I bought this rod in Singapore last year as my first serious GT rod. I too was seduced by the crazy red colour and the light weight.
It casts well and is beautiful to fish with, but it is very stiff to fight fish on, and it hurt me when fighting powerful GTs!
I have since bought a Carpenter BLC83/40 and love it. I use smaller stickbaits and poppers with it and it is far easier to use, but I still keep the red Labo in the boat as a backup. If you are very strong it is probably a fine rod for fighting fish.