If your not afraid of the price tag, a St.Croix Legend Tournament Muskie rod is one of the nicest sticks you'll use. I personally like the split grip version. As far as type, thats a question of what you gonna do with it. In an all around casting rod, I'd go with 8-8 1/2 feet, 2-6 oz. The long rods are nice for casting heavy baits, figure 8s and hooksetting/fighting the fish. The only negative is downward jerking anything over about 7 feet might seem abit long and hit the water, of course this is variable depending on height of the angler, and the height of the casting deck your fishing from.