if you plan on mixing it up and, chunking and plugging, you might wanna beef it up to a 9 or 10ft with a rating some where from 2 to 6oz (or 4-8oz range if you plan on chunking alot more than pluggin.) only because throwing 2-6oz of weight (if not8 in some fast moving water) + bait (about another 1-3 ozs)doesn't work to well on rod rated to 3.
one of the lessons these guys taught me here, no matter how much i tried not to believe them (cause i cant afford rods) is that, one rod isn't goin to do everything. for instance, i am currently investigating into a rod specifically for pencil poppers.
think about what you will be using it for before making any decisions.
how much weight you plan on tossing is probably one of the most crucial things. (else the rod wont load properly and it will cut into yer casting distance. worst case end up with a broken rod.) what type of stuff you are throwing is a factor too on what kind of action you want. (i cant be of any help on that one cause i'm still trying to figure it out. but i know these guys can!) i think most guy here in general use mod/fast rods. (i could be wrong) i'm sure they have some softies in their collections for certain things though.
i over complicated things again didn't i? just don't want him getting out there trying to toss half a pogie+weight on an 8ft 3oz rod.
side note: our new fishing buddy, when asking about gear and stuff... at some point in the conversation looked at us and said "this is going to get really expensive isn't it? i can already tell.". i'm pretty sure we just laughed and replied.."just wait till winter."
