Dylan I have pulled on hundreds of rods, rod blanks and have come to a few that are really the best in my opion. 1st I believe in long rods, the further you get the bait away from the boat the better. Here I go. The graphite usa 85mega mag(8'6"). A good rod for 7 and 9 inch baits(I was told this was Long's choice when not fishing tournies). The graphite usa 80monster mag for 9 and 12s (this rod will throw a 12 inch castaic or huddleston bait). The shikari graphite 8030(8'). I just built one and it loads up great on 9" and 12" baits. Graphite usa also makes an 80mega mag(8') if you want to go shorter. I was told that Long uses a graphite usa 711(7'11") when fishing tournies. I find it a little lite for the larger baits but fine for 7" baits. The only rod that loomis make that really fits the big bait rod cat. is the bbr 966. The bbr 965 will fish 7" baits ok. The shikari and graphite usa are not yet factory wrapped. If you are looking for a factory wrapped rod check out the shimano calcutta 820 or 825 rod. As far as reels no one has customer service like shimano. If you want one reel to do it all go for the calcutta 400(te's are great but overkill, I use them on the peacock bass). I fish 25# on my big baits and find that if I use a 250 I will just about empty my spool. Good luck eric