Sougayilang Fiberglass Fishing Pole Conventional Reel Combo with Durable P-Cork Rod Handle, Medium Heavy for Catfish Salmon and Steelhead

This does seem like a decent rod. I’m not an avid fisher by any means. I fished when I was a kid and started again since my young girls want to fish. For my purposes, this rod works great. I think build quality is decent. Some metal parts so hopefully those are the ones that will keep this rod together for the next 40 years for me under light use. Seems to be a solid choice for an affordable option fishing rod.

This is a not bad combo set for any conventional fishing. The fishing rod itself is a bit soft for my taste. It has that medium stiffness to it. I'd rather have a heavy fast and a bit longer fishing rod for this type of reel. As for the grips, they shaped very well. The reel seat is your basic reel seat that holds your reel pretty solidly onto the rod. As for the guides, they could be better. These are not the guides that show quality out of the package. The way how it's wrapped onto the rod too is just a simple single wrap with no designs or additional backing to prevent the guides from directly coming into contact with the rod. If the guide gets rusted, then the blank will get the stain. Usually when I build rods, I install a backing wrap first just in case you need to swap out guides easily. The epoxy coating over the wraps is thin. I'm not sure how long the epoxy is going to last but it seems like the threads are going to get exposed after your 20th fishing trip. The reel is the best part of this combo set. It's easy to use and functions very smoothly. The ratchet on the reel is pretty loud. As for the drag, it is pretty solid as well and will slow down a fish anytime. Overall, I would keep the reel and find a better rod for it. But in a general combo kit, this is pretty decent and would work well with all types of fishermen, experienced and professional.

So this rod and reel combo was just over $50 which is amazing for what you get. The rod is a 9' fiberglass rod and seems to be well made but is certainly a stiff rod meant for catching big fish. The reel is certainly not the most expensive or nicest reel I have used but it seems very well made and works well. I loaded it up with some 12lb monofilament and took it out to the lake this weekend and used it with my downrigger to try to catch some salmon (no luck unfortunately) but the rod an reel worked very well and I have no complaints whatsoever. I didn't get a chance to test the drag but the reel works well and reels in and out smoothly. The drag clicker is very loud, which is good if you have a fish on, but if you don't want the noise you can just click it off.

I picked this combo up to replace my 7' saltwater pole that I thought was too short for my shore fishing style.First the pole - It's a 9' heavy with moderate fast action rated for 15-30lb line and 1-4 oz lures. These are nearly the exact stats I was looking for in a replacement pole. The length is great and it casts fairly far and easy from the shore with my current set up. The pole is light weight, and I prefer the cork handle it comes with over the other types of pole handles available on the market. The eyelets are straight. The connection point between the top and bottom pole halves could be a little beefier/have a little more reinforcement in my opinion. Overall, I'm happy with this pole.Next the reel - I've never had one like this before. It's a "conventional" style 4000L line-level reel for trolling. I originally thought it was going to be a baitcaster, but that is not the case. I've read conventional reels are not designed for casting distances, merely casting a bit and letting line out when boat trolling. I normally control my fishing pole with my right hand and crank spinning reels with my left. This one is the opposite, crank with the right and control the pole with the left, so coordination was tricky for me when moving up to a 9-footer. The reel has a good weight and feels solid. It cranks nicely and the spool spins free and fast. I loaded it up with whole lot of 30lb braid (I think I put all 300 yards on it) and had room to spare. It took a while to figure out the silver knob on the left is a line out alarm (clicks with different speeds of spool rotation), the black star at the base of the handle is the reel slack tension, the black lever on the right side releases the spool for casting, and I believe the round silver knob is the brake but I can't tell if that is correct - it didn't change much that I could tell. All in all, the reels mechanics feel good when I'm using it, and I think it would be good for trolling saltwater from a boat. I've read conventional reels have a learning curve and found this to be true. I had multiple big backlashes initially when trying to cast for distance, and that improved a lot by the second day of practice, but once again this is not an extreme casting reel from what I've read. Lastly, controlling a pole with my left hand will take some getting used to due to the right-side placement of the crank on the 4000L reel.So, for saltwater trolling, if I was used to controlling a pole with my left arm, this would get the job done for me and a pretty good price, too.

I got the 9ft Med heavy, 2 piece rod paired with the TSSD 4000L reel. The rod is fiberglass and has a cork handle and metal reel seat. The eyes don't feel too durable. The reel is a round style with a line winding guide, ratcheted free spool, and a star drag. Comes with a rod bag.I spooled the reel with 30lb mono. The reel casts well enough but the reeling and drag mechanisms just feel rough, with distinct grinding during a few practice casts.I live in Florida and have been affected by 3 hurricanes in the last 3 months, so I haven't been fishing with this yet. I will update once it has been 'fish tested.'The rod and reel combo is functional, but I don't know how it will react under pressure, or how long it will last.Neutral recommendation pending more testing.