Stradle:

One more point that I just thought of:

For drift fishing, my primary rod for winter and early summer-running is the Loomis GL3 1143c. The rod is a 9.5' 6-12lb medium action. I love this rod for drifting and used it for floats before I got the 1263 and Herzog. The rod being a full foot shorter than the 1263 is physically lighter and I have more confidence in setting the hook stongly when drift fishing. You just don't have to set the hook as hard when using floats, and its more important to pick the line off the water, so you can get away with a heavier rod or a noodle rod, as long as its long.

If you want a longish rod that can fish most situations well, but don't need something over 10', I'd take a look at the 1143.

A lot of choices out there, but I love shopping for a rod. Have fun!