A lot of the sensitivity assessment comes down to your personal experience and expectations… Most high end rods will transmit hard vs soft bottom well and then there is the next level of details, for example, if it’s a scratchy rock vs not, wood, etc. I would venture to say that a lot of rods are “sensitive enough” but once you experience top notch sensitivity, anything less feels disappointing. Doesn’t mean you catch more fish, it just plays with your mind 😎
@rise I have the 7208 ASL, I’ll give it a try. I may just do a “driveway test” for sensitivity since I don’t know the next time I’ll get on the water…
Could you expand a bit more on the following when you have time?
- What one rod regardless of price point, length, action, baits used etc has blown you away to the point you could crown it perhaps the “most” sensitive rod you have ever used? I know it may be hard to quantify just wondering if we remove all the variables like length, power, rod weight, action, lure size used etc if there is something that you have used that would ever so slightly edge out everyone in just the sensitivity / bite transmission dept?
And just for fun can you comment on rods that you tried that you were lead to believe had great feel and bottom contact and bite feedback that fell short of your expectations. I know you have likely burned through many bottom contact rods over the years from different manufacturers and price points since bottom contact is something you cut your teeth on and pride yourself on, but I am curious what rods you tried felt short?
I am attempting to redo or modify my bottom contact rods from sort of a ML,, Medium, MH and Heavy rod standpoint to cover plastics and jigs from anywhere between 3/16 oz to something that would push 3/4 oz total weight.
Small warning: I will have to take what you say with a grain of salt since now you are into spinning rod fishing for trout. Well it is pride month and we all celebrate this differently. 🤣
I'm not much of a plastics/bottom contact guy (although here in TN that will change due to hot weather driving fish deep come June - August)...
However among the rods I have used for say 1/4-3/8 oz T-rigs, the Luxxe Efreet B70MH-F was pretty damn impressive. I fished it alongside a TKIC SUPER STALLION, Conquest and NRX + the same day and it more than held its own, it was actually more sensitive to me.
Could you expand a bit more on the following when you have time?
- What one rod regardless of price point, length, action, baits used etc has blown you away to the point you could crown it perhaps the “most” sensitive rod you have ever used? I know it may be hard to quantify just wondering if we remove all the variables like length, power, rod weight, action, lure size used etc if there is something that you have used that would ever so slightly edge out everyone in just the sensitivity / bite transmission dept?
And just for fun can you comment on rods that you tried that you were lead to believe had great feel and bottom contact and bite feedback that fell short of your expectations. I know you have likely burned through many bottom contact rods over the years from different manufacturers and price points since bottom contact is something you cut your teeth on and pride yourself on, but I am curious what rods you tried felt short?
I am attempting to redo or modify my bottom contact rods from sort of a ML,, Medium, MH and Heavy rod standpoint to cover plastics and jigs from anywhere between 3/16 oz to something that would push 3/4 oz total weight.
Small warning: I will have to take what you say with a grain of salt since now you are into spinning rod fishing for trout. Well it is pride month and we all celebrate this differently. 🤣
I will absolutely do this…just give me a minute. 🫡
About 5 times I’ve sat to write comment to this topic and each time just quit. You guys want to know a secret? The ‘most sensitive’ stick I’ve ever personally owned was an OG Loomis IMX. There. I wrote it. I could feel a strand of moss catching mono at cast length with that thing no joke. I also recall one of those stupid cold days with ice flying off line, with a different stick I felt rather sensitive at the time, don’t recall what anymore, that was flat dead once ice half clogged the guides. Maybe this is normal, I don’t know. And also had some that felt I think I’ll say ‘less than’ in high heat since the epoxy was soft which was a very weird sensation. Which I know because I left a bunch of personal fingerprints on each guide wrap trying to figure out what I was feeling. Moral of story, even temperature matters to sensitivity. Coupled with line type variable? And what handle assembly? And how you hold it? I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve choked up since my hands were big enough to get away with it. This topic is so open ended its comical. Keep it coming, pleeease… I’m always down for a good laugh Thanks!!
Here's something new that may be of interest and is kind of a unicorn for a JDM bottom contact rod given the US-style proper 7'6" length. This is the Wolfdown 76XH. The rod is no nonsense utilitarian without bling. It is a very clean build and the craftsmanship can only be appreciated in hand. It is spiral wrapped to the left. It has a 0.5 - 4 oz suggested range; I have no trouble tossing 3/8th oz baits on it and the 4 oz max is likely a pretty good limit on it. The grip is by Designo, but it has a bit of texture on it which does not appear on any other Designo rod I've seen. It's been nice in the swamp ass FL summer heat. That rod is a part of me when I'm tossing jigs into the reeds.
