Went "cheap" and am perfectly happy.

[Bob Ellis]

I had previously asked about some Dobyns Champion rods to go with a Curado I bought in an effort to upgrade from my old and well worn 6' GL2 rods. After debating some time I decided that there was a level of performance that was "good enough" for me and I am not ashamed to say it came in well under typically discussed TT budget

Instead of buying a $200+ rod for the new Curado I returned it for credit. I walked out with three rods and a different reel.

All the rods were St. Croix Triumphs, one spinning and two casting. They were joined in the wagon by a Citica.

My new setup, and I am quite proud of it thank-you-very-much:

My current Cardiff now lives on a Triumph 6'6" MH instead of his old home on a CR724.
The new Citica got paired with a 7' M, we'll see how this short-rod guy gets on with the length.
A Sahara spinning reel (newer model) will grace a 7' M spinning rod for the lighter baits.

DobyLiteRX Type Rs they are not, but they blow box store stuff out of the water. I am pleased

[ppFishing]

I had previously asked about some Dobyns Champion rods to go with a Curado I bought in an effort to upgrade from my old and well worn 6' GL2 rods. After debating some time I decided that there was a level of performance that was "good enough" for me and I am not ashamed to say it came in well under typically discussed TT budget

Instead of buying a $200+ rod for the new Curado I returned it for credit. I walked out with three rods and a different reel.

All the rods were St. Croix Triumphs, one spinning and two casting. They were joined in the wagon by a Citica.

My new setup, and I am quite proud of it thank-you-very-much:

My current Cardiff now lives on a Triumph 6'6" MH instead of his old home on a CR724.
The new Citica got paired with a 7' M, we'll see how this short-rod guy gets on with the length.
A Sahara spinning reel (newer model) will grace a 7' M spinning rod for the lighter baits.

DobyLiteRX Type Rs they are not, but they blow box store stuff out of the water. I am pleased

There is nothing wrong w/ the St. Croix Triumphs. I have two of them. One for musky fishing. So far they have perform flawlessly. The blank on the triumphs is the same blank they use on the premier line.

[tracker01]

You do not have to spend allot of money to be satisfied. Sometimes less expensive stuff just works.

[raul]

I´ve got a couple of Clarus rods and I think they are great.

[Scorpio]

I'd say you done good.

[78Staff]

I've done the same, after some sticker shock and realistic thinking on what I should be spending on this "hobby" . Had to replace several Zillions and Sol's, and decided to drop down to the $100 reel range (Browning/BPS Citori) and some on-sale Kistlers... Realistically I don't spend enough time on the water to really justify $3k in gear for 5 or 6 rigs... and in today's economy more than ever I'm seeing the need to squeeze that penny. Did a little blurb on the Citori in the $100 reel thread, while it's certainly no Zillion it's a nice, solid reel for the money, especially if you catch then on sale.

[ecu daniel 14]

I have some pretty expensive stuff (for a college kid) and I love them...but to be honest, I have a walmart special daiwa spinning combo that I got 5 years ago for around $20 that I have caught soooo many fish on...the fish dont care.

[Toadslayer72]

I ended up walking out of Gander Mountain yesterday with a 7' med-lite St. Croix Eyecon for under $60. They had a bunch of rods @ 25% off and I had a gift card from X-Mas. Too bad I have to buy a reel for it now My main spinning reel is a JDM Steeze and I love it so much but there is no way I can spend that kind of money on a reel for this new rig. I'm looking at the Shimano CI4 as of now but that's even pushing it. I know hardly "cheap" but this is TT.

[olamagic]

Everybody has their zone of comfort on the price of their equipment , you are one of the lucky ones that does not need top line equipment. Enjoy your new equipment.

[Buck2thPerch]

It is true. With the bad economy, kids, married to nagzilla, and bills, not everyone can afford to spend thousands of dollars on fishing gear all the time. I am also now trying to squeeze as much fishing performance as I can for every penny I spend - though I just bought 3 more Shimano Cumara rods

I own several Curado 200E's as I have stated on the forums before. Now that I think about it, perhaps I could have gotten two times more Citica 200E' reels for the money I spent on my Curado 200Es. These reels are almost identical in performance.

Most of us (including me) have wine tastes but beer money.