When I fished false entrance near there I was using a 13ft poseidon bantam rod which is graphite and used 50lb braid. Managed to lift a 70cm snapper up the cliffs without too much problems. So I wouldn't discount graphite. The trick is to use the rod to bounce the fish and then only wind in the line when there is a bit of slack.

I personally was a bit scared of the height of the cliffs. So I used the longest rod possible so I didn't have to get too close to the edge. With an 8 foot rod you would have to be standing right on the edge of the cliffs. If you fall over the edge of the cliff then your dead.

 8ft is pushing it in my opinion.  But it depends on how the rod tapers, if it is a broom stick then it might be ok.  The graphite rods shouldnt snap as long as you're not high-sticking them.

You might be able to load up the rods inside the shop, put some serious hurt on it and see how close you are standing to the rod tip.  That'll give you an idea.  Like DTrain says, you will need to pump & wind to lift the fish up, so keep that in mind too.  I say serious hurt because i dont know how big & strong you are, but with my pissy arms and spine made out of glass, a 3-4kg fish is hard work.

Like DTrain, I'm not keen on standing near the edge either and my last trip i used 2 rods which were capable of winching fish up cliffs. 

Using my 12ft graphite surf rod (MT8144 8-12kg) I didnt want to get much closer than what i was.  This is because the rod had some serious bend in it so I had to get closer.

But then using my graphite purglass 400/2 (13ft) i was a bit more comfortable because it's a much stiffer rod.

What rods are you looking at mate?

 thanks for the replys, i have a 400/2 in purglass aswell but set up as an overhead rod, also have a loomis and franklin 14ft 3 pice job with the different tips, i have used that up there before but struggled with lifting fish with it because of the extra length, also have a gary howard 15-24kg 9ft spin, that thing i tried once up there and its way to stiff!. today i had a look at a pen prevail 10-20 kg models in a 10 and 12ft ft, these are a composite graphite/glass apparently and didnt feel to bad except for the long butt, also had a look at the gary howard 8 to 10kg in 10ft, nice rod but could do with another wrap, fin nor fury 2 piece graphite 11ft rated 8 to 15 kg, this thing had some serious balls and is a good contender especially at $149, could buy 2 and take one as a spare, theres also a new model assasin in 11ft coming next week rated to 30lb and im keen to have a look at that before i buy anything. reel of choice will be a saragosa 10k loaded with either 40 or 50lb fireline. so i have a few choices so far.

 10 foot is the normal length people use up there, i used my 13ft snyderglass while i was there, it worked well but was a bit long and a lot heavy, if you want a cheap option look at the tuff tip in 10ft they go for about $60 my mate used one and it did the job no worries at all

the assasins go for about 400 - 500 great beach rods dont know if i would be wanting to dead lift fish with $500 worth of rod.

 got quoted half that price for the 11ft in the assasin, just waiting for stock so i can have a look at one

 I've been eyeing off the Azusa 902H. Might suit what you are shopping for too, graphite and ballsy.

 dont want to spend that sort of coin, will have a look at the ozflex range, gotta find someone that stocks a good range of them.

We used to go to ThunderBay religiously twice a year for 4 years running. 

When weather was ok we set up camp at Tripods most of the time.  I used to use a 12ft snyder glass with an alvey or (believe it or not) my 8ft Penn power stick with a 850SS and the second combo was by far the best in my opinion. 

If the water is calm enough we used to camp in the area that is very close to where the Blowholes wooden sign (as you come in on the track coming directly from the east, to the left, there is like a large naturally formed low lying flat area surrounded by dunes either side that creates a nice sheltered area for you to set up camp) and you simply MUST get down onto the lower reef to the south of the blowholes but to the north of tripods (basically the reef shelf runs from the foot of the tripod cliff to the blowholes).

Halfway along the reef shelf there is a little that is about 20 metres or so out from the main shelf - throw half a crab on a 7.0 hook out with a decent sinker in a patternoster style rig and pull in baldi after baldi!

Then have a bath in once of the rockpools before you walk back up the cliff.

WHATEVER you do, NEVER take your eye of the water when you are down on the lower shelf - it is plus 60 metres deep and the water can often just rise up with no detectable swell and come over the top (even at low tide) and you then get swept 30 metres to the back of the shelf and (if you are unlucky), can then get sucked back across the reef and off it)

Magical part of the world right there!

 thanks mate, been there a couple of times, we camp up the top above that low lying reef its like a big horeshoe are between the dunes, yes its a magic spot, didnt realise it was that deep there! we mainly fish one of the ledges just noth of there which is prob the blow holes and is about 30 meters up of the water, definatley a magic spot

 They definitely are magic spots because the spot I go to sounds nothing like yours! And yet we all know it as Thunder Bay!

We were just up there in May and I cannot wait to get back up there