Awesome catches and welcome to the states! For rods, you can never go wrong with Shakespeare's Ugly Stik. Heres a link to show you the brand
http://www.shakespeare-fishing.com/index_uglystik.html
They are cheap durable and come in all different sizes. As for reels, I've been pretty satisfied with many Penn reels.
http://www.pennreels.com/
Hope this helps and welcome again! LOL at njbassman! Definitely a series you have to start watching!
