I have one of these rods and I love it. It is lighter and has a slower action than my other vintage glass 8 weights. I mainly use it for pike down at my lake, though I have taken it winter steelheading. It balances really well with my 1144 south bend finalist that I converted to LHW. Got my slickstick from a guy in flagstaff for 30 bucks and the reel on eBay for 12 bucks. A cheap 20 dollar 8 wt line casts great on it. A really fun setup. Oh and also the ferrules on the rod are really smooth and nice, probably he best ferrules on any vintage rod I own. Have fun!