I have used Stren 6# on both my 11′ Crappie rod reels AND my 3′ bream rods with good success for years. 6# will cast 1/16-1/8 oz jigs as far as I need, with either pole, BUT I almost exclusively fish the Arkansas River, backwaters and jetties, where you catch 2# bream and 3# crappie fairly often, I need at least 6# because drum-large cats and sizeable bass often eat my jigs. De-spooling during casting is caused by overfill and/or casting light offerings into the wind. IF you can’t eyeball 1/8″ free spool on your reel, mark it and stop overfill.