I have three 8-1/2' 4/5 wt. cane rods (not under-lined 6-wts) and one 8-1/2' 6-wt.
I of course fish a tailwater, and the west, but they are hands down the best trout rods I've ever fished.
I only go for the 6-wt when I need it - big wind.
There are a few spots where I would rather fish an 8' rod, and I have that covered in 4 cane rods. (and a couple of glass)
I don't find rods shorter than 8' useful for trout at all.
None of these rods are heavy or clunky. The rods include 3 Thomas, 3 Heddon, a SB 323 HEH and a Leonard Fairy.
It's not the Bill Stanley that matters (that's the finish grade), it's 1-3/4 ferrule size (that's the taper). If you're trying to fish a 2f Heddon for anything other than giant flows, long casts or big wind, you picked the wrong rod.
here's the 8-1/2' 6-wt at work. This was last Saturday, and I picked this rod because I knew were were going to this big water slot. Jimbo has the camera and he gets a bit campy.
between us, we caught 9 trout here, 16" to 20", in an hour.
I'm standing on flagstone and there is an 8' deep slot in front of me coming off a weir and riffle, and pouring most of the river into the slot. A perfect June holdover spot.
All my warmwater fishing is in smaller water, and that's where shorter rods are useful to me. I have a couple of short graphite rods that work, a couple of short cane rods, including a Driggs River and Farlow Armour Cane (both paras), but mid-weight, mid-length glass are my go-to rods for warmwater.