You�re gonna have to go with what you can afford. I can say I�m a reel guy and when I first started out I bought cheap Berkley Cherry Woods�..I actually liked them and using the same rod really got me in touch with my fishing��.now with that being said when my allowance was increased I definitely saw a plus in different rods for different techniques��I won�t say you always have to have that $200-300 rod but I see a difference now. Get what you can afford and get your skills up and grab some hawgs!

Right. It's not about the money;It's about the proper rod action/length for the technique being fished.

:rofl:

You have more spare rods than I have rods I use !!!!


But to add to bretts point, they're just tools, it's how you use them. I could do just as well will lightning rods and 25 year old 5500c's. Won many, many tourneys with those set-ups!!

If you can't feel them hit ..... you are not going to set the hook!

sounds as if there is a little debate to this. well I'll stick with what I originally thought, and that is just get better at fishing before investing too much money. maybe one day I will have a rod for every reel/occasion.

I would definaty spend money and buy a nice rod.

In bass fishing, the rod is your main tool. It lets you feel whats going on in the water from what your baits doing too whats on the bottom. So in turn YES a good/better rod can help your game.

I think it is more about rod type than technique. I fish 3 rods in the 100 dollar range.
1. Long flexible rod with light (12-15lb) floro line: Fish anything with treble hooks.
2. Long heavy action rod with fast tip and braid: C-rid, fliping, and frogs
2. Medium 6-7 ft rod with heavy floro: Fish everything else on this (spinner bait, sinko, ect.)

You may have to retie a bunch more than a guy with 12 rods on deck but you can pretty much fish anything fairly accuratly with those three combos. I would spend the most money on the one you will use for worm/jigs because of sensitivity.
Just my 2cents.

With a 7ft MH rod and a decent reel with a 6:1 or 7:1 ratio, you can effectively fish almost every technique out there. Start with that, and as your skills and budget increase you can upgrade.

There are some economical setups these days where you get a pretty good bang for your buck.

I use both H2O rods and reels as I feel I get my best bang for buck and still can get technique specific setups.

Its the only way I can do it because money dont grow on trees at my residence. If it did, I would have some different stuff. Just find your budget, and get some stuff that maximizes that.

I agree that with experience your skill will increase and you will find what "fits" your style. Never forget though that luck plays a major role as well. I have spent alot of money on higher end Shimano's matching them to Falcon rods only to be "one-upped" a weekend ago by my wife and her Zebco 33 combo when she caught her PB 7.2 on Amistad.

If you don't mind me asking, how old are you Steven?

Yes

Go get you a good quality 6'6" medium heavy rod with good tip action. This will pretty much cover any bass lure up to 1/2 oz. Once you start getting serious then you can upgrade from there.

thanks everyone, looking at my budget, ill have to wait a little for a new rod.