[UglyStick]

For the rod I suggest making a little more of an investment than an Uglystick. Uglysticks are decent and nearly indestructible rods but the problem is they have very little backbone for a good hookset and aren't very sensitive.

Take a look at what St. Croix offers. Their base Premier models are very good rods and are quite affordable. Take a look at the better ones also, especially the Avid (not the Avid X). The 8 or so different freshwater rods I use weekly are all St. Croix's except for 1 Grandt. I use primarily Avids, Legend Tournaments and Legend Elites but the latter 2 are likely too pricey for this discussion. They have other mid range models too such as the Mojo Bass and other but I haven't fished them so I can't say if I like them or not.