it's the 8'3" phenix black diamond hybrid 838mh blank, custom wrapped by john vadney. i had the lever pushed to full. on my reel, that is 15 pounds of drag because i ground down the cam by hand to get the drag profile i wanted. my reel gives me 9 pounds of drag at strike, 15 pounds at full and 18 pounds at sunset.
11 minutes to gaff is impressive. Did you use lower gear or high gear or both ??