Floyd, I had to help my dad work on his airplane last Sunday down at Cookson, but before I did Redge and I hit the water for a couple hours. I took my new 8 ft Bonehead with me and used it for both vertical and cast drag methods. It's a good feeling rod for vertical and doable in a pinch for cast and drag. You'll like the rod. I had a president reel on and the feel was great. You are right, Josh's customer service is un paralleled IMO