I'm in the same boat. I've been learning on a 6wt combo thats more than adaquate for trout and panfish, but want to build a setup for salt on the cheap. So far, I'm liking the Pleuger Summit for under 100.00 reels. Okuma has the Integrity, but I would go with the summit, as it is anodized aluminum and looks cool
Rumour has it that llbean is having a mad sale in stores only. you might score a deal there.