My rod is balanced although it is a heaviar Im6 blank.My favorite way to fish spoons on smaller water is to start at the bottom and cast up into the head of the run,reeling the spoon back at me.I reel at the speed of the current and slightly jig the spoon.This jigging puts me out of touch with the lure briefly everytime drop the pole and reel to catch up!because of this I end up holding my rod with my arms streched out in front of me to get a goood hookset!
I have been doing alot more drift fishing lately and have noticed alot les back fatigue.Of course that comes with a lot more tying and gear to drag down the canyon!
Coot: The long rods definately make for a big shock absorber.The best so far is a twenty lb king on 8lb XL!Some day I am going to own a 14' been a dream for awile!I just can't imagine dragging one down into the canyons!