I like the Salt Bass but I prefer it for casting baits.
I recently bought a couple of Shimano Vengeance Bass spinning rods, 20 - 60g, and they are stunningly good value for money.
Not much thicker than a pencil at the butt yet capable of throwing a surprisingly heavy lure. I have mine casting 30lb .23 diameter braid loaded onto an inexpensive Shimano Catana spinning reel. The rod and reel together were 50 or 60 (I forget exactly) and the reel comes with a metal spool for braid and a spare plastic spool for mono.
Works great for flicking spinners, lures, jelly worms, and redgills behind a bullet or barrel lead (my favourites) and you can fish it all day with ease.
Like I say, the Salt Bass can easily do float fishing and spinning, but I prefer mine as a summer bait rod. It is a better all rounder, but if you're a lazy hack like me you end up carrying a bait rod and a spinning rod, allowing you to ledger with the line out alarm on while you're noodling around with lures, without having to faff around changing from bait to lure, to float, to...
I think a lot of this comes down to what you want from your kit and how much you want to lug around.
The Salt makes a lot of sense, up to a point, but if you already have something along these lines (I did) and you are looking for a dedicated lure rod, you could do worse than look into the little Shimano rods. Great value, great performance, cheap to replace if you kill one.
Simon from Lewis Tackle tells me he uses his Shimano Vengeance for trolling for pike, and when sea fishing from his kayak.
Small rods with plenty of grunt and ideal for other use, (Salmon, Sea Trout, Pike). I'll be using mine a lot over the coming weekend for coalies and pollack around Beadnell and Craster.
Good luck whatever you decide.
