I delayed the inevitable for as long as I could, but I finally had to retire the best 20 bucks I ever spent.
It is a 5-foot Eagle Claw Featherweight X-Stream baitcasting rod with an ultralight action. I bought it for $19.99 in 2006 from Academy Sports and Outdoors and mated it to a tiny Shimano GT-51 baitcasting reel. It is a dedicated ultralight baitcasting rig that I used exclusively for the Summer Smallmouth Tour in 2006.
Spooled with 8-pound test monofilament, that outfit punches far above its weight, and it earned the respect and admiration of everybody that ever saw it in action, including Newton County Sheriff Glenn Wheeler and former Outdoor Life editor John Taranto. Its size is ideal for fishing from a canoe or kayak, but that same attribute created a bit of a learning curve for casting light jigs.
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