ltlcleo

You said "The biggest benefit you get from the long rod is the amount of line you can keep out of the water, giving you a more natural drift."

I had never thought about keeping more line out of the water for drift fishing, only thought it was important for float fishing. Now I know, thanks much.

Do you find that these long rods wipe your arm out by the end of the day? My 10.5 lamiglass bobber rod gets pretty heavy after a days use. I have a 9-foot lamiglass drift rod and it gets a little heavy also. Used my friends 8.6 lami and it seems so much lighter for a days use. That was one reason I wanted a shorter rod for the summer. Those summer fishing days can be long compared to the winter ones with little daylight.

Also the stealth thing makes allot of sense, those fish can see well in that clear water and they spook easily. So in that case the longer rod makes sense to me.