Just got my order from Fishermans Factory Outlet! Being on an extremely tight budget I need to get the most bang for my buck and I think I just got that with my latest purchase. FFO was having a 25% off rod sale so I picked up a Fenwick HMG med heavy 6' casting rod for 40 bucks, a Veritas 6'6 2 piece MH fast spinning rod for 45 bucks and a Pflueger President spinning combo for 50 bucks. I'm pretty sure I'm set for rods and reels now for some time. 

Now if only I could find some bait monkey repellent??

I've picked up a few rods from FFO at extremely good prices a few times.  Aetos ($180 list) 6'6" ML crankbait casting rod for $75 shipped.  Then I hit the "buy one rod, get second for 50% off" sale.  Had to pay shipping that time, but $134 and change for $360 in rods (Aetos again) ain't bad.  Forget what I paid for a couple HMG rods.

 

Forget the Bait Monkey repellent....embrace him and build up an enviable stable.  You only think you are set for rods and reels for awhile.  Anyway, marriage is highly over-rated. 

FFO is where I've bought most of my Supreme XT baitcasters. They're usually $88, then I buy them during the buy 1 get one 50% sales. End up getting 2 Supreme XT's for less than the price of 1 normally. They're factory reconditioned, but I've never had any problems with any of them. 

You're gonna love those HMG's, I have a 7' medium heavy casting and a 7' medium spinning, now I'm looking to add a 7'2" medium moderate for trebles. 

that place gets great reviews and they sale the autos a lot. good option for the future.

There are still some deals to be had on reels, especially baitcast reels.  However, their rod selection sucks right now, AFAIC.

 

17 hours ago, frosty said:

You're gonna love those HMG's, I have a 7' medium heavy casting and a 7' medium spinning, now I'm looking to add a 7'2" medium moderate for trebles. 

I just wrestled a 9.8lb pike with the med mod rod on Friday and it held up 20x better then I thought, wasn't planning on catching a pike haha bent out all the trebles on my crank