Well i finally made my choices and so far im pleased with the looks and feel. I got the Clark wendlandt shakey head rod for 50% off so it only cost my $100bucks. Now i love the look and feel, very light but have not tested it on the water. For the reel i was between the stradic 2500, saros 2500 and the ci4. now i was planning to get the CI4, which was super light but honestly a little rough when reeling. You would think for $200 it will be smooth when reeling but it wasnt and i was not to happy about the reel handle. The Saros 2500 felt ok but wasnt "in love" with it. The stradic FJ was alittle heavier then the others but was super smooth and when reeling you can sense that it is a very powerful reel. so long story short i got the stradic fj, which so far with non water use i am very happy.

Sounds good to me.

I bought that same Falcon rod during Black Friday sale. I have put the Pflueger 8030 supreme it's a sweet combo.

Don't know anything about the rod but I was the same way with the ci4, just not nearly as smooth as I expected a 200 dollar reel to be. I ended up going with a Pfluegar Supreme XT 8035 instead and have been blown away with how nice of a reel that thing is.