>>1422231I'm going to update my UL setup this spring, I'm going to be changing from a 4'8" Ugly Stick combo to a Daiwa Presso 4 piece 5'6" rod and a Shimano Sahara 1000 spinning reel.
The Ugly Stick caught plenty of fish, but it's 32 inches when collapsed, whereas the Presso gives me another 10 inches of rod and packs down to 24 inches. If you went with a cheaper reel, you could set the Presso for under $100 with line, otherwise the Ugly Stick is $50 for rod and reel. There are cheaper rods that do the same thing, but I don't have experience with them.
Rule of thumb, 4 piece rods fish nicer than collapsible, and spend your extra money on the reel unless you're looking at spending twice as much on the reel as the rod.
I'm not a fan of Chinese lure sets, all the ones I've bought or been gifted fish like garbage. Buy a Mepps Trout or panfish kit to start and then work your way into a collection of various spoons and crankbaits (I'm a sucker for the little Rapalas for stream trout, but they seem to produce as well as anything, so I don't mind paying a little more compared to a Berkley or similar competitive lure). Pick up a hook assortment and a weight assortment for fishing bait under bobbers too.
