panfish rod no spring bobber suggestions

I am looking at a new rod for panfish mainly.  I am tired of dinking with spring bobbers and looking for a rod that has a sensitive enough tip to detect light bites yet enough backbone to not double over on a 7 inch gill.  Lastly, want a pole that the reel locks on, not having to tape the reel onto the rod.  Anyone have some suggestions?  I know there are a lot of new rods in the past year, would rather get suggestions from others on what is good then just buy and hope.

Thanks.

I have a bullwhip, presision noodle, st croix light action,snitch and a few cheap rods.  My favorite was one of the cheaper rods from clam I think it was a white noise but it finally broke after ten years.   I use the pn for the tiny tiny jigs,  bullwhip for larger tungsten and the st croix for spoons, raps and rattle baits.  It is also my deadstick for walleye.  Are the nice rods worth the money?  No, but it makes me take care of them.  I stayed away from the tickle stick.  That tip looked very breakable.  My wife has the cherry picker but she hasn't used it yet so no comment.   

Just ordered.  H azad d a $10 off and a gift card.  Will report how I like it.  Great advice from all. Thanks

I have both the ultralight and light. For rattle spoons I would buy a light. 

Tickle stick has 27inch ultralight and 27 inch light.  Leaning towards light, anyone have experience?  Worried some baits like buck shot rattle spoon may be too heave for ultralight.

The first year or 2 of the tickle stick had the paint issue, like you said doesn't effect performance.  I have 1 early model, and 2 later models. The later sticks don't have issues with paint, looks as if the color was impregnated in the material. Great rods imo

I had the same issue with my ticklestick's paint coming off. Doesn't affect performance so I'm not upset about it, but you'd think they would fix the problem...

TUCR are definitely not all they're talked up to be, especially at $120. Far better "true" custom options out there for significantly less money. I bought my precision noodle when I was in  a pinch after breaking my go-to rod 2 years back. I rarely use it now but I do think it is a small step above the ticklestick, just not for that price IMO. In retro-spect I wish I would have bought the bullwhip.

The yellow paint on the tip of my Ticklestick 23" SUL popped off so I went on the look for a new rod and bought the TUCR Precision Noodle. It's the white 30" exclusive to Scheels and after using it last week for 4 days I'm hugely disappointed.

I spent most of the trip with a 4mm Fiska on and couldn't see light or negative bites. If you moved around it was almost "quivery" and hard to read. My 27" UL Window Maker ($80ish) with the Tickle tip fished better than the $120 "custom" rod.

Thanks for the heads up on the sale, I'll be ordering a new 23" SUL Ticklestick for the small Tungsten stuff, hopefully the paint stays on it. I guess it's the only rod I can use without a spring bobber.

I bought a Beaver Dam 32" Glass-Tip rod from Fleet Farm that I love! Have been fishing panfish with it a lot and think its nice a sensitive. It's a little light for fishing medium sized spoons for walterz. Spring bobbers just annoy me most of the time unless the fish are being real weird. 

For your initial stated price range I would agree with the suggestion of the 13 Fishing Snitch. Sensitive tip...I have caught a ton of perch on that in ND. 

If you want to spend a little more ($80), I would highly recommend the Panfish XP from Elk River Custom Rods. Awesome rod. Super sensitive tip, good backbone, and really nice reel seat. Marc the owner is a great guy and their customer service is top notch.

Yeah I would suggest the ticklestick in that price range, sensitive tip and a fairly fast action into the backbone. They are actually on sale for $35 at cabelas right now, which is a steal. Tempted to buy another one just for a spare.

Cabelas also has the TUCR Precision Noodle on sale for $80 right now (marked down from $120). It does not have the reel seat that you are looking for, but using the cold snap bands work great. I know they're pricey but once you use a true power noodle its hard to go back to anything else.

Both good options. The eye likes to freeze up, very small, but can break out with finger nail. I watch line more than rod.

For that price point the snitch or tickel stick are good options 

I am ok with going up to the $50 or so mark, more if worth it.  I am tired of buying the $20 and being disappointing and spending that again on another hope.  I know there are a lot of rods in that $50-60 range, just don't want to pick an overpriced issue.

How much are you looking to spend?