BKH me and some of my friends went down to Dale Hollow earlier in the year and had 7' rods and caught several good small mouths on fnf. It makes it harder to throw the fnf with the shorter rod, but it can be done. You also may need to go up to 8lb test with the shorter rod. And as far as the weighted floater, it is the best floater to use, in my opinion. Good Luck!