Except when trolling, anglers almost always have some slack between their tip-top and their lure/bait, or some slack between their tip-top and their reel spool. For those who can make the far end of a rope move by pushing on a slack bight the issue of a rod's sensitivity continues to be a challenging consideration.

I always fish barbless hooks so a quick hookset is vital.

I use the following methods:
Fly rod cast and strip
Fly rod cast, mend and swing
Spinning rod cast and retrieve (spoons, spinners)
Float rod cast, mend and drift

I never have slack line between tip-top and terminal tackle or tip-top to spool (or hand in the case of a fly rod). so "always" may be a stretch.

Phil,
X10 -
Exactly why I don't think that that issue necessarily makes a lot of sense to talk about.

Roger

Rick -

Our experiences seem to differ. I have yet to master stripping in a fly without creating slack, and I find a slack line is necessary to mend my casts?? Could it be that "sensitivity" is a subjective quality for some, similar to the "feel" of the rod, whereas "sensitivity" for others means an objective measurement of the speed and distance of the displacement of a rod due to a force exerted through a taut line? [force can not be transmitted through a slack line]

The water will maintain at least some tension on a line that might otherwise appear slack. This is particularly true with a thick fly line.

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