Washout

Crappy how? By giving them away or by having them get their prices right? They are all supposed to be $29.96 I don't know about the next gen rods, but I know all the first gens are supposed to be that. If you insist on spending full retail on your rods, be my guest, but I don't have that kind of budget.

For my money? Vicious is the best price/performance I have ever tied on for mono. Much less memory on my spinning reels than trilene. Haven't had any problems with the stren either, other than I think it gets waterlogged faster when I'm bottom dragging then switch to topwater, but that's nitpicking.

For anyone in the market for some bargain rods, Wal-Mart has Abu Garcia Vendetta rods on sale for 29.96 if you can find them. The vast majority don't hit the scanners at 29.96 so you have to be crafty at how to get them bought right. I've pieced together a small arsenal over the winter by hounding the clearance racks and buying two at a time. Here's how to buy two at a time. Find a vendetta with the SKU covered with a sticker. That one should ring up correctly, so what I did was double check it at the price scanner and find another one without the sticker and pick it up too. The cashier always corrected the mistake when they rang it up and noticed they were identical rods. I've even brought it to the attention of our local Wally World and they had the problem sorted out and I bought four of them at once and gave three away as Christmas gifts. They must have got more in and now they have them all messed up. Some of the new Next Gen. rods are at 29.96 and the old ones are ringing up at 79, so if you want a bargain on a nice rod, go check them out and be prepared to take a cart full of rods to the scanner. I've done this all over Central Illinois this winter and right now they have them all in a garbage can as an end cap in sporting goods. Some decent other deals in there as well. KVD quantum rods for 79+, daiwa jupiters for under 40 and W&M Skeet Reese's for 60. Happy Hunting!