Just had to make the same decision. I went with a Daiwa Laguna 2500-5bi and a 8 ft. Daiwa Spinmatic ultralight rod. I started with braided line and soon found out it's not to my liking, swapped over to Stren 4 lb mono and all is right with my world again. The reel was on sale at Sportsmans Warehouse for $30 and the rod was $40 there also, so $70 was a good deal for me.

I had a 5 ft. ultralight Ugly Stick that had a 40 yr old Ted Williams size 10 spinning reel which lost a bail screw and had to be replaced, got a Abu Garcia Cardinal SX10 for $30 at Walmart and loaded it with 4 lb. Berkley 100% Fluorocarbon which suits me better than the braid and maybe the plain mono too.

Anyhow good luck on the fishing and hope I could help.