"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers" wrote in
message ...
SNIP
***You are missing fish, without a doubt. The sensitivity of a quality
rod
is nothing short of miraculous. With my spinning rods, I can tell when
I'm
dragging a lure across sand and it changes to gravel. I can feel my
spinnerbait thumping away and I can tell when there's a piece of a weed
hanging on. If I can feel this easily, how many soft bites do you think
I've missed? I guide quite a bit for walleyes, notoriously light biting
fish. I feel cold front walleyes suck a minnow in and just hold it. You
can't do this with a cheap rod, unless you are very, VERY good.


Amen Steve. After switching to some, what I would call, decent entry level
rods I have begun working on this (sensitivity issues) myself. I can feel
variations on the bottom, tell a wood bump from fish nibble, even tell when
one or both of my spinnerbait's blades aren't turning properly. And don't
even get me started on the feel of a rat-l-trap being yo-yo'd during the
colder months. Its almost like the bb's (or whatever rattle they use) are in
the rod itself. I can also tell when some of my older crank baits aren't
"swimming" right and that I should tune them a little.

Of course I also attribute at least *some* of my new found sensitivety to me
switching to a low/no stretch superline as well. While I am no tourney
fisherman, and barely can get out on days that don't start with Sat or Sun,
stepping up to better rods and a more sensitive line have equaled more fish
for me. Not that I am finding any more, only that I am detecting and
catching more in the same places.

No brand names were mentioned as that wasn't the point of my post.

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