thanks for the response paveglass. i think i've helped solve the mystery by putting on my glasses.
the tube and bag say woodstream, but the rod does not! i can't believe i didn't notice the incorrect bag and tube. and i'm not even a heavy drinker. i guess that settles that. anyways, the blank is the lighter transluecent brown, but has a larger weave glass appearance that my ff75 does not. the reel seat is downlocking and the model number is 1588. i liked this a lot with a peach 444 wf6f and a wulf TT6 (if there's not too much wind). any other lines you think are better suited to this rod? and do you know why someone wrote "lite" after ff79? were there different tapers to the ff79s? thanks again for your input.
-tonemike