I started thinking seriously about this a couple of years ago. There is a lot of misinformation being peddled as fact by the marketing folks.
I'm old enough to remember the "before graphite" days. Back then nobody talked about the sensitivity of a fishing rod. The term sensitivity made it into the vernacular when graphite hit the market. It was one of ways graphite rods were marketed to unbelieving anglers. A lot of fishermen wanted nothing to do with graphite in the early days. We mostly wanted our tried and true, nearly indestructible glass rods.
To be clear about, the earliest graphite rods were very brittle, and not at all durable. A lot of people, myself included, broke the first graphite rod we bought, and did so rather easily, and soon. But things got better very quickly. The bugs got worked out of materials and processes almost as fast as the complaints flew. In very short order everybody had a graphite rod on the market. At the time choices for graphite materials were limited. Everybody's rods were basically made from the same stuff. From the same manufacturer.
Tackle companies tried to differentiate their products from others buy touting their "superior sensitivity". The Sensitivity War had begun. And has never ended. The term has been beaten so far into our consciousness that we can't help ourselves. We simply will not even consider purchasing a rod that does not scream sensitivity in every conceivable marketing venue.
What I do not want to get into here is discussion of IM6 vs IM7 vs IM????. The terms are meaningless as a basis for comparison. Ditto the "new" version; 30ton, 40ton, megaton, whatever. Who know what the flame any of that means? I hate to even mention modulus, or the be properly technical, "the modulus of elasticity; maybe the most abused term in the history of hyperbole.
What I want to discuss is how we perceive this. I began by wondering which of my fingers was the most sensitive to the vibrations transmitted by the rod blank. The thought came about because I hold the rod/reel combo differently depending upon the application. When fishing bottom contact baits; jigs and plastics, I hold my baitcaster with the trigger behind my little finger. When fishing moving baits; cranks and spinnerbaits, I hold it with the trigger between my middle finger and forefinger, or between ring and middle finger. So, in the first case, either my little finger or ring finger, or both, was in contact with the blank. In the second case, middle or forefinger.
Wanting to know, and in the best tradition of the scientific method, I formulated a hypothesis, designed an experiment to test said hypothesis and started making observations with the eventual outcome being a rational theory. The basis of the hypothesis was; my little finger, being the weakest and least used of the lot, would be the most sensitive, and the middle finger, being the strongest, would be the least sensitive. So the experiment began at the beginning of the 2010 fishing season.
Note: this is the kind of thing that can and will occur to a techno-geek over a long hard winter.
I started trying to take note of what I felt upon every tick, tap, pull, tug, yank, drop, stop, plop, plop, fizz, fizz, etc. At first this was quite difficult to do. Over time I acquired the proper mental focus to begin making useful observations. I found this was only possible when fishing by myself. So I continued for all of 2010 and 2011. And since I fish alone more often than not, I was able make and record quite few observations. At the beginning I was quite sure my hypothesis would be proved correct. I thought I was on the right track.
So much for thoughtin". I could not have been more wrong in my assumptions.
What I discovered was simple. None of my brazillion megaton, hyper-modulus, nano-fractal resinous wonders of modern technology fish sticks sent any vibrations down the blank that were detectable by my fingers, no matter where I placed said fingers.
Depending on how I held the rod, and at what angle my wrist was relative to my fore-arm, I felt the strikes either in my hand, or in my wrist. Not in my fingers. For all that my fingers told me about what was happening at the end of my line, I may as well have had them jammed up my nose.
I proved my hypothesis thank you very much. Proved it to be dead wrong.
I know this flies directly in the face of what you've been told over and over and over, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
It contradicts what I believed to be the truth of the matter. But I can scarcely discredit my own observations.
My final thought on the matter is this. Almost all R&D being done regarding rods seems to be focused on materials and processes. I think we may need to start looking at ergonomics. Ergonomics as it applies to perception and not comfort or stress.
I'm hoping some young researcher, looking to make a name for himself, will take up the idea, and design a reel seat/grip form that increases sensitivity by putting the hand, wrist and fingers in the most receptive position.
OK folks. Let me have it.
