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steve-hamilton wrote:agreed with whats been said, 'cept your not finding an Avid (st croix) for 100-150....that is the price of their premiere line of rods (which are still excellent, but dont carry the lifetime warrentee)...
the avid rods are all closer to 200 dollars, but carry the lifetime, over-the-counter exchange.
I have a daiwa SOL, a daiwa ZH and fuego a quantum energy a shimano castaic, Chronarch , calais and a curado.
I fish with most of them weekly, IMHO I would reccomend the castaic 6.2.1. freespool, it has a wide thumb bar and excellent performance.
Dont worry about backlash , just lock the brakes down and tighten the knob for the first little while you will get the hang of it.
I would match it with a St croix premier rod I believe BPS has the premier for 120 and the reel for 220 it might be a bit pricy to start but certainly well worth the money once again IMHO
I have built rods from low end that are very good and serviceable rods to high end fly rods costing hundreds$$. I have done so for 25 yrs and understand what goes into making a decent rod better than most.
For the rod get one that has a plain no frills Fuji reel seat. The handle should be cork, get one with a handle that has the least cork filler used in it. Some day it will fall out and you'll have holes so the more solid the cork the better. I recomend a 6'6" rod medium action rod rated for 8-17 lb or so line. Such a rod should have 7-9 guides plus tip top. Don't worry whether its IM6 or IM8 blank as high end grades of graphite are less a factor in brute rods such as casting rods than they are in longer more supple rods like fly rods. The only benefit is to make them slightly lighter (sometimes) and a little (questionable)more sensitivity. For much of my fishing I actually prefer a rod that is fibreglass but for now stick with graphite. Look for guides that are Hardloy or Alum.oxide without the shock ring. You can tell the right ones because they will look thin, light and low profile and not heavy and cluncky. I prefer a one piece rod over a two piece whenever possible but I would leave that choice up to you.
Shimano makes several rod lines that would fill the bill at decent prices. Certainly the best production rods are made by St Croix and Allstar but at a higher price. I'm sure others make good rods too but I'm less familiar with them.
For a reel it should have a metal frame and reel foot. Avoid any that have graphite reel feet. They will twist under strain and throw your reel slightly out of line. A good reel is the Shimano Calyx. I've heard they may be discontinued but I've seen them in some CTC's. They retail for about $120.
For the record my preference would be the Ambassadeur 4600. They are no frills and tough as nails but I do not recommend them for everyone especially a first reel.
I would spool up with Trilene 12lb XT or 14b XL. Learn with this before you start trying different braids.
I was in the same boat, so i went and grabbed a cheapish rod/reel combo.... just to get the feel for it, i also don't fish alot like some others do, but i grabbed a quantum combo... a Quantum Pulse reel and a Quantum Bill dance rod... $100. CDN at the local tackle shop, the reel apparently retail for $60. U.S., but i dunno... works for me for what i need it for
