How tall of rod. You can have a low cost rod and still do a pretty good job. The distance is what I think you need to know about. For most people that question come up alot in lenght of rod. In my rods I like 7 but would tell people to start up in 8" or highier range. Just good to wal-mart and feel the different lenghts and rod action. To get a idea what type you want. Hope this help you. Some other people will give there ideas too. Happy fishing from BB.