....It's a preference for some to go big and I believed in that as well when I started float fishing 30 years ago. These days I use an 11 1/2 footer and I'm telling you it's plenty. I almost exclusively fish the big flows of Huron and Georgian Bay and I honestly don't feel handicapped by the shorter, lighter and more comfortable rod. Funny when I first got into steelies an 8 to 9 foot fly rod used to bottom drift was considered a long rod, honestly!