we use salty rods when we chase sockeye in Alaska , most salt stuff is a bit tougher than the freshwater gear.
locally there was a lady that built crappie rods and she actually used real diamondback rattler skin on them .
never asked how much , but BOY howdy were they some kind of pretty rods ...
ketch wonders if you could do that too ....someone might have the snake skins and or python maybe ? lots of them in Florida you know and the good news ....you could cover an entire 16 foot rod with most of them slithers .....