It also helps fight the fish and keep them hooked when landing them.

The difference in casting distance and drag from a $100 to $200 reel that I have noticed isn't THAT much to where I'd value a reel more than a rod. I fish $200-$250 reels, but if I HAD to pick, I'd always pick rods over reels.