The sensitivity factor in a rod

[islandbass]

We have all heard that better rods offer greater sensitivity and notion is generally accepted.

I commented in a few other posts that I was quite surprised at how sensitive the Berkley Cherrywood rod was, especially for its price and indeed, it is sufficiently sensitive, even for drop shotting.

I have a rod designed for drop shot and other finesse techniques, a Lamiglas Certified Pro Drop Shot Special rod and I know it is an ultra-sensitive rod. However, I haven’t fished with it for quite some time and had forgotten about how well this rod transmits the feedback to me of what is happening on the far end of my line.

Two Fridays ago, only having the Cherrywood rod, I still managed to read the bottom terrain well and feel the strikes and thereby catching some bass.

Then this past Friday, I had my DS rod with me and I realized just how sensitive the rod really is.

This might be a poor analogy but here it goes:

The Berkley Cherrywood rod is a good rod with a decent amount of sensitivity. It is leaps and bounds over my first $19.99 Wal-Mart special combo. In terms of sound, the Wal-Mart special equate to mono-audio and the Cherrywood Stereo.

So back to the last Friday. As soon as my DS weight hit bottom and I dragged the weight, my hands couldn’t take information. If the Berkley Cherrywood rod offered stereo sound, Holy Smokes! My Lamiglas was giving me the same show in THX, cinema worthy!!! You ever watch a DVD movie through the TV and the through a Home Theatre system? You will hear and feel things that you couldn’t if you heard it only through the speakers of the television. That is exactly how wielding the Lamiglas felt. Fully THX, a complete listening experience!

This is not meant to be a bad mark against the Cherrywood. It is a good rod and I like mine a lot. But after having fished with both rods, I found the difference between the two was very noticeable. I would not hesitate to recommend a Cherrywood rod to anyone whose budget is at this price point.

My dad fished with me this past Friday and he used the Cherrywood rig. I felt a lot more strikes than he, but was that the result of the equipment or does the difference in experience between the two of us play a significant role?

Granted, not all things were equal. The Cherrywood rig he used had 8# Rapala Finesse mono/2500 Shimano Symetre and the Lamiglas rig I used had 6# Sea Guar Invizx/Size 20 Rapala Sxi6 reel.

I will try to go through this test again but use the same reel and line for both.

So I’d like to know where you fall on this. How important is sensitivity? Perhaps with certain applications, it may not be as critical, but for something like drop shotting or finesse fishing, an angler might wish to give himself the best possible chance to feel what the fish is doing on the other end.