New to River Trout fishing

[Oskolkoff]

i would say stay away form an ugly stick combo just because the reels are crap and i also agree it is going to be hard to find a decent combo for that price ugly stick are ok at best unless you are going to bash the rod then their good i guess i am pretty hard on gear and rarely break poles it is the reels i wear out. You should check out the shimano sellus rods i have a 6'8" worm a jig spinning rod with a shimano sahara 1000 size reel and it is my favorite spinning pole i own and while it is a bass pole it cast 6lbs test with 1/8th spinners on it fine and has landed many 5 to 6 pound rainbows with out a problem plus it cast a mile shimano makes a great product and you dont have to buy a sahara reel to get a good spinning reel the sienna is a great reel for $30 bucks and sellus are only $50 at sportsmans so for around $80 bucks you could have a really nice set up that will last you a long time and work for many other things beside trout also i don't pay to much attention to the number of bearings in a reel most shimano dont have 11 bearing most are 4 to 6 why because that is all they need the whole bearing thing is just a sales tacit in my mind just more things to fail the only down fall to shimano spinning reels is a small bail wire that will bend easy if dropped or banged on to hard if you really cany spend 80 i would check out cabelas they have some good rods like the pro guide series
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