RE: trout rods and reels
Ugly Stik and mitchell reels, ya cant beat them and they are easy to get from Wally world!!
IMO stay away far far away from quantum poles...they seem very sensitive and they definantely are, the reels on the the other hand are nice!!
But honestly if you are just getting into it and do not want to spend a lot of money, I and others have got thousands of trout on ur basic cheap shakespeare combos!!( I still tend to buy one every year, because they are so cheap and always come in handy)!! Good Luck!!