I have fished with my mates equalizer on several occasions and about the only thing it works for is holding a rig still while you bait it up! I really dont like this rod and feels it lets abu's reels down big time. I do have a reason why i dont like this rod though, infact i have several: 1) I am only 15 and 5'7" but i compress this rod so far using a five ounce lead the rod bottoms out! it just wont bend any furthur and that only gets me a 70 yard cast at best, this is with highly tuned penn 525's and 15 lb lines. 2) its stated as a mixed ground rod where it couldnt break a leads wires out of a clean beach 3) Its exceptionally heavy for its size and action howveer it is a cheap rod... It would be an ok rod for the first time beach caster but with someone with slight experience in the sport they will quickly move on.