Talked to my fishing buddy last night and he does not like Ugly Sticks. He says they will wear you out
Brian, I understand your buddy's thinking. The GX2's, which are graphite and fiberglass composite, are heavy when compared to today's higher end all graphite rods and over the course of a day of bass fishing, they will tire you out. But for the price, they're hard to beat especially for the occasional fisherman or weekend fisherman and I don't think they can be broken...lol. But with all the cargo issues on the west coast, they can be very hard to find. The fishing club I'm in raffles off rod and reel combos to members every month to raise money. We usually buy Shakespeare striper and catfish rods for the raffles, but even with a Pure Fishing regional rep (Shakespeare's parent company) in our club, we can't get them. We've been able to get some Lew's stuff though, but most prefer the Shakespeare for their style of fishing. These guys are either trolling or bottom fishing.
As for reels, I'm an Abu round reel guy. When I bass fished, I used Abu Garcia 4600's, 5600's, and some 5500's. As for spinning reels, Penn Battle is a decent reel at a decent price point. The Daiwa BG's are another. I prefer the 3000 or 4000, but for casting for bass, a 2000 size would work just fine. Most of these reels can be bought used off of EBAY for a decent price and repair parts are very easy to get.
For trolling for stripers, my recommendation is a 7' to 8' medium action 1 piece rod with an Ambassadeur 6500 reel. I do not like 2 piece rods. This will also work for casting for bass or to schooling stripers even though 8' is probably too long. For a rod specific to trolling for stripers, go to FishUSA.com and look at the Okuma Dead Eye Classic. Several sizes and actions available and less than $50, will last you a long, long time. Here's the model number for a 7'6" medium action - DEC-LC-761M-T.
. Have a nice one
