I use a 7ft MH nexave (lighter than the tiger version) for my bass, shad and estuary fishing etc.. I've had that rod for probably 10 years and it has caught hundreds of fish. From rockcods to bass to small rays, cob, little TK kingies, many leerie up to 4kg, blacktails, gallies, you name it- it has caught it. Snapped the tip in my car door once so it is now a 6'6" or so but anyway moral of the story is you can cast that rod with 1 ounce and not worry, if it breaks/cracks soon after purchase then IME shimano will swop the tip (or butt) out for you with no issues or charge. Just take it back to the store you purchased it from.
Your money is also well spent on a cheaper shimano reel, its my experience that the cheaper shimmies coffee grinders last longer and are more robustly built than the mid range daiwas. Sorry daiwa, when I layed out a bunch of cash on a "nice" daiwa it didn't even get to land me a fish before it gave up on me on a fishing trip in the tropics, the agents left me with a sour taste in my mouth when they billed me afterwards for the repairs and parts under warranty (which the tackle shop paid out of embarrassment and good service). That said, the daiwa rods I have used/own though are great, I love them, their multipliers are bulletproof, their braid is good stuff but their cheaper grinders I'm not so sure on.
