Alex,
First, I wish you a lot of luck.
You're looking for an excellent blank at a bargain price.
Aren't we all ? You might try looking at discontinued blanks on clearance.
Some factors you might look for in your blank.
High modulus, the higher the better.
Maximum taper, large butt dia versus small tip dia, the larger the better.
Lightest weight , thinner walls for better energy transmission with less inertia.
Don't scrimp on the guide train. Titanium for light weight with low inertia. No ceramic inserts. Minimize number of guides. If the tip top wears or grooves replace it.
Don't be overly concerned with warranty. The blank may break if over loaded or abused. Build another.
If you do find the answer to your quest, let us all know.
The reason some blanks cost a lot more is that they are a lot better.

Good luck,
Gene

My 2 cents Alex. Like Eugene says a better blank is the place to start. Now it comes down to finding one within the budget that meets your needs. That can mean thinking outside the box....like buying a 3 pc. 12 wt. fly rod and throwing away the butt section:) Most of my "best buys" have happened around black friday so make up a list now and be ready to move quick!

After hearing everything I'm going to suggest with the weigth/lure you fish....and the current....you are more likely to "see" a strike than feel it. Tom K has some interesting posts about being in a swimming pool and smacking a lure and and the guy with the rod being unable to detect it. Worth the read.

I do a lot of "slack line fishing" albeit typically with bait but sometimes with small 4" plastic worms for bass. I'd love to tell myself I'm "feeling" the pickup but after enough soul searching/honesty I have come to a different conclusion. So I'm thinking you could get by watching the line, reacting to its movement and reeling down until you feel any resistance, and then setting the hook. For that you might want a little slower action and maybe not as powerful a rod tip.

For example you can still pick up some of the batson RX8 "popping rod" blanks at great prices. Popping rods were made to cast live shrimp to sea trout under a concave faced float. You jerk the rod tip to make the float creat a "popping sound" on the top of the water. So basically they have a soft tip to keep from ripping the shrimp off during the cast and from pulling hooks on the trouts soft mouth but a strong enough butt to handle a decent sized salt water fish. A zero powered one is a panfish rod/1/32 to 1/4 ounce/2-8# test rod.....so a one power would be about right for you I'm thinking. Typically they are 7 feet though:(

A couple/few of us have mentioned st. croix. You mght not know but rodgeeks in Mexico makes some of their blanks and now sells direct to the public. A 5 and a half foot ultra light in their two series line is only 39 bucks. You are up to 89 bucks for a 6 foot 3 inch medium power in the four series (you can buy that blank from st. croix for 140 bucks or the finished rod in a store for around $240). St. croixs are seriously nice/sensitive rods. But of course I don't know your budget.

Bottom line, you can end up with something top notch at 50% (or less) of the store bought rod. You just have to do your homework. But like with fine women, whisky, cars, and food......it is hard to go back to the cheap stuff afterwards....so be forewarned.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Again thanks for all the suggestions guys. This morning I compared apples to apples on the lake. The wind was blowing 10 to 20 so it was almost like river fishing with the bow in the line. Using my regular worm rod with 8 lb fluorocarbon and an 1/8 oz sinker as a control, I first threw my river 5 1/2' MHX rod with 6 lb mono and a 1/16th oz weight. Next I put an 1/8 oz sinker on the MHX rod and that helped the feel a lot. Next I changed spools to braid with 8 lb fluorocarbon for a leader. Even with the wind the sensitivity was much better still. As a last thing I put a spool of fluorocarbon on the rod when the wind let up and it wasn't nearly as sensitive as the braid. Conclusion is I'm going to use braid on my existing river rod for a while until I can spring for a better blank which will be made with minima guides and a light reel seat. My birthday is coming up and maybe my family will contribute to my blank purchase. Yes, I did catch fish with all the combinations.

I bit the bullet and bought an IMMWS62MXF blank, cut it to 5'6", added Minima guides, 16, 10,6 and 3 4s, a split grip cork handle, put it together and fished the lake with it yesterday and today. I used 6 lb fluorocarbon with a 1/16 oz bullet weight and a finesse worm and caught many spotted bass up to just over 2 lbs. It cast fine and the feeling was as good as my regular worm rod, a Basspro 85 hm 8-17 lb baitcaster with 8 lb fluorocarbon 1/8 oz weight and the same worm. I lost my only 1/16th oz weight and used an 1/8 and the feeling got better. The wind was blowing a bow in the line so it was almost like river fishing in my kayak. The finished rod weighs 2 1/2 oz. I weighed the guides I used against one # 20 Minima guide and the whole 6 guides and tip top were 35.5 gr and a #20 was 31 gr all by itself, you were right Norman. Thank you for all your help guys.