Something that came as a bit of a surprise to me with the 5m K2 rod (not very floppy at all) is its usefulness on rock marks when catching mackerel and pollack. Although a long rod might seem inappropriate for such ground, it in fact gives a big advantage when bringing fish in through the graunch that inevitably grabs at your line close-in as you can get the fish to the surface a bit further out and keep it there. Gives you better control. Also you can lift the fish from the water and swing it up to your rock-ledge rather than dragging it over rocks - good thing if it's going back.
Cheers - John
I have the 18ft new Penn powerstix for just that reason John, which is surprisingly stiff, also have 16ft AnacondaThe 18ft came into its own recently and enabled me to guide fish and rigs clear of ledges and snags and lift to hand without tears and tantrums----------------well OK a few tantrums when I dropped me sandwich when I struck ! LOL Cant wait for macky time, my legs have no mountain goat abilities but I think I have found the solution, can easily fish long rigs as well to cover more water !
If I could only keep one long rod, it would be the 15ft Powerstix, match it with the new 750 reel and I would be happy---------well with a full lunchbox as well ! The Powerstix 15ft and 18ft are combo rods that take fixed or multipliers, so best of both worlds Baggy !