My vote is for a longer rod. I HAD a gl2 10.5' 10- 20#rod that I could not stand to use do to its lack of feel. I have a couple of 10.5 ' cabelas custom rods I have built for around 100 bucks that have a great feel to them. Cabelas has a great return policy if needed. If you can make your own rods and don't mind saving some money, I would recommend giving them a try. They have discontinued the extra fast model , but have a mod-fast action rod that is more than capable of dealing with a big nate or two

Sebastian is right about the longer rod working great for spoons. The extra length helps minimize the pull from the swing.

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Marty
www.steelheader.net
marty@steelheader.net