I fish a gator 80-130 cut to 8'6" with a 16" butt, perfect for the harness however I wish it was full length but the rod was already made sitting at the shop I work at so i had no choice plus I got a great deal on it.
Around the Palm Beaches, I don't fish off the bridges at all, so I use a short 6' rod with a TLD 25 for blacktips and small bulls. I tryed using a 9' 30-50lb rod just because I could. I got my a** kicked by a 5' blacktip 
because of the length. I've never used a long rod for the big sharks, I can't imagine it's too different though.
i fish with two 7 ft 2 130 original gator glass rods with full unlimited pac bay roller ones on a 16/0 the other on an avet 80w boh made and designed by cape haze rods def have to say one of the best rod makers and most reasonable in price u can find n e were
Im not sure about the best,an best for the money, theres a guy here on the west coast ive become pretty good friends with, "Shadow Rods" is what he works under, guys name is kyle throws down some of THE sickest wraps i have ever seen!!! Better then most of the west palm work ive seen, will post pics of some of the rods hes done in a new post when he sends them to me.
2009 Team Hammer N The Phenoms
Go BIG or go home
Whos to say whos the best its hard to say whos better these days when it comes down to rod making. Everyone out there thinks they are a rod maker. The truth is the best rod is the one that catches you the most fis. i can def say i have caught some great fish with his rods and i know for a fact that there are few rod builders that give you as good as a price as travis. Not saying that your buddy doesnt just said a few. and for the wraps im not sure what travis does or doesnt do but i always liked the classic wraps and the ones i have are perfect. The only reason i can say all this is cause i have used many custom rod companies and cape haze rods has become my favorite.
I use a long for what it is for, casting, anything else I use a short line class appropriate rod, and yes I fished Florida piers and landed fish over 12 feet on Navarre pier with one
Bob
I am still very much up in the air about this. I have an 8' 130# bar-bar that I like a lot and I landed my biggest on it. I have yet to tangle with a monster though so I may change my mind on this. I think Will's point about being in decent shape for fishing longer rods makes sense. So far I like how the longer rod helps keep my line up out of the breakers some of the places I fish. Also, it seems like it offers a little more of a shock absorber on a hard run. I guess that action could cost you with a really big fish though. Thanks for the thoughts on this guys. I'm sure I'll have fun figuring out what works best for me.
Chris
I like short rods generally