A lot of my gear has come from yard sales. There are incredible bargains to be found. It's amazing how many people will buy expensive gear, use it a couple of times, then lose interest and basically give it away at a yard sale.

Tom

Buying pre-owned gear is a good way to get the most bang for your buck. Rods I get new, but 5 out of my 7 reels were bough used. I prefer eBay, but I've never had to get anything in a hurry. Just got another Pfluege Trion last week in fact. $32! I had been looking a few times a week for 4/5 months though. It took a little bit of work and a lot of patience; but worth it to me in the end.

This happened to be a BPS sold Pflueger "Supreme"; which is really a Trion with higher-end components. But I can't say enough good things about Pfluger reels with aluminum frames. (Don't go with the graphite reels.) The Trion is fantastic though. I actually got one after a few Patriarchs and couldn't believe how much I liked it. So much so, that when I needed a new reel, I purposely started looking for another Trion. It's a no frills reel, don't get me wrong. It just so happens to be one of the best no-frills reels out there. IMHO, of course.

Cabela's has a Trion/Fish Eagle II combo for $150. But if you can swing that $200 price tag, I'd go with a better $100 from Fenwick, St. Croix or Falcon.