I'd say that the perfect decent drift rods CAN fish spoons whereas the perfect spoon rod wouldn't make the best drift rod. Personally, I'd rather my drift rod have more "backbone" than my drift rod. I want a drift rod to have a fast, crisp action whereas I'd like the spoon rod to be a slower action to get more of that spoon thump further down the rod. That is just my preference. Get a general purpose, decent 9' rod and just roll with it.

The biggest benefit to casting reels is that you can allow additional line out while your gear is working while still maintaining direct contact. For example, as your spoon swings across the river and hits faster water, it will start to rise in the water column. With a baitcaster, you can do things like keep it in freespool and let line out under your thumb to slow the spoon down and get it lower in the water column. Similarly, you can allow a float to go downstream with your thumb on the spool rather than the on/off of flipping the bail of a spinning reel. I think that is what most folks are talking about when they refer to improved "line control" with a bait caster.

-AP