Finalizing Rod/Reel for my brother

[CybrSlydr]

Hey folks, my brother and I have pretty much decided on the rod/reel we're going to get for him (even though reels are ambi, he's a southpaw).

Even though we feel we've been pretty exhaustive in our research, I wanted to run the combo past you folks and see if there's anything else we might want to consider.

We're looking at an Ugly Stik GX2, 7' one piece and a Penn Fierce II 4000 reel.

This is around the budget we'd like to hit for a rod/reel, $110ish.  Thanks for your input!

[timsford]

It depends on what you want to use it for. If it's for catfish or light saltwater, that would make a fine choice. I'd look at some other reels though. Ffo tackle has good deals on pfleuger, abu, mitchell,  and penn. I'd look for a used daiwa tournament Ss 1300 or 1600. It will last a lot longer and is used by guys in salt and for big freshwater fish for a reason. It's the toughest spinning reel around. Also the ugly stick is a decent rod for live or cut bait, but for lures I'd look for a rod with more graphite like a lightning rod, lightning rod shock, Fenwick eagle, or something else that will help you feel bites and have backbone to set the hook with plastics

[CybrSlydr]

We'll be freshwater fishing - bass is our main fish of choice. 

I'll check out the other rods you spoke of - thanks!

[CybrSlydr]

What would you think about a Fenwick Eagle 6'6" Medium paired with a Mitchell 300Pro?

That combo is perfectly within our budget range.

[Itheral]

The Fenwick Eagle is a good rod at this price level, some others I would consider would be a Berkley Lightning Rod Shock (esp good with cranks or other treble lures) or an Abu Garcia Vengeance (Better for worms and other soft plastics IMO, but will be sufficient all around)

As for the reel, I'd recommend sticking with some of the big names. Daiwa, Shimano, and Pflueger all make exceptional reels in the $50 - $70 Range. I also really like some of the Okuma reels near this level. Depending on where you're comfortable shopping, you will still come in well under $110 overall. FFO is great, but limited selection. E-Bay should also be a good place to score some stuff cheaper

[CybrSlydr]

How about the Berkley Lightning Shock 6'6" Medium and the Pflueger President?

That puts us right at $109.94.

I've also been suggested by a customer support person the Abu Vengence2 rod and a Abu Cardinal STX or Lews Mach 2 reel as a combo.

Right now, we're definitely leaning towards the Berkley/Pflueger mentioned above.

[5fishlimit]

I think the conversation for the reel should begin and end with the Pflueger President.  I would go with the 30 size for all around use.  

In regards to the rod the main question to ask yourself is how careful do you think he will be with his gear?  If there is any chance that you think he will be hard on his gear I would opt to go with the ugly stick.  If he is more likely to take care of things then I would opt for the Vengeance.

[CybrSlydr]

Well, the Vengeance when coupled with the President is out of our budget.  Coupled with the Lightning Shock, it's perfectly within. 

At the $110 price, I can afford to get us a pack of Yamma Senkos (watermelon blk/red flake), a lipless Red Eye Shad Tungsten 2 in Chrome/Black, some 10lb Trilene XT, a small box to hold the new lures with room to grow and maybe a Liv-N-Chrome Rat-L-Trap.

EDIT:  Now I'm curious about this Pflueger combo on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Pflueger-President-Medium-Spinning-6-Feet/dp/B005Q4YTWA/ref=sr_1_2?s=hunting-fishing&ie=UTF8&qid=1472616074&sr=1-2&keywords=Pflueger+President+combo

I'm just concerned about the rod and if it's a quality item or not - because what we'd save getting this over the rod/reel separate could get us a couple lures/more senkos.

[5fishlimit]

You can always upgrade the rod to a better quality down the road if you go with the combo you posted.

[CybrSlydr]

36 minutes ago, 5fishlimit said:

You can always upgrade the rod to a better quality down the road if you go with the combo you posted.

True enough, we'd probably only go fishing 4-5 times before I'd get paid again and have the opportunity to upgrade his rod.

[5fishlimit]

2 hours ago, CybrSlydr said:

True enough, we'd probably only go fishing 4-5 times before I'd get paid again and have the opportunity to upgrade his rod.

I see you are in Beverly.  If you were closer to the Cleveland area I would hook you up with a St. Croix Premier rod that I don't use much for a reasonable price.

[fishnkamp]

My wife and I own and fish three Berkley Lightning Shock rods, my two are 6'6" medium moderate tipped rods. Hers is a 6'6" medium moderate spinning rod. We fish with 6 Pflueger Presidents. So I can speak about them with experience. I would highly recommend the Berkley Lightning Shock rod in a 6'6" Medium and match it up with the Pflueger President in a 6930 or 6935. You will never need to "Upgrade" that combo. We regularly use these reels and some of our Presidents are less than a year old and some are over 10 years old.I have never touched any of them other than to spray them off occasionally since we fish for bass and   stripers here on the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries.  The rod's moderate taper is great if you are either fishing baits with trebles like crankbaits, rattletraps, and even spinnerbaits.It would also work well for live bait situations. If you are looking to fish more bottom bouncing baits like plastic worms and creature baits I would suggest the 7 foot MH rod which has a stifferfast action tip. In my arsenal of 15 rods of my own and 9 for her there are some $300 G loomis rods but these Lightning hock rods go out and get used all of the time.  To date the largest two fish caught on one if thee rods is a 31 inch rock and an 18 pound catfish, so yes they will catch big fish. Yesterday i noticed in one Walmart these rods were selling for around $43 and at a second one I found them being sold "on clearance" for around $29. Each store had a diferent price and inventory so look around at a few WalMarts for a deal on them. You can easily pick up a Pflueger President for $60. Do not just wander in and pick it up. Go in and buy a jig or a pack of gum. Come home and go online to fill out the survey on the back of your reciept. This will give you a chance to print out a $10 coupon. Take it and return to Dicks and purchase that reel and save with you discount coupon. 

[buzzed bait]

On 8/30/2016 at 2:25 PM, CybrSlydr said:

How about the Berkley Lightning Shock 6'6" Medium and the Pflueger President?

That puts us right at $109.94.

Right now, we're definitely leaning towards the Berkley/Pflueger mentioned above.

i'd go this route right here over every option you've listed.  i have 2 lightning shock rods and pfluegers are the only spinning reels i own.  won't be disappointed in this combo!

[CybrSlydr]

We ended up going the Pflueger combo route - it was $80, had the good reel and left enough in the budget to pick up two Red Eye Shads, a Liv-N-Chrome Rat-L-Trap, some 3/16oz sinkers for dropshotting, some small snaps so I don't have to tie the d**n cranks on every time and lose line in the process, 10lb Trilene XT and some 5" Senkos in Watermelon/Black Flake.

We would have gone the Lightning right off the bat but my Voc Rehab stipend check was half of what I was planning since I'm only a half-time student this semester and it pro-rates for time not in school (school didn't start until the 15th this month).  So instead of the $300ish, I got $167.  Bummer.

We'll see how the rod works out for him (we got the 7ft combo) and if it's not as good as he wants, we'll upgrade him to the Berkley Lightning Shock you folks suggested.

Thanks for your help folks!!!  We're going to Burr Oak later today to test it out once UPS delivers it. 

[CybrSlydr]

UPS just delivered the packages and wow, that President is smoooooooooth.  Rod looks really nice too - nice cork grips and all. 

Now it's time to get ready to head out and break 'er in!

Thanks again to everyone for their help!