Dan
I own a CV 79/40 and reckon its a great stickbait rod, this rod replaced my Long Reef 88 for lighter popping and stickbait work. Whilst the 88 is a fantastic effortless long caster and did a reasonable job of working mid sized poppers, I found the length a little difficult for working stickbaits - particularly those where a subtle slow moving surface action is desirable. I say this for 2 reasons;
1) - Due to the shear length of the rod, any movement at the grip end is magnified ten fold at the tip, it can be hard to get into a rhythm using such short twitches, particularly if you are chopping and changing with shorter rods during the day.
2) - I like to work some stickbaits with the rod tip down and sweep it back towards me. With a rod of this length it is very difficult unless you are high off the water (like on the bow of a larger game boat). Held in this fashion, a long rod can also feel quite top heavy and place a fair degree of strain on your wrist over a long stickbaiting session.
Having said all that, if distance in the cast is your primary goal, go the longer rod! Effortless casting into the next postcode.