Chasse Pêche Prestige

I caught a black drum with this rod, using shrimp as bait in Cedar Key, Florida, and the rod is still holding up perfectly. I have also caught several other fish with this rod, but none as large as this one.

My wife wanted her own set for a week-long trip. I didn't want to spend too much money, as I wasn't sure if she'd enjoy fishing. Well, she loved it! She caught about twenty fish with this set in two weeks: some bass, a lot of pike and different species of fish, and even a sunfish. I thought if she liked fishing, we'd buy her higher-end gear. As it turns out, she really loves it, but we'll stick with this set for now. The only thing I recommend, and this goes for any rod and reel combo, is to immediately replace the line with quality line and to thoroughly understand how to adjust the drag based on the lure used. I would buy it again.

This is a 20lb (approx. 9 kg) catfish, caught with this rod and reel. The only adjustment I had to make was to slightly tighten the drag. Otherwise, I used it right out of the box, without changing the line or making any other adjustments to the rod or reel. Casting is smooth and the reel brings in the fish effortlessly. The only minor issue is that the bell release mechanism sometimes snags the drag setting, but this does not affect performance in any way.

I’ve been using this combo for a few weeks now. It’s really solid and I’ve managed to reel in some pretty big fish with it. Here’s a photo of a largemouth bass that gave me a good fight. My only complaint so far is that the bail sometimes doesn't close automatically after a cast, and I have to close it manually before I can start reeling.