For 7 and 9 inch type baits there are a pretty decent number of good rods out there. Personally I fish this Rainshadow SW976 blank. It's composite, 8' and fishes like a big crankbait rod with a very uniform bend in the rod. Only problem is they are hard to come by and you have to get them custom wrapped. The good part is that the blanks only cost me 45 bucks :-)

Stock rods, I don't know any models off hand. Brands to check out. Loomis, Graphite USA, Graphtec, Wade's Rods, All Star. Do yourself a favor and buy something 8'. Anything under 7' 6" just isn't right for that stuff IMO.