I have a 10' TH custom rod rated 6-15 lb. This rod has a longer butt grip and will whip salmon up to 35lbs. My reel is the Shimano Stradic 4000 using 14 lb. Fireline. My cork preference is changing somewhat from cork to Thill steelheader floats and I fish it fixed because I rarely fish in water over 10 feet deep.These floats are easily "clipped" to your mailine and then held snugly with a rubbersleeve. I would say the only drawback might be that they are not able to handle a 1/4 ounce jig head with a shrimp tail or eggs without almost going under so I don't use any weight with them. When I do fish deeper water I can easily go to a sliding float because I usually carry two rods. What everyone is saying about longer rods is right! My next rod will be 10.5 feet at least! It's so important to have little or no slack in your line so when the bobber does go down you have a "direct" connection and the longer the rod the easier it is to keep your line mended off the water.I also use braided dacron line I can really bury the hook. Most jig hooked fish are upper mouth hooked and sometimes through the beak so you really have to put it to them and with the "no stretch" dacron (Fireline,PowerPro or Spiderline) line you can do just that.