I am getting a baitrunner 4500 and have a few setup questions. First, what's a good rod to go with it? Primary fishing is for stripers and blues off the boat. Also, what kinda line should I put on the reel? What's a good line? 17# or 20# mono? Or braid? I've heard pros and cons for both. My friend claims that the braid will spook the stripers if they see it, even if you have a real long fluorocarbon leader. Suggestions for rigging this?

Also, what's a decent CHEAP bait rod/reel combo for sabiki rigs, mackerel jigging, etc?

I use the 4500 baitrunner on a number of rods, depending on whether I'm chunking, or livelining pogies. I like braid, but now prefer 25# Yozuri Hybrid on that reel.

As for the sabiki rod, grab an old light reel and attach it to a 1"OD piece of PVC pipe with a couple hose clamps. Cut the pipe to the length of the sabiki rig plus about 18". Cut a diagonal hole upwards through the pipe above the reel to feed the line through and file smooth. Attach sabiki rig to main line, after plling it out the end of the pipe, which is now the rod. Add a rubber washer above the bottom weight you tie to the sabiki. When storing, you just wind th sabiki rig inside the pipe til next use.....

If its your primary boat road i would suggest looking into a Calcutta 400 or 700, learning to cast it might be a pain for a while but once you get the hang of it there is no comparison.The 4500 is a good reel tho and I caught many fish on mine..it was spooled with 12lb if i was gonna be casting it and with 15lb and a shot of 30lb for the chunk/livies....I would suggest a med/hvy or hvy fast action rod no smaller than 7ft...good luck

Thanks for the advice guys. Any pictures on that sabiki setup?