I'm in SWVA near the new river (smallmouth and muskeys), little river (largemouth and trout), and lakes out the yin yang...  I'm pretty new and looking to move up form my $14.99 combo after determining that I'm hooked....  Definitely sticking with a spinning rod for now.

 

I've been looking to pick up a nice all around combo (budget ~$100) and I'm settling in on the Fenwick Eagle (6' 6" Med Power Fast Action) and a Okuma Epixor Xt 30.  How's that sound?  I think I'm pretty set on the rod, but my goodness there a lot of good reels in this range...  I've also looked at Daiwa Legalis and Shimano Sahara.  In the end, the Epixor seems just as good and $30 cheaper....

 

Thoughts and further recommendations?

I love the rod, I use the ML myself before starting to upgrade to the HMG. I haven't had much success however with Okuma's budget reels. Their Ceceilio is a great rod for trout for 20-30$, but just haven't found anything in the reel department worth purchasing. Possibly wait till BF and grab the rod and president reel for 100-110?

11 hours ago, Ken Sharp-Knott said:

I'm in SWVA near the new river (smallmouth and muskeys), little river (largemouth and trout), and lakes out the yin yang...  I'm pretty new and looking to move up form my $14.99 combo after determining that I'm hooked....  Definitely sticking with a spinning rod for now.

 

I've been looking to pick up a nice all around combo (budget ~$100) and I'm settling in on the Fenwick Eagle (6' 6" Med Power Fast Action) and a Okuma Epixor Xt 30.  How's that sound?  I think I'm pretty set on the rod, but my goodness there a lot of good reels in this range...  I've also looked at Daiwa Legalis and Shimano Sahara.  In the end, the Epixor seems just as good and $30 cheaper....

 

Thoughts and further recommendations?

I don't have any experience with the Okuma, but the Daiwa is outstanding for the price. You can also look at the Pflueger President series as well. Very nice reel for around $50 as well as the Pflueger Trion for about $20 cheaper. I have a bout 6 of each and they just keep on ticking.

 

I don't have the Fenwick Eagle M that you are looking at, but I do have a pair of 8' UL Eagles that I use for tossing small jig heads across rocky shallows on a river below the dam looking for early spring Walleye. I like them very much. They fish a lot nicer than they cost in my opinion. I don't know why by they feel a lot better than the Fenwick HMG or HMX which are almost double the price.

 

For the record I have those fitted with Pflueger Presidents in the 20 size.

 

At the price range you are considering, an extra $20-30 will indeed make a big difference. Probably a much bigger difference than that between $250 and $400 reels. Given the choice I would go with Daiwa over Okuma every single time...no exceptions.

Pflueger President 30 is all you need! Performs as good as reels that are double the price and is buttery smooth. I’m not sure what else I can say to suggest it more, but in my eyes it is the best budget spinning reel of all time, and is the only spinning reel I use. It might not fit into your budget because it is 59.99 but I believe it’s worth it .

 

as for the rod, I’ve owned a fenwick hmx and I loved it but there were some durability issues. I’ve heard much better things about the Eagle and the ML is a good choice because fenwick rods tend to be quite stiff. The HMX Medium wasn’t as soft as I hoped, and when checking out their ML in stores it seemed more what I was looking for. And since you’ll be using it for trout too, a ML keeps it universal

I have two of the epixor 30's and a shimano CI4+ (5x price). I haven't felt the need to replace the epixors, they seem to be really well built. The difference in quality is real, but it doesn't change how they fish. If there was one thing I'd like different about the epixors is smoother drag startup, which is probably fixable with a regrease or a 7.00 carbontex drag upgrade.

 

I'd buy them again if I was buying a budget spinning combo. If you have extra money put it in the rod. 

 

You may be a week out from some nice sales. 

Epixor is a great reel.  I use the size 20 on my trout ultralight rod and the 30 on my finesse bass rod.  It’s got good drag, smooth.  Have had no issues.