I cant imagine why the 11' would make it more difficult to cast a shooting head. If anything it would make it easier since you'd have more leverage for roll casting. Also, becuase it's a float tube rod, I'm sure it's capable of handling the torque of bringing heavy sinking lines out of the water since much of float tubing is down with fast sinking/full sinking lines. As for the 6 vs. 8 weight dilemma. I would be awfully hard pressed to get a 6. Especially since you want the extra length for larger rivers. I can't speak from experience on this exact subject, but I think I'd rather have a stiff, 9' 8wt to make a long cast on the deschutes rather than a flimsier, 11' 6wt... just my opinion though. One more thing - i'm almost positive I've seen this rod talked about on other boards. I'd search the net for a few minutes and see what you can find.