The Cabela's Fish Eagle II are a solid rod at their current $40 price point. If you can find an XML (next level up) somewhere, jump on it. I have fished the 10' heavy (10-20) and medium (8-15) and was impressed with both. I believe Cabela's has discontinued the XML series now and I am not sure if they are going to redesign it or scrap it.

Another option is to build your own rod? Rainshadow and several other manufactures have provided a variety of good blanks you could build on a budget.