I hope you guys know each other!
Dave that was a blast, with your permission I'd like to post a clip of you fighting that nice striper.
I would go with a Cortland 444 SW Clear Intermediate in a 10wt for that rod, but only after I tested it out first. Why? I have been fishing mine for years and love how it takes a nail knot like a regular line. It also won't spook the pod.
People use 325 grain heads all the time on 9wt rods, and that is far more grains than the AFTMA 10wt rating.
Some rods would not take a line rating up, but that rod is a big game rod and can definitely take it.
Just to reiterate on my comments out on the water -
That observation was meant to apply to the conditions we were facing. Under those gale force headwinds one of those older intermediate bug tapers one wgt up (10wt) would have been the ticket to allow the rod to load quickly and reach the intended target without unnecessary false casting.
After Ed Shea's introduction to Powell rods at our winter casting conclave, I am very impressed and hope to cast them a lot more in the future. I would imagine that the setup you had would be su-weet to cast on a calm evening in a striper filled estuary, but we just didn't have the luxury under those howling conditions.
I was limited to an odd backward cast while driving the loop like a pelican close to the water into position in order to hook those fish with my RPLXi. I could have used a compact wind-cheater line as well.
All that being said the most important thing is the amount of energy you have in your loop, and a stiff flyrod isn't necessarily going to get that energy into the line unless you can load it during the stroke before you stop. The stiffer the rod, the harder it is to load, therefore the less energy transfer you get if under-loaded.
A progressive, high modulus rod with a taper that loads distinctly and unloads with vigor is my favorite rod action. Most often, this is not a stiff rod at all but a fast one in that the line speed is high.