chef, as you will learn in surf fishing, EVERYONE has their own opinion as to what works and what doesn't. yes the 1088 is not as stiff as the tica, but that is good. you do NOT want a stiff rod for tossing eels. that is, unless you have an endless free supply of them. the batson 1088 is actually a more powerful rod than the tica 8'. the best advice i can give you is to make do with what you have right now, and test out a lot of other rods this winter until you find one that suits you. you will like Bud8's 1088 if you give it a shot. it is not the perfect rod for eeling, but it would be a good blend of plugging and eeling until you can step up to different custom. then, you will have a solid back up rod if anything goes wrong down the road. the vast selection of rods out there is why a lot of us get into building our own. it allows you to really experiment with different set ups until you think you get it right.
anyway, here is a list of what i throw in SoCo/Narragansett area:
1201M lami graphite spinner
1201M lami graphite conv.
1213M lami glass conv.
1362F lami glass spinner
1208 allstar graphite spinner
1208 allstar graphite conv.
1089 batson graphite conv.
as well as a couple blanks i have been sworn to secrecy on....
