9'er recommendations

[stripermaineiac]

That GSB1081l is the balls. Love the thing for bass,blues an albies. Put a shimano stradic5000 or a small cabo with 20lb braid an you'll love the thing.Ive built 4 for me an my kids and many others . Fun rod with loads more powr than you'd think. fun to fish too.
Rob the Century's 10 ft 6 an 10 ft both work great for eels.The 11 is a bit heavy.

[numbskull]

Something to consider

I am a big fan of moderate action GSB rods and I've got a GSB 1081L and GSB 1081M, (as well as an XRA1083).......all wrapped conventional. I like them all. That said, however, I think you might do well to check out some faster action rods in the 9 foot range as well. I know Flap used a light 9 foot Loomis that always impressed me. I think both CTS and Century make 9 foot 2 piece blanks. There are also a couple of St Croix options I've not cast.

My thought here is that, when using spinning tackle with shorter rods and lighter lures, blanks with faster action than the GSB series give you better distance and fish handling mid-shaft power.
As I see it the real strength of the GSB rods is when you are throwing heavy stuff in difficult terrain using long rods, or when you want to throw a wide range of stuff with a single rod. Then their toughness, versatility, and comfort become major benefits that offset any loss of distance or lifting power the softer action causes.

That said, I am pretty sure you would be very happy with a GSB1081L wrapped as a light spinner. Just that there are plenty of other good options out there, too.

[tlapinski]

I used to detest 9' rods for anything except my spring fishing on the Connecticut River where a shorter rod is necessary. They each seemed to excel in one area, but fall short in others. I played around with several different blanks as I needed a rod for river fishing that was light enough to throw all night, could handle lighter stuff like unloaded redfins up through about 3.5 ounce pencil poppers, and still had the backbone to stop a decent fish in a raging current. The All Star 1088 was to fast for eeling, the old PacBay 1088 didn't have enough backbone for me, the gsb1081l didn't have the nut to turn anything over 20's in heavy current, and I broke 4 rainshadow 1088's. After trying a few different rods, I ended up wrapping a gsb1081m. I have taken fish to 38#'s on the rod without any trouble, yet it is light enough to throw all night and can toss Finnish swimmers just as well as it can throw a live eel or large pencil. I have beaten the crap out of the rod, and it just keeps on going. If you are looking for a great all around 9' blank, I highly recommend that one. I plan on wrapping a 9' St Croix Legend rated for 1 - 4 ounces this winter as I have heard nothing but praise for the similar 9' mojo. I really wish St Croix would start selling the Mojo blanks as it is tough to cough up the $$ for a Legend.