I bought a spincaster reel and rod as a combo, and I first used the combo with a minnow this past saturday evening. Prior to this, i have been using a wounded minnow on an old zebco push button release. What I quickly noticed is that this rod is WAY to light for me. I barely detected a hit on the line because the entire pole was flexing from the lure retrieval before the bass even hit the bait. The combo itself was maybe 25-30 bux, and so I would like to keep the cost of a newer stiffer rod to 20 bux or under. Is that possible? What are decent rods in the 20 dollar or less range that are around medium stiffness? Thanx for any ideas guys!