Let me run this by ya. A few years back I quit work and fished tourneys for money for 2 years and was living good. The majority of my rods and reels came from Wal Mart. It is not the equipment that catch's the fish, it is the person holding the equipment. If it takes a 5 or 600 dollar fishing rod and reel to catch a fish then alot of people are hurting. My opinion. However ya should look for rods that are IM7 or 8 for the quickness of the hook set. But it dont have to be a 300 dollar rod. If ya get a reel in the 50 to 100 dollar range keep the maintenance up on it and they last a long time my friend. Once again my opinion. Good luck and choose what you are comfortable with and can afford.