Thanks guys for all your input, I have decided and the Avid and the Stradic, thanks again.

I was hoping to find a slightly cheaper reel but I understand what your saying, so was leaning toward that one.

Thanks for the reply, I will seriously give that one more thought.

I do realize I have to get the reel to balance with the rod, I had that with my last rod and reel, but the one I got in 1963 the yoyo at the sports store didn't do that because I was kid of 7 years old, and dad didn't know anything either, so I got a reel that was for heavy fresh water and light salt with a rod for medium fresh water, being stupid I used it anyways for everything. I still have that reel, it's Garcia Mitchell 306 built like a tank, it took years of abuse as kid banging it on stuff, then later used on the ocean, that thing won't break or rust, and it's easy to take apart and clean and relube it. I still have the rod too, a Shakespeare Wonder Rod, I had to put new eyes on because the original ones rusted out, and then somehow the tip came off which I have to fix.

Anyway, thanks for confirming the St Croix rod, that won by a landslide from many sources.

So I'm in the market to upgrade my 35 year old spinning rod and reel which was a ultralight Shimano Aero reel that's making grinding noises, and a Berkley Lightening rod IM6. I'm thinking of going with a St Croix Avid X 7' medium fast action rod, and a Shimano Stradic FL.

Everything that I've read including my friend's recommendation all seem unanimously in favor of the Avid X rod, but reels seem really wide open, some like the Stradic FL, some like the Pflueger Supreme XT 30 including my friend, some like the Abu Garcia Revo SX30, and I heard that the Daiwa Tournament ss700 is very good. The odd duck is the Piscifun Carbon X Spinning Reel 1000, but I'm a bit leery of this one due to it being so cheap to buy, but if it's really well made and will last a long time I would rather save money! For some reason reels are very confusing with one person saying one is better and another saying a different one is better.

I do mostly lake fishing for panfish and bass, some river fishing, I'm not one of those fishing everyday guys, I might go once a month, maybe twice a month, sometimes from the shore and sometimes off a boat. But I want a rod that is sensitive, and a reel that will last a long time.

Appreciate any and all information.

When I was 10 I found a knife buried straight down into the bank it it's sheath, it has no markings on it to be able to identify it, so it's either homemade custom knife made out of a block of stainless steel or it could be from Hen & Rooster which is a German knife maker.

https://www.cutlerycorner.net/productinfo/CCN-60187

The handle that is on mine has curvy wide lines instead of straight lines as the above knifes has, even the sheath is similar to their knives. But it also looks like the handle found on a Schwarze Schmiede knife especially the top part of the handle with the curve section

https://www.manufactum.com/multipurpose-knife-forged-one-piece-steel-a88148/

It almost looks like a combination of both brands.