I am probably what a lot of you would call a budget angler, Ive spent thousands on the hobby but i do not own a single rod or reel over like 100$. I have a couple nice rods or reels that I have gotten from FB marketplace, but still not fancy shit. Also, what reels should i match with which rods?
From left to right, is as follows for reels-shimano fx 4000, daiwa legalis 2500, abu garcia max STX, shimano sienna 500, ugly stik hi lite, abu garcia max sx spinning, shimano sienna 1000, abu garcia maxZ. Not shown here is an abu garcia max pro BC.
On to rods left to right- shakespeare lightseries 7’ Light,
-abu garcia max sx 7’ medium,
-daiwa crossfire 7’1 MHF,
-shakesepare reverb 5’6 MF,
-ugly stik hi lite 6’0 medium fast (more of a medium light),
-iprofishency 6’8 ultralight,
-abu Veritas medium light 6’9 (tip of rod and top eyelet is broke off),
-and daiwa crossfire 6’6 MXF.
Not shown is a 5’6 kastking brutus medium fast bc rod.
Posted by Shoddy-Beautiful-251
8 Comments
You know what, every time I see a giant fish posted it’s rarely the Shimano/loomis/stcroix fanboys who catch them. High end gear users just seem to post pictures of their gear and hardly ever of any notable fish.
That should tell you all you need to know about budget setups.
The only three questions that matter are:
* Can you catch fish with it?
* Do you like it?
* Is it within your budget?
I’ve spent probably $2,000 on my rod and reel arsenal. I use mainly 4 of those combos and their combined value is probably $1,200 or so. I like the way they work and feel as well as the sensitivity.
That said, my personal best small mouth (what I fish for) was caught 4 years ago when I got into the hobby on an ugly stik gx2 with 10lb mono while I was hopping a chatter bait like a craw but had on a 4” fat impact keitech because I didn’t know what I was doing. Worked so maybe I did lol?
I’d rather spend thousands on a few good setups than a bunch of budget combos, but it doesn’t catch me more fish. I just prefer the experience. The great thing about fishing is there are quality combos at basically any price.
One of the things I I feel make fishing so great, is the fact that you decide what level you want to be involved.
Cane pole, bobber, snelled hook with a nightcrawler? You’ll catch fish
$5k combo with all the latest jdm tackle? You’ll catch fish.
When you step up in price you typically get better components. That leads to more sensitivity, more durability, lighter weight, more ergonomic designs, etc.
I have a lot more disposable income now so I have purchased some nicer, more expensive gear but I could still go catch fish with budget gear. Nicer gear just makes the experience more enjoyable for me.
I’ve had some nice stuff and you can tell by my flair that over 25 years of fishing, I’ve discovered that it doesn’t make a huge difference. For the guys that love spending money on super high end gear, I’m glad they enjoy it. I do spend more on my reels. There’s a pretty big difference between a $50 reel and a $250 reel as far as casting distance goes. But yeah I have a Shimano TranX on an Ugly Stik. And a Stradic on an Ugly Stik. I like the rods that come with my Penn reels. By far my three most expensive combos are still on Ugly Stik rods, and honestly I catch a lot of fish. I don’t think I’m missing out lol. Btw, I have that FX4000 from Walmart too and it has caught more fish than any other reel I own.
Like any sport/hobby you can spend as little or as much as you want. In the long run you get what you pay for. When it comes to price there is a premium on components and location of manufacturing. Sure you can catch fish on a budget setup but once you go up to higher end fishing equipment you notice a big difference. Honestly I would never go back to budget rods and reels for a multitude of reasons.