Don't have any experience with the BPS rod; what's their warrantee like? I had considered buying a Redington Predator 7'10" 8wt for backcountry snook; TFO and Ross make similar sticks for about the same price (around $199). If I were you, I'd cast the Heat against those and make your decision.

These short rods are getting a lot of use for false albacore, too, which makes sense; when albies dive under the boat and go deep, a shorter rod provides better leverage to winch them up. We were always thinking of ways to turn solid fiberglass boat rods into short flyrods for that purpose but never got past the talking phase.

Regards,
Scott