6"6 medium light for the rod. Now for the reel...I have a little bit of a dilemma. I personally would go with the 6lb/130yds because I'm a lightline type of guy. I think most people would go with the 8lb/140yds. That will take anything you can toss at it.

A 4-10lb test rod will have enough backbone to pull fish (bass) and yet retain enough sensitivity to fish for panfish/crappie/trout. These aren't "light" rods. They aren't made with ultralight angling in mind....that would be more like 1-6lb....that's ultralight.

It's a difficult decision on the rod because fishing for bass is totally different from crappie/panfish. It's a completely different aproach and "feel." I would recommend looking into a seperate setup for each....or at least a different rod if you can.

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If I were you, I would just fork out the extra $10 and get the Shimano SYMETRE/Fish Eagle II combo. That's a MUCH better reel. I have two, and I put them up close to the Stradics I have. The Sahara isn't going to be as smooth or as durable as the Symetre. The Symetre was a mistake for Shimano - they put better technology in a "cheaper" reel. That's why they had to UP the price two years ago. They realized that too much of the same technology was in the Symetre that was also in the Stradic FI. I would definitely go with the other combo....you'll be glad you did - it's a world of difference.