woodsac,
You can certainly use a spinning rod. Fish Chris does it with great success. You might ask him on his site www.trophybassonly.com what sort of setup he uses.

My rod recommendations are on this page:
http://www.calfishing.com/freshwater/big_wood/troutplug02.html

I think people get hung up a lot on swimbait rods for bass because bass rods are traditionally not nearly heavy enough to throw a big lure like a 9" swimbait. Ocean rods are designed for this, and now finally some manufacturers are offering real swimbait rods and not just some 7 foot heavy wanna be swimbait rod. Rogue Rods, All Star, Graphite USA, Phenix. Check the link :)