I am going to try out this rod. My choice was between this and another st croix premier, and this one seems to have all the spec's i was looking for. It seems that pole length is growing all the time, as it is getting difficult to find a rod less than 7 feet thats any good. That length is not so great for a cannoe and i hope that it is a great rod. not to many reviews out there on this one, and price is all over the place. I bought mine from amazon for 86 shipped, which is the lowest i have seen. Hope with how badly they package, it shows up not all jacked up...
i got this pole in the mail today, and no damage. Very nice rod, and its nine inches longer than my ugly stick lite light action and still weighs less. its three inches shorter than my medium and is way lighter. I wish this weather will start to work with me a bit, although my reel is being held hostage for repair. I dropped it off last week, so i hope the turnaround is before offical spring hits. The ugly stick is like a noodle compaired to the fenwick, so i hope the cast distance is not killed completly. I think i will be a lot more consistant. When you load up the ugly stick just right it will throw a lure forever, but if not it just vibes and throws it a few feet. 
tested this rod out a bit, and i realy like the way it handles. Snaged a 9.2 lb carp and it handled the fish well, not the biggest fish but the largest i have ever been into. Also pulled a 2lb 14oz LMB and it did not struggle at all. Hope to get a decent smallie on it, but i was a little worried at first considering how lite the pole is. Nothing but happy with this one...