Hands down the 8 ft one piece UGLY STICK.. I worked in the tackle biz for some time and the shop sold more Gater gear than anyplace in the Valley ( we got some big gaters here in the Snake and Salmon rivers ) The prime set up ( for out of a boat) is the 8 ft Ugly Stick matched with a Penn 330 GT reel. I feel that when your gator fishing, you need to show some respect because you have a good chance of hooking a big one. The Loomis rod mentioned above..( with all repect) is not a rod designed to handle a 7,8, ft maybe bigger fish.

The set up I mentioned sells for a little less than 200 bucks with everything, will last forever. I use 40 lb Big Game and an 80 lb Dacron leader ( from the boat) Funny timing for that question.. we are headed to the Snake for some Sturgeon fishing tomorrow A.M