First rod I can remember with any fondness as an 8 foot 2 piece, probably of Sears vintage - followed by several other weaker rods with Penn 712/650 reels hanging from them (this does not include Zebbies)
Fist rod I REALLY went after store bought (and foolishly thinking longer rod equated with better angler) was a 12' Daiwa I bought from Darrel Youngblood with a Penn 8500 SS .
Not long after that I went custom and conventional with a PacBay 1208 cut back 6 inches and wrapped by Gil Pope in 1997 with a Calcutta 400 - SOOOOOO much better than the Penn 8500SS/Daiwa 12' outfit
