Can anyone point me in the direction of a decent 5’6” medium heavy baitcasting rod? I know that’s not an ideal setup but I fish out of a couple of boat houses where there’s not room to swing a long rod. I catch some fish in the 10-15 pound range so I need some backbone. If this weren’t difficult enough, I’m retired on a fixed income so I can’t spend a ton of money. Thanks!

Bass Pro makes a 5'6" in M and MH actions. $50
https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-100187207

And their economy model in M. $30
https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-power-plus-graphite-casting-rod

Sorry, no personal experience with either.

Perfect! Thanks!

What kind of fish do you catch in the 10-15 lb range?

Buffalo and carp. The first two pics are two different fish. The carp at the bottom was apparently hit by an alligator that’s hanging around and lived to tell the tale. I could stick my little finger in the hole near its tail. The last pic a soft shell turtle that almost ran me out of 50lb braid. He was foul hooked in a back foot and was the longest, toughest fight I’ve had in a long time. He’s on his back because it calms them down while I’m getting a hook out. Even at that, the #&$# bit me.

Nice catch and good times except for that turtle bite... that can't be good!

You can’t go wrong with an Ugly Stik. You can get a casting or spinning rod.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/ugly-stik-gx2-spinning-rod

And those soft shells have really long necks and are really fast.

The spinning rod I’m using now is a 6’ MH Ugly Stik and I’m happy with it. I guess I need to make another trip to Cabela’s (oh darn). Yeah, he surprised me with his speed and the length of his neck. He’s lucky I’m a gracious guy and didn’t hold it against him. When they take a chunk out, it’s really slow to heal.