It is on a Designo blank, but I don't know their 'level' of blank used. I also have a '6 level' Designo Vantage in a 6'11" H regular taper configuration as a more typical JDM jig rod and this Wolfdown seems noticeably more sensitive. The wolfdown has a glorious fast, but progressive taper. It's a bad ass rod for dragging jigs. It feels as sensitive as the rapid gunner RSR, but it has a different feeling to it. It kind of feels like the the NFC X-ray blanks in the previous generation Z-bones, but much more crisp and without the broomstick feel. I don't know what kind of magic formula Designo uses, but anyone who's handled the OG IMX would likely agree even subjectively that these wolfdowns are something different and transmit information more clearly than the IMX blank tech did. The rod is a fantastic jig rod, but it is highly versatile, which is something I've been coveting for the past several years. I'm past the tech specific thing where the brand expects you to have 36 rods. I take 3 rods with me these days and expect that to handle my day. This rod easily competes for that 3 rod lineup. I got this rod when it came out not that long ago and it quickly took over my lineup in part because I tend to lean into bottom contact in FL summer time. I rarely get duplicate rods, but I put out a feeler to order a second one of these. I don't know their production cycle, but this one is worth a try if you see them out there.
Here's something new that may be of interest and is kind of a unicorn for a JDM bottom contact rod given the US-style proper 7'6" length. This is the Wolfdown 76XH. The rod is no nonsense utilitarian without bling. It is a very clean build and the craftsmanship can only be appreciated in hand. It is spiral wrapped to the left. It has a 0.5 - 4 oz suggested range; I have no trouble tossing 3/8th oz baits on it and the 4 oz max is likely a pretty good limit on it. The grip is by Designo, but it has a bit of texture on it which does not appear on any other Designo rod I've seen. It's been nice in the swamp ass FL summer heat. That rod is a part of me when I'm tossing jigs into the reeds.
It is on a Designo blank, but I don't know their 'level' of blank used. I also have a '6 level' Designo Vantage in a 6'11" H regular taper configuration as a more typical JDM jig rod and this Wolfdown seems noticeably more sensitive. The wolfdown has a glorious fast, but progressive taper. It's a bad ass rod for dragging jigs. It feels as sensitive as the rapid gunner RSR, but it has a different feeling to it. It kind of feels like the the NFC X-ray blanks in the previous generation Z-bones, but much more crisp and without the broomstick feel. I don't know what kind of magic formula Designo uses, but anyone who's handled the OG IMX would likely agree even subjectively that these wolfdowns are something different and transmit information more clearly than the IMX blank tech did. The rod is a fantastic jig rod, but it is highly versatile, which is something I've been coveting for the past several years. I'm past the tech specific thing where the brand expects you to have 36 rods. I take 3 rods with me these days and expect that to handle my day. This rod easily competes for that 3 rod lineup. I got this rod when it came out not that long ago and it quickly took over my lineup in part because I tend to lean into bottom contact in FL summer time. I rarely get duplicate rods, but I put out a feeler to order a second one of these. I don't know their production cycle, but this one is worth a try if you see them out there.
Outstanding. Level 6+ on the blanks that are rolled to spec for this branch-off, from what I’ve gathered. They’ve got a bit of that Orochi XXX vibe going with that foregrip. Simple, clean builds and that step up performance, though. The less “dress-up” the better the sensitivity. This has proven itself time and time again. Zenaq and Yamaga are great examples of such, as well as…dare I say…NRX (that was painful to type)…
Regardless, great breakdown, beautiful combo. Enjoy it in good health, brother. Post some fish pics with it too!
I was recently able to acquire a few of these fine specimens through a good friend that was looking to move them.
Luxxe Oltre 7 heavy
Designo 7’1 MH Leben
Evergreen Rapid Gunner RSR
The first two rods noted above also represent brands I have never used before so that is always exciting to try something from another company.
On a side note and specifically on the ML to ML+ realm I must say that the MB X7 super Eiger has been absolute perfection for finesse bottom contact apps. I have been throwing a ton of light weight 1/4 oz weightless plastics with it. The sensitivity and hook set power is on point. Easily up there with anything I have used for weightless plastics. You can feel the take, feel down and set the hook home and have zero worries. The bite, to hookset, to land percentage for this rod for me has been top notch. My only small gripe with this rod is that after using it for sometime the combination of reel seat ergos and perhaps the Steez CT on it, create a bit of discomfort in the hand.
