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Yeah ive got a set and absolutely love them. A mate of mine who is far more experienced than me was so impressed after seeing mine that he sold his wychwood ones and bought himself a set.

With all due respect, why on earth would you want a distance casting reel on a stalking rod? The whole idea behind stalking is being as mobile and as "stealthy" as you can, so whilst I commend your choice of rod, you really need as small a reel as possible to match it. Putting a big pit reel on a 9ft stalking rod is akin to putting a 250hp Honda outboard on a canoe! You'll want something that will hold a decent breaking strain line because stalking, by nature, will usually have you fishing close to snags of some description, although again you don't want to fish too heavily because you're likely to be going after wary fish and you don't want to spook them. My idea of stalking is using the smallest lead possible, if in fact I used any at all. Freelining is as stealthy as it gets. Flicking a piece of sweetcorn, a dog biscuit, a lump of breadflake or meat/small boilie into a tight little spot sums up "stalking" to me. I'd be looking at the smaller Shimano or Daiwa offerings. You don't really need a bait runner because with stalking you are going to be "on your rod" all the time, but the Daiwa Emcast 4500 which I use would suffice. These have a baitrunner which of course you don't have to use, but at least you have the facility there if you want to revert to the more "usual" methods of fishing at some point. Forget big pit reels. Unless you suddenly decide you want to buy 13 foot 3.5tc rods and start whanging it out 150 yards plus.