New Steve Petri Rod Has Been Field Tested

I had the opportunity to work with my new 9 foot Cousins SU90M1A blank spinning rod made by Steve Petri and I am amazed at how great it is. It throws a Danny plug fifteen yards further than my favorite Lamiglas rod. I think the 50 mm first guide and placement made a difference and also the rigidity of the blank but yet it is still soft. The heat shrink finish is easy to grip and butt length is just right for fishing from a boat. I finished it with a Penn Battle II 6000 and am not entirely happy with it as I would have preferred a 7000 which they no longer make. My question is why? The 6000 is a tad small and the 8000 is to big and heavy for this rod. I fished it and the 6000 was OK but lost something on the speed of retrieve and smaller handle. Come on Penn make the 7000 again. Anyway, Great rod and great reel except for lack of 7000 size, 

I have posted a photo of the butt section and reel as rod shots suck. When you try to shoot the whole rod you really can't see anything close enough to know what you are looking at. 

Captain Al Lorenzetti