A 10' or 10'6" rod works good. I have a 10'
silstar 2-10 pound line rating. Landed an 18lb steelhead on this rod using a nightmare jig. I also have a 10'6" shimano convergence with a 12-20 pound line rating and a 10'6" brownig gold medallion with a 2-6lb rating.
I have broken the browning twice so I don't
use it much. All these rods were between
$50 and $100 each.