My girlfriend bought me a 6 wt Dogwood Canyon rod with a "classic" reel a few years back I like to use in creeks and farms ponds for bass and what not and I recently bought a 5 wt TFO Pro-series outfitted with a "large" arbor Hobbs creek reel. The Dogwood is a bit fast-acting sometimes and I have found it to be quite limiting in pursuit of larger game under most circumstances, big bait for big fish and all that. But I'll tell you what, this TFO rod casts smooth as silk and at 170 with a decent reel and a lifetime replacement guarantee I'm not sure you can find a better monetary value.