I am also in the same boat as you. I have been wanting a spoon rod for some time now and have read several opinions on the matter. I concluded that an expensive fast action graphite isn't what you want in a spoon rod but rather a slower action that allows the movement of the spoon to be felt through the whole rod and not just the tip. I think that the Im6 graphite might be preferred over the newer faster more sensative graphites. For example in some fishing situations fiberglass rods are preferred over graphite. I believe that it is the same while spoon fishing. Im6 once was the state of the art graphite but because of the hype with the newer cutting edge graphites people forgot that. I also believe after hearing some posative opinions about the cheap less glamorous cabelas rods that maybe Im6 has its nitch just as fiberglass does. Loomis's top of the line rods were onced tied on im6 blanks and if I remember correctly gl2's still are. With the job market being slow and having a kid on the way I am glad I passed on a lami xmg 10' 8-15. As a matter of fact the owner in a way talked me out of it and recommended for the money nothing beats the cabelas rod. Only fishing top of the line rods for the last 7 years was something I decided to get over. I took his advice and ordered one. I'll let you know how it works out.