Often, people who THINK they know what they are talking about will open their mouth and remove any doubt you had about their knowledge. Heck, I've even done that a time or two myself, then spend the next half hour removing my foot from my mouth. He probably had not been exposed to fly rods so he was working from the frame of reference of spinning and casting rods. Even then, his expose to ultralight spinning rods is minimal if at all. My favorite UL spinning rod is a Diawa 5'-0" graphite with a Shimano Mark ULS reel. I use it for bluegills and rock bass in the river, and perh fishing in Lake Erie. Extremely sensitive, and I swear I can feel when a fish swims too close to the bait. Ha, ha, ha, ha....

Regarding the wrap finish, I have never coated an entire rod, regardless if it's a matte or gloss finish on the blank. I happen to like the contrast of the glossy thread wraps against the flat finish of the matte blank, and there's no need to coat the rest of the blank.

I wouldn't let the old timer's comments concern you. He was just trying to be cute, but it wasn't working.

Joe