9 or 10 ft rod. allways a rivers inlet knot or another doubled knot. 12 lb main. 10 lb leader for winter and 8lb leader for summer. many drift fishermen like to use a stiffer line for bottom bouncin. super limps, while being much more sensitive, can get abraison from the bottom much faster than stiffer line. many say that they dont need that much feel in the line, just enough to detect the bite, and would rather have the extra line protection. I am not sure if its true, i usually stick with maxima ultra green or ande.