Another long rod fan here, but generally for a different application.

I fish braid, I fish barbless, I fish hangback, and I have a lot of crap anywhere from 6-8 ft outside of the rod tip. I fish either a downstream presentation out of the boat (backtroll or anchored) or forward troll my gear thru the fish 90-95% of the time. That means NOT touching the frickin' rod until it folds into the corks.

What helps me to hook and hold fish is "load".... the more the better. My line doesn't stretch so it is unable to store any "load".

During the bite, that load is imparted to the rod AND the FOLBE holding that rod... rodholder configuration is key to maximizing load, but a long deep-flexing rod is really the critical element to the program.

During the fight, all of the load is imparted to the rod and the rod alone. A LONG fully-loaded deep-flexing rod is what's going to keep that fish from shaking a barbless hook free. This is true of any application where you intend to use braid. Pairing a short stiff fast action rod with no-stretch braid is gonna cost a guy fish during the fight.... esp if he has to fish barbless.

The long rod is also paramount for dealing with all the extra gear sitting outside the rod tip... esp at the time of the netshot.

Oh yeah, one more thing, for maximum efficiency, a long rod requires a long-handled net.