I just recently got into the surf cast fishing and I figured I create a rod and reel set. I paired this reel with the Penn prevail 11' foot rod. This set I had confirmed with A Penn sales rep. As for the reel, it's going to take some time for me to adjust to cranking in the line while using my thumb to spread the line over the reel. Not as easy as I thought. It's going to take some time to get use to this type of reel.