I told mu wife "expect we're going to pay about $100 for a new rod alone this year" after breaking my ultra light ugly stick in half last year and having a hole in my waders. We walked into Wal-mart looking for waders and there on a rack, I see a nice ultra-light combo from a quality brand like Shakespeare with reel and the price was $37 for the rod with a 4lb. Stren spooled reel. I'm like- no way man. I had the store clerk scan the sku# code and sure enough, you actually Can get a quality name brand combo for under $50. Haven't had it out on the water yet but can tell just by the tip flex, guide wraps and feel in hand, that this is going to be rod #1 this season. Headed over to Cabela's and the hip waders were on sale for $51 not including tax so if you're reading this in early March '26, you can pick up most of your trout needs for under $100. Pretty amazing that you can still get set up for fishing for so little $ the "land of high food and gas prices". Tight lines all. Catch and release for our grand kids sake :)

Completely agree with David on all counts on the first review. Great little spin cast combo that lives in the trunk of the car to be deployed at a moments notice or a great lightweight rig for camping. First time out caught perch, smaller largemouth bass, rock bass, LOTS of angry bluegills and pumpkinseeds. The spool does come loaded to the max with 4 lb. test so I would recommend to pull some line off before starting fishing for clean retrieves. Fun product and great value!