I've got a powell max and kistler casting rods... my favorite by far is the Kistler Helium LTA.... that is the lightest rod I've ever held (ok, that's a lie, I just held the new Daiwa Steez rod, but for $450 I'll buy another boat)... anyways, I've hauled in 10lb fish with it no problem. I've had it for 2 years now, and it's as good now as it was when I bought it. The Powell Max is one of those split grips, and I'm not a big fan of that... I still use it for crankbait casting though. Both of those are Medium Heavy rods, and I throw 15# Fluoro on all my reels