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J:

It really depends on where you will be fishing.

I have rods as short as 5'0". All get used in my corner of NEPA, but my criteria for rod length is more about the amount of overhead and surrounding brush I expect to encounter and less about the stream or fish size. Length has its place and I always fish the longest rod I can get away with, but trying to walk to the stream or cast when all you are doing is whacking tree branches is no fun. I use my 7' rods when I'm fishing a stream that is at least 10'-15' wide in places and where it MAY be possible to get out of the stream on occasion to walk or cast; streams where it is possible to false cast more than 10'-20' of line & leader.

Slate Run in Potter County is a perfect example. It is a small stream by most people's standards, but it is very wide open in most places despite being only 10' wide or narrower in few spots. It is no problem fishing a 9'0" rod there, although it could also be easily fished with a 6'0"-7'0" rod. I use an 8'-8'6" rod when I fish it because I can.

When I fish the really small, 2'-7' wide bushy streams where you HAVE to wade the entire time because either the stream is too small, or the banks are too steep or overgrown to traverse, out come the shortest rods. While it isn't a Hardy, I do have a 6'0" 3wt that has found use on some of the dinkiest streams and also an occasional shot on a few streams that would be ideal for a 7'0" rod. A 6'0" rod would be my choice if some brushy beauties are in your future. It may be a specialty rod but so is that type of fishing.

Unfortunately, a 6'6" Hardy 3wt isn't an option. I have found that a 6'6" rod is about perfect for all but the tightest quarters, places where only a nut case like me would venture to fish.

Good luck & enjoyment with whatever you choose!