Sorry I can't give u alot of advice on the pro's and con's of an ugly stick, but I can say that they work great. It's hard to go wrong with a Shakespeare rod. Some of their reels can be ify, but their rods are usually good. I know catfisherman in books that have used Shakespeare tiger rods, which are a little different that regular ugly sticks, but still the same idea. I myself own a Shakespeare, and my fishin buddy on here, Redd, uses one too. They're good river rods. The only thing is, if you fish extremely large rivers, like the mississippi, then you'll want a huge ugly stick. and those can cost $. But for smaller rivers, the standard 6-7' is fine for casting distance.
Also, if you are going to do some research on rods, try looking up the Whippin' stick. Or maybe it's Whuppin' stick. I don't remember how to spell it exactly, but they're supposed to be kindof like an ugly stick, except cheaper. Something to look into.
As always, I hope this helps.
