Deacon,
I too fish with this rod. you are right, it could be the best rod I have ever used. A word of advice though. *The part of the rod where the two pieces join together is very fragile. I recently broke mine by getting stuck in a bush and pulling a little too hard to try to get unstuck and had to order a new one, but it is still a great rod. After using my first on, I will never use a different rod again. I use a Pflueger Micro Underspin reel with #4 test SpiderWire Super Mono EZ Line. This line wears good and is very strong. Hope this helps.
basinfisher