Hi Matt,
I've fished both the 78 and 86 Monsters a fair bit, and agree with Brandon, the rods are better suited to PE 6 to PE 8, and although the ratings says to 180 grams, I feel that 125 gram lures ( especially once you add hooks etc ) are where the rod handles best... once you start gettuing up around the 150's you do get a bit too much saturation on hard casts in my opinion...
but with the 125gram lures, its magic, and a beautiful rod to fight fish with, the action makes life VERY easy on the angler, and tough on the fish...
Cheers
Dre