I bought one of the elites and paired it with a president reel. I've never been a fan of the ugly stik, I find the tip to be too flimsy for my liking and not as sensitive as a full graphite rod. However I wanted a rod the was tough as I kept breaking my other ultra lite rods. So far I like the elite pretty well. It still has a flimsy tip and the sensitivity is still not great but it's a good balance between sensitivity and a strong rod. I still catch a lot of fish with it and landed some nice bass and it is a tough rod and perfect for casting jigs and shooting docks with.
Smile, it kills time between disasters!