I drop shot the lakes of CA and my rods do not exceed 6'. My favorite is a 5' spinning rod. Most used are 5'6" bait casters with 10lb braid and 5lb leaders with 3/8oz tungsten. I'll be doing this tomorrow in a tournament. I expect to win.

I'm a SOCAL bass guy. 30 rods, spinning and baitcast. All with high vision braid and all with 20' leader. Anytime you opt for a different line weight or switching mono to flurou your changing 20'. Whether drop shotting or throwing an 8" swimbait. Also using high vision braid allows you to see things you were not aware of before. 10lb., 20lb., 30lb. is all that's needed in braid. No matter river, lake, ocean

I own and use 3 of the kastking telescoping 7'6 rods. I have not had any of the issues you seem to have. When deploying, start with butt end move forward. When fully extended then allign the guides

been doing this for many years. I am a tournament bass fisherman in So Cal. Best I've seen is Kastking. Currently own and use 4 of them. 2 bait casters and 2 spinning.