The Great Blue Heron

G Loomis E6X 783C. Yes, it's more than $150, but only $30, and worth it IMO.

No anger here, I enjoyed reading your opinion. I happen to like them for other folks, if they enjoy them. Ultimately, the market will bear the results of this product line. If they don't pan out over time, folks will stop buying them. Cheers.

I like my 50E so much that I just ordered a $150 Scorpion XT1000 before they sell out and are gone forever.

Commit to a $200-ish budget. A ST Croix Mojo Bass 6'8" Medium Extra Fast spinning rod, designated for wacky style, paired with a Shimano Symetre 2500 would be a great upgrade in the $200 rice range. It's not just for wacky style, you can use it for about a dozen applications.

Easily the Chronarch 50E.

They look sweet, they have nice action to them, they are priced at good price points. I have a buddy who loves his. He doesn't sit around reading Internet forums, but he tosses a bunch of bass lures into the water in a year's time. After three years, he will have formed an opinion on them that I highly value. His three are all the low end Ghost models and he says that if they don't pan out, he'll throw them into the bed of my truck. I'm not going to buy one. If I'm gonna drop over $100 on a rod, it will be so I can deal with ST Croix or G Loomis. Besides those, I may buy a custom here and there.

Under $40? I dunno. It's a crapshoot at that price point. A Zebco 33 is where I would start; they make the small version now. But the Omega Pro Z02 is what you really want. Buy once, cry once.

I never understood why folks roll with a RH baitcaster and then their spinning setup has the crank on the left. In what universe does this even make sense? If you are currently doing this, you are as screwed up as a soup sandwhich.

ST Croix Avid, MHF, 7ft

Two for me as well, but I usually just fish one rod. I pack just the lures that I'm gonna fish with any one rod. I never feel like I'm just making do, I'm just doing. I sometimes catch bass on a big$ G Loomis, other times it's an L Cheep-o Field & Stream rod, but I have plenty to choose from.

Anything wrong with the $180 Tournament Lite? I'm not really interested in the two you mentioned. I want the 5.5 oz Lite without paying the $240 for the Team Lite.

How does is stack up? Is it as good as say, ST Croix or Shimano? I am going to soon pick up a Tournament Lite, and I was just curious.

Various outlets have been discounting all of the Chronarch E models, presumably to dump inventory and make room for the new whatever they'll call it.

Anyone have one yet?

I wish that they still made the Curado G. It was a fine reel. I'd much rather have a new G for $130 than a new I for $129. If loving the G is wrong, I don't want to be right.

My Curado I was not a keeper at all. It was difficult to tune. I found the button/latch that releases the side plate to be clumsy and poorly thought out. My Curado I also made that high pitched spool whine on about every third cast. In my opinion, it is not even as nice as the Curado G. People had sad faces about the G because it was shaped like the Caenan, but I'll tell you what: My two Caenans that I keep on loaner rods and under the seat of my truck have a bunch of hours on them and many 5+ lbs bass under their belts. No, I'm not saying that the $90 Caenan is better than the $130 Curado I...but I am saying that the Citica G is. And the Curado G definetly is. The Shimano boys panicked when the Curado G lost market share because of cosmetic issues, which was a huge mistake. All they had to do was drop the price on it a smidge and all would have been well. ***To answer the OP's question: I suggest a Lew's or a new Chronarch E.

Chronarch E for the win. White looks good on both the Avid & the E6X.

The Chronarch 200E6 is still on sale for $150 at Cabelas. Slap it on a matching white Shimano Sellus MHF rod for $50 and you are done for $200!!!!! You can always upgrade the rod to something nicer later, but you won't find a better reel, even for $200.

The St Croix Premier MF or MHF is fine, and I'd go 6'6" long. ...but if I had a new Abu 4600 reel, I probably would try and find an Abu Veritas to slap it on. The Okuma that's on sale likely is better components though.

This.

I've had a bunch of round Abu Garcia reels and some old Quantum MG's that all performed great and brought in lots of bass and great memories. But once I got my hands on a Shimano Citica 200E all the other stuff I had just felt Micky Mouse. Those old reels now sit on top of the gun safe as decoration and will hopefully serve as educational material in teaching my son how to cast a baitcaster in a few years. They still work and I won't be upset if he beats them all to heck...which he will!

The only thing better than that is making and repairing the rods yourself. $20 to cover freight ain't too shabby.

Do you mean an Ambassadeur Pro Maxx? Link: http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/36780-ambassadeur-pro-max-3600/ This?

The rod will be rated to handle certain weight lures. And yes, like golf clubs, there is a rod for most any application/lure.

The Avid that I use is the 6'8" MXF, with a Chronarch 50E. My E6X is the 783C Mag Bass with a Chronarch 200E6. I was in the process of deciding on another Avid 6'6" MF for a Calcutta 100B, but I ended up with a G Loomis SBR 752C instead...the jury is still out on this combo, but it looks promising so far.