yo Bro welcome to the funny farm...

throwing plugs is an entirely different relm then chunking bait... go with a lighter rod then what you have there... I personnally use a Lami Ron Arra 9' spinner, a 10' Ron Arra or an AFAW Estuary for plugging anymore... course I'm a loner and can afford to use the finer stuff...
get a faster action rod then the ugly stik's, as you'll need it for poppers and bottle plugs to make them work properly... under water stuff and metal can be handled with the same faster action rods required for the surface pluggage, just work it slower... one rod can handle most of it till you get a bit more experience and figure out what you need for the rest of it... ain't nothing but a thing... have fun, experiment and make wise choices on your next buy's...
