In the 60- 70's Lefty Kreh, John Goddard and everyone else used 9-10' reservoir rods ( glass-fibre ) and yes Goddard used a kingsize Intrepid Rimfly reel and an 8 wf....sort of Grafham by sea.
My father used an 11' Wye in the 1950's ( a sort of early cane switch rod!) on Christmas Island while checking thermo-nuclear warfare, between racing coco-nut crabs and fishing .

So with patience surely you can seek out tales of Bones and Permit pre Nautilus / Sage Salt

 

I started SWFF when I was a child, fishing for sea trout in the west of Ireland. I followed Falkus pretty much to the letter, so fished with a 10ft 6" Hardy Invincible, and slow sinker. It worked great, and I caught sea trout (on Sunk Lures) mackerel and bass consistently. Later "graduated" to various Hardy Fibalites and Bob Church rods: absolutely Meyre's "Grafham by Sea"!

I know fibreglass has got a LOT better, but so has graphite: I simply wouldn't ever go back, even for the nostalgia. There are fewer fish in the sea, and the conditions that I fish in West Wales typically need quite heavy and/or high density lines, turning over big (and sometimes very heavy) flies in high winds, and managing the line in strong swell.

I think here in the UK we make life quite hard for ourselves just doing SWFF. Personally, I think using sub-optimal tackle (i.e. a soft/slow glass rod; my go-to lines are a #10 intermediate and a 350g sinker) is a handicap too far: I am just not a good enough caster for it to be worth it.

(For the record, I LOVE glass for rivers and streams, and have two: a Hardy and a Maxcatch. The letter is actually the better rod for me!)