Stick with my 7 footer or upgrade to a longer rod

[aceman387]

I broke the tip off of my new legend elite spinning rod (my fault) I lost close to three inches off the tip when I broke it.I tried gluing a new tip on it to see if I would be happy with it but I miss the flexible tip. The rod I broke was a 7 foot,medium power,fast tip.I have been thinking about sending back for the 7 foot 6 model medium power,fast tip. I have plenty of 7 foot rods already so I was thinking the longer rod would come in handy for longer casts for shore fishing and for the gin clear strip pits I fish.I would be using this rod for small jigs ( 1/8-1/4 bitsy bug jigs) Texas rigged soft plastics (1/8-1/4)  4" and 5" senkos and some weightless soft plastics. I've never had a rod this long so I'm trying to decide the pros and cons. I would hope a rod like this would have some stiffness and backbone and not be over flexible.I just wanted to get some opinions from those who use a longer rod.

[new2BC4bass]

Have you gotten hold of St. Croix yet?  I've heard they have very good customer service.  I broke two 4" pieces off a Falcon Expert.  Totally my fault (fell face first into a pile of rocks) and I told Falcon how it happened.  They sent me an equivalent length/action Cara....a $200 rod....for $80.  Somehow missed a guide and in about 15 minutes of casting with 12# mono managed to put a spiral groove in the finish of my new-2-me 6'9" MHF Fenwick Smallmouth.  I am worried about the rod's integrity now.  Told Fenwick what happened and they offered me any rod in their line ups for 45% off.

As far as I am concerned both companies went above and beyond what they had to as in no way was it their fault what happened to my rods.