With the BG, be sure to rinse it well after use. It is not sealed like the more expensive Daiwa reels and it wont last, especially with the beating nice tog will apply to your equipment combined with saltwater.
Re: rods. I've used a few of the "fancy" slow pitch rods. They're nice. Light and manageable...but I sold them all after a few uses. Went down to Bogan's in Pt. Pleasant last fall, chatted with him about what I was looking for and placed an order for a custom 6'9 spinning tog jig stick. No bells and whistles, all black with a really nice rear and fore grip wrap on it. It's a sweet stick. I havent had the pleasure of wrecking a big fish yet but it has done the job on roasters on the boat and from shore. I tested the rod's potential this past weekend on an offshore canyon trip. While pot hopping for mahi I definitely tested the hell out of it.
The rod put a whipping on 20+ lb mahi and I was decking fish quicker than others on the boat who were using heavier gear.
If I recall correctly, the rod was in the $200 ballpark, but that's due to the lack of decaling, colored wraps, etc. It's one of my favorite meat sticks
Perhaps an option to consider later on down the line...
