Thanks for the info. I did get a chance last night to throw the rat at the neighborhood pond to see how the new setup would work. It throws the rat and 1 oz River2Sea Bottom Bouncers very well. I feel it will work nicely for the 9" Slammer but probably not anything bigger. I also feel this rod may work nicely for my LC 128 Pointers.
I'll be throwing the rat this weekend on the Delta so hopefully I can hook-up and get a reel feel for the action.

One sidenote. I felt like I couldn't get the drag on the Cardiff 301A tightened down enough. May just be my inexperience, time will tell.