I agree, rock jetties will make quick work of nearly any brand of line. I was using an 8' 6''
heavy action rod with a cardinal spinning reel with a fairly large amount of line capacity. Like you said, for rockfish, drag is not important because it should be winched tight so you can horse those fish out of their home. However, if you try that method on ling cod, you will most likely end up with a couple of broken rods on your hands.