Just got the Abu Garcia black max with a vegeance rod. Planning on it being my soft plastics reel and some cranks. But im now looking for a crankbait reel and rod. Was looking at the cardinal STX vegeance combo. Anygood? I use cranks going down to 14-15 ft. The thing i worry is its not a MH rod. Should I buy the rod seperatw and get a MH? Would that affect shallow baits? Thanks

Make sure it as a moderate or mod fast taper other wise you will lose a lot of fish.

If you are throwing deep cranks, a Curado I 5.5:1 and a Halo Cranking Rod MH 7'11" is one badass combo! It has a fantastic parabolic bend for a MH rod.

If you want a cheaper setup, a BPS Crankin stick 7'11" MH or Abu Veritas Winch 7'11" MH paired with a BPS Pro Qualifier 5.2:1 reel will get the job done very well. Two hundred bucks compared to 300 for the Curado/Halo. I won't lie though, the Curado/Halo is worth the extra money but the BPS combo still performs well.