Rods:I don't notice much of a difference between 2 and 4 piece rods, if any at all. I even have a 7 piece hiking rod.
as for reels, your 4wt doesn't matter much... you can get by with anything that holds line. If you wanna spend some cash, I recommend a Nautilus FWX or Lamson Guru. If you don't, greys are nice. so are redingtons and Allens.
For the 8wt, I'd go with a good drag for the pike. I personally am a big Waterworks Lamson fan. Their Konic probably has the most bulletproof drag under $200, or you could go Sage 2200.
Lines: you DON'T need a whole new sink tip line, just buy a sink tip that you can add on to your regular floating line. It's an economical alternative. I really, really like Airflo line, but there are lots of good lines available. For the 8wt, you'll probably want a more aggressive taper. This will help chuck heavy flies. look for "nymph lines" or "big fly lines", or just ask the guy behind the counter and he'll help.
Pike leaders (shock tippet) are usually steel (which is cheaper) or titanium (which doesn't kink). However you can also just use 50lb monofilament instead.
leaders for lakers should probably be 1X fluoro, but I have little experience with lakers.
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