I currently have an Abu Garcia ProMax casting rod that I aquired in a deal when i bought the rod & reel combo used. I have since sold the reel but still have the rod. This will be my first year with a bait cast setup and my question is would a Berkley Lightning Rod Schock be better than this ProMax rod that I currently have? I have thought about buying a new $100 rod but I'm thinking now maybe I'll hold off on buying an expensive (to me at least...lol) new rod that I'll make sure that I like bait casting first but would be willing to spend $50 on a new rod if it would be a definite upgrade over the ProMax rod.

I don't think the Lightning rod would be that much better than the Pro max that you have currently. I believe the pro max rod is equivalent to Abu's vengeance series of rods, which are about $50 rods. 

Fish what you have for right now. Your next purchase will be more in line with hat you want to do. Right now it would just be a guess on any rod. Go fish for awhile. You'll get plenty of great opinions when you upgrade. Fish the Pro Max for now. Just my opinion.

Forgot to add that I was also given a KVD Tour 6'8" cranking rod too, I believe it's a M/MF action. The Abu Garcia ProMax is a 7ft. MH/F.

Save your money for a true upgrade; The lightning rod is a good choice for its price, but that doesn't make it so advantageous as to be worth replacing what you already have. Unless, of course, you're just looking for an additional rod rather than a better rod. 

Nope, when looking for my next rod I'm thinking to upgrade and not stay the same quality.