I want a rod and reel that I can leave 65 lbs braid on and fish frogs and punch with Strike King rage bugs. I bought a 7.2:1 (I know an 8:1 would be better for getting the fish out quick, but if I can get by with what I already have I will. Kast King Royale Legend II Baitcasting reel a while back and haven't used it. It holds 40-65 lbs braid. When I go on Bass Pro, I type in the filter "Heavy" "1 Piece" and 14-65lbs braid," when looking for a casting rod. Lew's and St. Croix have rods from $120 to about $200. The Lew's LFS rod, St. Croix Bass X, St. Croix Black Bass, Team Lew's Signature, etc. I fish heavy vegetation ponds, and I bank fish some lakes with nice, thick lily pad and stalks of aquatic vegetation growing. Will a $120 St. Croix Bass X and my Kast King reel take care of me? Thank you. 

Consider Irod IRG754F it’s called Fred’s Magic stick gen 3, 7’5” made for frogin and general use 1/2 to 2 oz about $150.

Tom

PS, look for sales 10-20% off.

7 hours ago, Cael B said:

I want a rod and reel that I can leave 65 lbs braid on and fish frogs and punch

Look at the 7"3" Heavy. Super durable and a great tip for launching frogs.

Lew's Carbon Fire Casting Rod | Dick's Sporting Goods

A 7:2 reel if fine and will do you well. 
You would just lose a little torque going to an 8, it’s a trade off that only you can justify. 

I’m not familiar with either rod or reel but they both seem popular on here and elsewhere, I wouldn’t worry about it. 
 

Good Luck

 

 

 

Mike

 

So first off I’m going to echo @PhishLI and suggest the Lews Carbon Fire which I own as a frogging rod even though I don’t frog fish a whole lot. Secondly as someone who also owns that exact reel I will say I personally wouldn’t use it as frog/slop reel as I feel that is something that really needs an aluminum frame as I can feel the flex just playing with the reel although I’m sure you can find plenty of people who will disagree with me. Also and again just my opinion but the spool on the KK seems a bit weak for such stout line. As a example of a decently priced combo I would get the Lews rod for $56.00 from DSG’s and a Daiwa Tatula CT for $99.00 from Scheels currently or a variety of similarly priced options for the reel.

Diawa has the Tatula XT lineup for $99 and they’re solid rods for that price. My whole lineup is xt’s and I beat the hell out of myself and my equipment(seriously). They have a rod just for frogging and one just for heavy flipping(punching)….well worth a look imho 

1 hour ago, Eric 26 said:

So first off I’m going to echo @PhishLI and suggest the Lews Carbon Fire which I own as a frogging rod even though I don’t frog fish a whole lot. Secondly as someone who also owns that exact reel I will say I personally wouldn’t use it as frog/slop reel as I feel that is something that really needs an aluminum frame as I can feel the flex just playing with the reel although I’m sure you can find plenty of people who will disagree with me. Also and again just my opinion but the spool on the KK seems a bit weak for such stout line. As a example of a decently priced combo I would get the Lews rod for $56.00 from DSG’s and a Daiwa Tatula CT for $99.00 from Scheels currently or a variety of similarly priced options for the reel.

Both solid choices for under $160.00

Generally speaking I prefer St Croix over Lews but a frogging / flipping and pitching setup is the one area where I tend to like the Lews rods a little better. Any of their 7'2-7'4 heavy fast models rated up to 1.5oz should be good to go. I had a TP1-black that I used for a long time and really liked until I switched it out recently but was a fine frogging / grass setup for the price. I also personally prefer a winn style grip for this particular rod as I find it helps w/ the heavy hook sets.

 

I actually also own a 7'4 HF st croix victory that I really like, but I prefer to use that for swimbaits and spinnerbaits. One last thing...you filtered by line specs but a lot of the time the line ratings will be set for mono so you might not be getting all the results...as long as it says 25lb mono or so you should be good. If I was at BPS and that was my budget I'd personally be looking at the Lews TP2 or the Johnny Morris CarbonLite rods for a frogging / pitching setup.

Get a cheap rod for your cheap reel and use that for a while until you know more about what you want and upgrade later.  That Lews rod looks great for $55.