I have played with a number of spod rods and the one that stands head and sholders above the others for my money is the Rocketeer. I bought a Century Big Bertha, it is great for punching big spods long distance, but it is more of a specialist tool rather than a all round spod rod. I suspect that many anglers would struggle to even compress the blank. I nearly put my shoulder out the first time I realy wound it up, with a big spod on board. If I had my money to spend again I would buy the rocketeer for sure. A spod reel takes a lot of abuse, far more than the reels we fish with, so I dont understand this trend to use cheap reels for a spod. The best Spod reels for my money are the good old workhorses like the shimano biomaster or the diawa emblems. If price is an issue I would go for the Shimano Airlex or the Emblem s.