If you cast holding the rod with both hands the tip-heavy feeling will go away.

A tip light rod isn't just about avoiding or reducing fatigue.

In particular, when jig fishing for very very very light biting walleye, I will often use a 1/16th oz jig, or possibly a 1/8th oz jig. IN this event - I want to essentially lay the rod on my open hand in the location where I normally hold the rod. Then, after the cast has been made and the jig has sunk to the bottom, I want the rod to remain perfectly level - no tip down, and no tip up - while waiting for that very light tap from a neutral or negative biting fish. Thus, with no clenching of the rod in my hand, I can easily feel the faint tap on the line some 80 feet away from where I sit in the boat. That faint tap signals the only bite information that I am going to receive from the wily walleye. I then set the hook, or the fish is gone.

Best wishes.

I lived in Minnesota for ten years and even worked as a fisheries biologist in the BWCAW for part of that time. I found that becoming adept at jigging for walleyes was even more challenging than learning how to fly fish for steelhead. I agree that neutral balance is a real benefit in that pursuit. The great walleye fisherman can interpret every subtle tap accurately into exactly what the fish will be when landed. They far exceeded my presumptions about angling skill relative to other types of fishing.

The above is exactly what I am talking about when I say that a neutrally balanced, or for me, a tip light light rod aids in bite detection. It isn't always about the vibrations transmitted by the rod. With some techniques you'll often just sense a difference in the weight of the tip. If you're waiting to feel the tap, you'll miss the fish.

A drop shot is a prime example

If you fish with bait and use circle hooks you can greatly reduce the necessity to feel the teeniest bite - just keep a tight line. Nothing to it!

How could I have been so blind??? All this time spent pondering and discussing rod balance over and over, when I could have just been using circle hooks and bait! Lol

I have never held or even heard of a balanced fly rod, and fly rods have to be moved many times more and much farther than a spin or bait-casting rod during a cast. A circle hook is not suitable for tying a fly. Anglers who fish with spinning or bait-casting rods are fortunate to have either "J" hooks or circle hooks to cast.

I find myself struggling not to feed this.

After reading several articles about the necessity of a balanced rod&reel combination for optimum casting I tried to balance my 9 wt. fly rod and Billy Pate Bonefish reel so the casting fulcrum was located on the rod grip - for optimum distance and accuracy. Not only did this fail to improve my casting - it prevented casting. So I unwrapped the lead foil I had wrapped around the tip-top to balance the rod and returned to a seriously unbalanced fly rod/reel outfit. I probably I shouldn't have assumed everyone casts the same way as I do.

Aaron ..... I started looking at it like this ....... you're fishing for bass around spawning bluegill. You can see bass cruising, but there are carp cruising around as well. You want to pitch your bait on one of the carp to spook it out of there, but if you do, you'll spook the bass too.

The bass probably won't come back, but you know that dang carp will LOL

I like to play devils advocate and debate (responsibly) to be a catalyst to ernest discussion. You can find it a great exercise in critical thinking. Sometimes the only thing you exercise is futility. But you have to try. Right?