You've got yourself a tarpon, bluewater saltwater rod there, a bit much for most fish species. I use 8 thru 10 weight for bass, dorado, reds, etc depending on the conditions. That said a faster taper, weight forward, 12 wt floating line would work well on bass, had real good luck in Florida with sliders, dahlberg divers and deer hair bug poppers. A 17 to 20 lb leader should be all you really need for most conditions. Get around toothy salwater species and a heavy shock leader attached to your leader will help.

Looking to choose best blank for surf rod that I intend to build to match up to my Penn 750SS reel..suggestions most welcome

Dwight F. Giesmann

what you have is a relatively stout rod, i suspect it feels alot like a broom stick. i suggest 30lb backing(length will depend upon your reel and its specs.). and a wieght forward floating line. the wieght forward line will help you to deliver big hairy or wind resistant flies to your target. as well as help to load a stiff rod. also i suggest a tapered leader (RIO has many options) to help transfer energy from the line to the fly. keep your leader roughly as long as your rod depending on the area you are fishing and what you intend to do at the time.
you may need 8lb leader, you may need 30lb. the issue is, you will have to be able to keep those bass from running under cover and breaking you off.
also you may find that if you "up line" your rod w/ a heavier wieghted line, that it casts better for you. for large mouth bass i was able to use a 7' sink tip and that enabled me to cast big wind resistant flies to my target areas. enjoy, ALOHA!