Pro Angler rod with Sweden made Abu Garcia 6000.

A nine foot spinning rod built off a 7 wt fly rod blank. No one builds them, so I build them. Honestly I find that rod & reel get in the way, slows me down, too cumbersome. Exploring ancient handlining instead.

As I've been drifting I've noticed that holding the line in hand, I can detect way more bites than just holding the rod or even using a float. Also I find that adding a float lessens the sensitivity as well. All you know that I make sensitive floats, and they are great in shallow water conditions when anchoring far off to make long casts into the shallows. It's as sensitive and long casting as it gets.

The problem I find with floats and rod is that by the time the float twitches or the tip bends, that's after the fact. Fishy has already decided he's going all in or going elsewhere. In other words there's just too much delay.

After drifting in open, deep and clear water, nothing is more sensitive than holding line in hand. Which makes me question the need for a rod and reel in the first place, at least for this scenario.