OK, I'll be the freak here.......reel.

Why? When I was learning the ropes 20 some years ago, I used an old Lamiglas S-Glass (remember those?) 8 1/2 ft casting rod rated something like 4-10lb. test. It was basically an 8 1/2 ft. noodle rod. Most of my early success was with summer runs on the kalama using this old pole. I had no problem detecting bites.

Now, I have since graduauted to GLoomis rods for the last 15 odd years mainly because I want the best equipment and I can finally afford them.

Of course rods are VERY important. The point I wanted to make is that amongst all the "K-mart special" crap out there. There are rods that aren't top-end that work great when coupled with a quality reel.