For steelhead,I use a St. Croix wild river 10 1/2 ft pole with a Penn 4300ss reel and 4-6 lb test line.I drift fish with this setup.For casting I use a 6 ft Penn Spincaster ss160 rod and Penn 4300ss reel with 6 lb test line.Got that whole stetup for 45 or 50 bucks and they had the reels in the case for 64$ so I got quite a deal on it.For just messing around in ponds for bass and stocker trout,I use a 3 1/2 ft quantum micro with a Shakespear Synergy 200 reel and 4 lb test line.It is great fun to use and quite challenging.I love opening day of trout and hope I will be able to get out this year.A decent bass is very hard to get in and the 15 inch stockers are like fighting a big fish.It is easier to get into the streams with this setup too.For heavy northern pike fishing I have an Olympic 7070 FG 7 ft spinning rod and use a Penn 4500ss reel with 12 -20 lb test line.I have several other cheap rod and reel sets but these I use the most.I also have several Shakespear cheap rod and reel sets for the kids to go to the creek or pond fishing.For 20-30 bucks,they are a good deal and the kids have a blast.