Buy new reel or buy combo ?

[rutgersfan1]

As stated in my other post, it's been 25 yrs since I'd been fishing and now want to introduce my young kids to it. I still have quite a lot of gear and tackle but a couple of reels no longer work and the needed repair parts are no longer available.

I'd been to Dicks, Sports Authority and Walmart looking for new reels yet the rod/reel combos they sell cost almost what the reels do alone. For example, $40 bucks gets an ultra-lite ugly stick and a Shakespeare reel while $36 gets a reel sold separately.

What should I do ? Find used reels on the internet ? buy the new combos and sell my current rods on the internet ?

Buy better reels on-line thru Cabelas ? Generally I do not see value in high-end reels.