How long is said "Big Stick"? Are you throwing shooting heads? Can't wait to hear how it works. Over here (Libby MT) I chuck heavy shooting heads and amnesia running line for big bows and bull trout in the Kootenai river. It is one of the few times that I lean towards graphite. I have an ff857 that will do it, but wish for something better.
FIghting butts, I remeber 30 years ago thinking fighting butts were butt-ass ugly on rods, now I even have em on a couple of 5wts (glass) I use for carp fishing, would not be without em!
Keith

... straight from the days of "wooden ships and iron men".

paveglass

Nice rod Alec, here's my two cents. I would make a short cork (or foam) extension to go between the seat and gimble. Just a couple of inches or so. It will give better reel clearance come in handy when actually using a fighting belt. The mushroom looks great ... but ... when not using the gimbal it is more prone to being accidentally knocked off. I would go with a more flush design or a shimano stlye with the bulb at the rear and a longer collar. When fishing big game (So Cal/ Mexico) instead of a foregrip i tend to lock the rod under my entire left forearm and grab the blank with my
right hand just ahead of my left hand. I am convinced that foregrips hinder casting and sometimes 10' makes the difference between getting bit and not on the boils and transom charges out here. I love what you did with the grip. That is truly a unique and practical design. I say that 9' should be good. A correct split between giving the big striper too much leverage against you and hamstringing yourself on casting from a boat. Good luck with that and i would really like to see the finished product.

I agree Alec, the mushroom looks just great and it is a minor point as to whether it may pop off or not. I have always thought of the caps over gimbals as purely a cover for it. You have hit on a way to give it style and i like it. I go with good ceramic strippers, oversize snakes and oversize ring tip or ceramic, sometimes. We chase sharks on the fly out here and that is a bit of a departure, i.e. Short, strong rods, built more for lifting power than casting distance. That is when i go for as much high end ceramic as i can. Even three strippers on an 8' 15wt rod. Heck, i would go with ceramic casting guides all the way down but it violates my rules on what constitutes a fly rod, so there will always be snakes in there somewhere.
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I tend to see your big Striper rod application as what i would use for Yellowtail, out here. Correct me if am off base. You need some length because casting distance and casting from a boat are critical factors. There will be times when you really need to punch it out there, especially when the wind is up. They are strong hard fighting fish, that, altough you hooked them on top, they will dredge when hooked and you need something that will turn their heads and keep them out of the rocks. That is one of the more difficult things to get out of a fly rod; both distance and lifting power. It would be a lot easier to make it an "either or" proposition. I am very interested to see how your rod will perform, especially on the lifting part. I have exploded graphite trying to keep a big yellow out of the rocks.
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Good luck with that and keep us posted.