Rods with a "Touch Hole"

[Slabs Inc]

Opinions needed. Your fav? Bang for the buck? Etc? Ill spend some coin as long as I think it's what I'm looking for. I'll be fishing a jig. I'm looking for a 9 or 10 footer and prefer the lightest, most sensitive rod I can find.

[kingkrappie]

Bucks best ultra light rear reel seat, 10 footer is 4 oz, sensitivity is unmatched, nothin better with finger notch, 40 bucks or so, I use the 12, it's 5 oz, u can feel em breath on it.

[Slabs Inc]

Front reel seal is a must, I know, it's just hard to break a habit.

[BigMack]

I've got a couple of rods with that.
I don't use them anymore. I went with Pro Angler that's handled by a local guy that supplies our club.
good graphite and very durable. I outfited a couple of my buddies with the new ugly stick lites.
Same price and they would be a good substiture for me. Some of my buddies go for the high priced rods.
I just can't see the need. I fish with the eyelets on the bottom and a finger on the line anyway and this takes the
rod out of the eqation.,
Thumbs Up

[GRIZZ]

I don't use poles over 7 ft, but I like to fish touching the blank. I am currently testing a Castaway MicroWave rod that has almost no fore grip in front of the reel seat so when I am holding the reel seat while fishing I can easily touch the blank above the real seat. I really like the design. Having as little grip as possible like no fore grip and a split grip below also makes for a substantially lighter rig which is so noticeable when you change back to a full grip design. I love the new skeleton reel seat designs. Super light rods are so great to fish with. Every little improvement that allows blank contact and decreased weight connects you more to what is going on at the end of your line. I also touch the line when I can, but if your are a jig tosser you can't touch the line when you casting and retrieving, so blank contact and weight make a huge difference in sensitivity.

[skeetbum]

I use rods from 5 to 12 feet and like em all for different reasons. I'm using an All Pro 10' slab buster (or something like that) with slide reel rings that don't move like others have in the past, they stay put. I didn't think I'd like it but it's one of my favorites. Good backbone and a sensitive bright green tip. I also have 2 8foot BnM Bucks Graphite Jig Pole's and they are my hands down favorite. Light, sensitive, and balance is such that when holding it at the balance point, the top of the reel seat is in the bottom of my hand. The 12's are great for pickin pockets but don't balance the same. Two you should handle before are both by BnM and are called the Sam Heaton Super Sensitive, which has a big following, and another called "The Difference". Handle all you can find and don't order anything by mail that you haven't handled. The nw BPS line of crappie rods are pretty nice too, and have different action models of the same length. As far as a hole in the handle to touch the blank, cut your own after you find the balance point and sand it smooth. It opens up your options greatly.

[CrappiePappy]

Slabs Inc ... when you say you'll be "fishing a jig", and since you're looking for a 9-10ft rod, I'll assume you're primarily going to be vertical jigging. I don't vertical jig much, but the dynamics of that method are not lost on me, as far as weight & sensitivity.

Take a look at the ESP line of rods. They don't have cut-outs in the handle, but they do have graphite Tenn style handles ... that are put in contact with the blank, by metallic disks. They call it VAT ... Vibration Amplification Technology. In essence, vibrations coming thru the blank are transmitted thru the disks, into the graphite handle housing. A Tenn style handle has no reel seat, so you can balance your outfit by placement of your reel ... making it possible to use varying size/weight reels.
They are also fast action tip rods ... they bend at the top 1/3 of the rod, as opposed to "parabolic bend" rod which bends evenly over most of the length of the blank.

However, do make note of the fact that ESP rods have micro guides on the upper half of the rod .... which can make the use of slipfloats/bobber stoppers problematic. They also have "handle extensions" (what I call "poodle tails") ... which help balance the rod/reel setup, but are mainly used to rest against/under your forearm, for hookset/fish fighting control leverage (so as not to have to use/wear out your wrist).

You'll see what I'm talking about, here : ESP™ High Performance Ultra Light Rods by Norsemen Outdoors

(Side note : while checking on these rods, I noticed that the PowerJig series is out of stock on the Norsemen Outdoors site. And, I don't see them listed on the Grizzly Jigs website, where they formerly were. I'm not sure why ... but, I will contact the VP of Marketing/designer & find out !! I've done fieldtest work for him, with his ESP line, so I need to know what's up, too.)

... cp

[wilbur]

Bucks best ultra light rear reel seat, 10 footer is 4 oz, sensitivity is unmatched, nothin better with finger notch, 40 bucks or so, I use the 12, it's 5 oz, u can feel em breath on it.

x2

[Wood_Duck]

I've been using the BPS Crappie Max Pro Series alot lately in the 7-9ft range. IM8 graphite, light, nice cork handle with cutaway touch spot, and although maybe not quite as sensitive as my Sam Heatons I will say they are tough crappie rods. I've drug in some nice hefty channel cats night fishing crappie on them plus I've accidentally stepped on one of my 9 footers a few times near the tip and all I had to do was bend the eyes back in line and keep on fishing. I cant remember right off on the 9ft, but Seems like the other 7 footer I bought last weekend was $54.99