OK!!! You already have some great information! Before I get rambling, I want to say what a great resource this site if for information like this! It's great to be able to rely on other people's experience for help!

OK...I've done a few seminars on selecting entry level tackle. I lead the Fishing Outreach Ministry for South Bay Community Church and I do a lot to help our beginners get started right! One consideration is to help them buy tackle that they can rely on for years of service.

My favorite beginner outfit is the Calstar 870 with a Penn Jigmaster 500.
Although the Calstar rod is a lot more money, it is really good quality and it's a rod that can be used for fishing everything from Barracuda to Bass, from Yellowtail to Yellowfin Tuna (small size of course) and so on. There is a bunch of different rods that you can buy but for your first rod, that would probably be your most versitile choice.
The Penn Jigmaster is a soild choice for a first reel. This reel in many cases can fish as light as 15lb all the way up to 30lb and in some cases to 40lb. Keep in mind that this reel isn't the most advanced, but they are easy to service and parts are available at nearly any tackle shop.

It sounds as though you may be a freshwater bass fisherman or something like that? If you are, you understand the ideology of having a particular rod for a particular purpose! Saltwater fishing is the same. I can tell you that I probably have 40 or 50 different rods and they all have a particular purpose. For instance, this Thursday, I will be using a select number of rods for a Shallow Water Rock Codding trip. Those aren't the same as the rods that I took out a few months ago for Tuna fishing out of San Diego. If you've read through the other messages, you've got a lot of great information about different types of rod/reel combinations you will eventually have to buy!!!! hahahahahaha! Just take it slow and choose your tackle wisely. The worst thing is to have to try and sell off stuff that you don't like or didn't perform well.

Good Luck and Great Fishing

Darin
aka Hookup90247