Balanced Tackle

I'm sure that most of us are aware of the idea of "balanced tacke" with regard to rod/ reel, line strength, hook size etc.

However today I have been thinking about this phrase in a slightly different way.

I have taken delivery of yet another new rod which was priced in my opinion at the lower end of the market (sub £50). When trying it with the reels fitted which I intend to use I realised that I could buy 3 or 4 of these rods for the recommended retail price of each reel.
This made me realise that quite often I will use combination of rod and reel where one may be several times the retail value of the other.

This doesn't appear to have raised any OCD issues in me, I'm not about to try and pair my rods and reels by value.

I have been around long enough to know that cost does not always equate to a better experience and as such my tackle collection has long been compiled by trying to buy the best item for the intended job at a given price point.

So now I am curious to know if any others find that they regularly encounter this 'imbalance'.

Do you perhaps find yourself pairing a £1000 hand built cane rod with a pondshop special reel or use a £600 pound big pit reel with the modern equivalent of a Woolies starter rod?

I think the main reason for an apparent 'imbalance' on cost is that we tend to use 1 reel with many different rods - so what you should really look at is the cost of reel v. the total of all the rods you'd use it with.

My own personal indulgence has always been high end rods, I fully accept that they may not do a proportionally better job than some far cheaper alternatives but that's my weakness.

I will often pair a rod with a significantly cheaper reel though (generally mid-range) with the exception of one reel which is high end, the reels themselves being chosen more rationally for their features and performance in relation to their price so yes I guess I can say I practice an imbalance in that respect.

I view reels as having a more mechanical, matter of fact element to them rather than the darker art of producing a great rod blank and whilst I appreciate the jobs a reel has to do it's the blank for me that transmits the feeling and copes with all the required extremes from a sensitive tip to deep down power, hence my slant towards my higher spending on rods.

I get the distinct feeling that some buy reels with a more disposable attitude in mind than they do generally with rods. I know quite a few that will happily pay £150+ for a rod but will scoff at paying more than £50 for a reel. I've generally found that I get longer out of better specified, more costly reels than others seem to with cheaper stuff.

What about using a £1000 pole on a free stretch of canal, or some cheapo set-up on an expensive exclusive water?. As long as the gear does its job and/or is fun to use its Ok in my book.

I have a more limited range of reels than rods, which i think is probably normal. But i couldn't say any of my gear is high end - its a mix of old but good Normark or Drenan rods and old ABU closed face or moderate price new (e.g. Shimano DL4500DL etc). I don't think its like Hi Fi where you need to partner a revealing high end turntable with a high end cartridge, phono amplifier etc (but still get beaten by a budget CD player on sound quality).

chub_on_the_block said:

What about using a £1000 pole on a free stretch of canal, or some cheapo set-up on an expensive exclusive water?

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That's a good point actually, on the occasions I fish my free local town centre dam I still take my best gear... It's ideal for the narrow channel which runs just off the rod end where the submerged shopping trolleys tend to congregate and then there's a few feet of clear silt before you hit the car tyres and mattresses

binka said:

That's a good point actually, on the occasions I fish my free local town centre dam I still take my best gear... It's ideal for the narrow channel which runs just off the rod end where the submerged shopping trolleys tend to congregate and then there's a few feet of clear silt before you hit the car tyres and mattresses

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That sounds fantastic!.

I used to bag up where the Hogsmill joins the Thames and there used to be all sorts drifting down in what was probably 99% sewage effluent including floaters, jellyfish rubbery things, and weird fizzing particles that were probably some radioactive decay process. Learnt to mend the line effectively though.

chub_on_the_block said:

That sounds fantastic

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The fishing often is, probably because it's so overlooked:

Urban Gems

Sorry for the deviation and off topic banter Sogster, back to Balanced Tackle...

Balancing tackle by value or cost is not a notion I have ever considered.

Ironically most of the kit which I am likely to spend holding for many hours is mid range cost, yet the stuff that sits on rod rests for hour on end where the benefits of balanced gear are less obvious, is the high end stuff. I guess I will have to live with it.

Interesting point regarding the reel being used on more than one rod Greenie. I do have marginally less reels than rods so there is some swapping about.

Agreed Binka the dark art of the rod blank facinates me and has done ever since reading and studying the drawings for a MKIV Avon in a library book as a kid back in the early seventies.

In fact I recall from some long ago dusty tome the advice of the author for buying a rod. His method was to hold the tip of the assembled rod against the adams apple of your friend/ shopkeeper apply slight pressure and ask them to hum. This apparently would demonstrate how the selected rod was able to transmit feeling down the blank. This was of course long before rods were advertised by test curve. Strangely I have never found anyone willing to let me test this method.

Also with reels I do tend to budget at the mid to top range focussing on function and mechanical reliability.

Sorry Chub, not owning a pole they never entered my head in the opening post but you are quite correct. Perhaps we should add the pole roller instead of the reel.

I agree fishing is not about what you use or what it cost but the enjoyment that the equipment gives you.
For example one of my favourite rods of recent years is the Garbolino rocket picker (£23) but it does seem to me a little odd pairing it with a £100+ reel.

But if a lottery win came my way I think I would buy the Tri-cast John Allerton stick float rod. Gotta have a dream.

Most of my reels are mid priced reels mainly because to me a reel is basically just a tool for giving and retrieving line and as long as it does this in the manner I want and can be relied on to do this without falling apart then I am quite happy with spending around £40 to £55 on a reel.

However rods are a different thing altogether to me.

Because there are so many different fishing methods that require different rod strengths and actions and which allow me to handle fish of different sizes in different situations and also indicate bites, control floats legers feeders & lures etc, etc. I usually find that to get the best tool for the job (which will also be very reliable); I usually need to spend a little more cash.

This is especially true for me as I like to be able to fish with light balanced tackle and not have to spend too much time having to worry about the hook falling out or the hooklength breaking when I'm playing a fish.
I'm usually more worried about where the fish is headed and how I can prevent it LOL.

NB. occasionally I do find a cheap rod that is excellent but this is fairly rare in my experience.

Keith