Reel pricing

[Andrew Poulos]

I'm looking at few different reels to suit my rod as a 15kg outfit . But am comparing prices domestic versus overseas.

But what is annoying is  the price difference....for example , a blast can be picked up here for $575, and the new catalina for $629 roughly...thats a fair difference in pricing. But the rub is, from a US site, a blast costs(disregarding the currency conversion) $380 and the catalina $395. No much difference at all between the two models.

Why do we have such a big difference between the 2 models here?

[Brandon Khoo]

Andrew, I sincerely doubt anyone here will be able to answer that question. I think it would simply be a domestic pricing policy issue. For that price, you could throw a JDM Twinpower 8000 into the equation.

[Andrew Poulos]

I guess we are a small market here and the pricing does differ for margins, but gee, would be nice for it to be more comparable. And yes, at that price, the twinpower 8000 is something Im leaning alot towards as the most balanced reel for the rod it will go on and leave with change to boot.

[Brandon Khoo]

Andrew, I think we all feel the same way. In Australia, there is a 10% GST for them to contend with. In Singapore, I think it is 7%. I don't think 3% explains the price difference we have to put up with! It's the same in some states in the US - why do we pay so much here?

The reality is that as internet trading becomes easier and easier, it is really going to ramp up the pressure here. Unfortunately, the local retailers have to put up with about the most complex tax/business compliance system in the world and all of that costs money. Be it from GST recordkeeping to state-based workers compensation, superannuation requirements for your staff etc - bloody tough oeprating a small business in this country.

[David Sharples]

[Brandon Khoo]

David, I was in Dublin last year and I almost fainted at the price of fishing equipment in one store I walked into. It was so absurd it was laughable

[David Sharples]

What's even funnier is seeing mid-range spin reels being presented as top-line high quality pieces of kit. They must believe that people don't travel and don't read anything in forums like this.

I will never buy a rod or reel in the UK again, I know this hurts the retailers here but something has to be done to even out pricing, its just absurd!

Anyway, rant over...

[Brandon Khoo]

David, I don't have much knowledge at all on the fishing over in the British Isles. Are there fish that require extremely strong drags like in a Stella? What kind of fish would you need a Stella 20000 for?

I think what really shocked me was I saw Abu baitcasters that sell for $150 here being sold for something 200 euro! When you consider that Sweden is part of the EU, that makes the price very steep indeed

[David Sharples]

Hey Brandon

There's nothing in this country that you'd need a 20000 Stella for except maybe porbeagle sharks but as far as I know they're rarely caught these days. We used to get giant bluefin tuna off our coast about 50 years ago. Sadly they're all gone now due to the herring being fished out in the North Sea. Still get some on long distance boats out of Irish ports but I think even a 20000 would struggle with one of these???!

People who buy stellas an the big sizes are basically people who travel who haven't done any research on pricing! $1400 for a reel? Is it made of platinum??!

Actually Hardy have just released a Titanium version of their Zane fly reel that goes for $10,000, BECAUSE YOU NEED A TITANIUM REEL.

[Andrew Poulos]

Titanium- those carp must go hard 

[Brandon Khoo]

it is a bad idea to go fishing for huge tuna with a spinning reel unless you like chasing the fish a long way and even then, you better hope it doesn't sound.

To me, a lot of those fly reels that sell for ridiculous amounts are sold at those prices for the sake of consumers who simply like spending a lot of money for no reason. I have to say though, I was thinking the exact same thing as Andrew. those carp sure must go hard! Why do people in the UK like catching carp so much? Have they ever thought of coming downunder where they are in plague proportions and are regarded not just as a pest but a noxious fish? We could start up a charter down here and call it "Carping Downunder"   

I was watching a fishing program on Foxtel where they were fishing for carp. The guy had a carp take his bait and was sluggishly swimming off (you could hear the drag going tic, tic, tic) and the commentator was saying "oh, they go so hard - they're such a powerful fish". I wasn't sure whether the program was a comedy!

I really wished that there was a way where I could have swapped that carp for a GT of equivalent size on his line! I think that would have woken him up.

btw - post this on a English carp fishing website and they will really think Australians are mad - http://www.sportsfish.com.au/pages/library/current-news/carp-fishout.html

Hey Brandon

There's nothing in this country that you'd need a 20000 Stella for except maybe porbeagle sharks but as far as I know they're rarely caught these days. We used to get giant bluefin tuna off our coast about 50 years ago. Sadly they're all gone now due to the herring being fished out in the North Sea. Still get some on long distance boats out of Irish ports but I think even a 20000 would struggle with one of these???!

People who buy stellas an the big sizes are basically people who travel who haven't done any research on pricing! $1400 for a reel? Is it made of platinum??!

Actually Hardy have just released a Titanium version of their Zane fly reel that goes for $10,000, BECAUSE YOU NEED A TITANIUM REEL.

[David Sharples]

it is a bad idea to go fishing for huge tuna with a spinning reel unless you like chasing the fish a long way and even then, you better hope it doesn't sound.

To me, a lot of those fly reels that sell for ridiculous amounts are sold at those prices for the sake of consumers who simply like spending a lot of money for no reason. I have to say though, I was thinking the exact same thing as Andrew. those carp sure must go hard! Why do people in the UK like catching carp so much? Have they ever thought of coming downunder where they are in plague proportions and are regarded not just as a pest but a noxious fish? We could start up a charter down here and call it "Carping Downunder"   

I was watching a fishing program on Foxtel where they were fishing for carp. The guy had a carp take his bait and was sluggishly swimming off (you could hear the drag going tic, tic, tic) and the commentator was saying "oh, they go so hard - they're such a powerful fish". I wasn't sure whether the program was a comedy!

I really wished that there was a way where I could have swapped that carp for a GT of equivalent size on his line! I think that would have woken him up.

btw - post this on a English carp fishing website and they will really think Australians are mad - http://www.sportsfish.com.au/pages/library/current-news/carp-fishout.html



I agree wholeheartedly on the carp front. Our fishing scene in freshwater has degenerated into "trapping" fish that are considered noxious species in most of the world. The common tactic is to rock up at the lake, pitch a tent, chuck out a couple of bolt rigs (self hooking rigs) on baitrunners, turn the bite alarms on and the angler then goes to sleep. Its gone so far downhill that most of the bigger carp are known by name. There are many well fished lakes where people can recite a list of the carp stock in the water by name, size and what bait it was last caught on. But as a well known tv angler once said "you can only catch the fish that are there"! And until global warming allows us to introduce arapaima and nile perch to the Thames... 

I don't fish much here except for pike on lures, that's pretty cool and flyfishing for trout. Other than that its not worth getting out of bed for 

I would pay a lot of money to see a GT take a bait a guy had out for carp. I think his heart would probably stop beating.

Yeah you guys go bowhunting for them don't you? They do something similar in the deep south in the US of A... 

[Brandon Khoo]

actually David, I did do some bow-fishing some 25 years ago. It's not as easy as it sounds or looks! I didn't do it for very long as it wasn't exacly a sport where you could catch and release. Still, it was quite a challenge.