I have this set up. It's my first fly rod I bought. I bought it because I read the 6wt is like the universal, all around weight that can do a little bit of everything ok. I've since added a 9' 5wt that I use for most of my fishing and a 8' 4wt that I use on small streams. I use the 6wt encounter for all my warm water fishing now and will be trying it out on the Erie tribs here soon.
As for setup itself, it probably wasn't the best to learn on. It's decently fast action and added length got me in a lot of trees and wind knots but now I can really launch the line with it. It doesn't come with a hook keeper, which was super annoying to me, but I had a friend that builds rods put one on for me. I think it's a nice set up but I'm no pro. Add a hook keeper and put good line on and I think you'll be as happy as you would with any 6wt set up under $300. I know for a fact it can handle 17"-18" largemouth easily. I use it on the family pond when I'm bored from time to time and it's one after another there lol.
