I've heard a lot of good things about these rods and really want to try one out. My one concern is the real seat. I get the cork is supposed to be extra grippy on the back but there isn't really any blank exposed. Does anyone find this takes away from its sensitivity or is it really not a problem?

I have a couple of these stick.  I fish & like them a lot.

 Admittedly, the cork handle felt a little bulky at first but after only a very short time I really fell in love with the full size grip it provides.

I never really bought into that exposed blank deal and have no problem with lack of sensitivity with the rods.

A-Jay

Did they fix the issue with the reel seats that the smallmouth series had? All of my Shimano reels had play when mounted on the rod. 

12 minutes ago, I.rar said:

Did they fix the issue with the reel seats that the smallmouth series had? All of my Shimano reels had play when mounted on the rod. 

Don't know if there was any fix needed.

I had a very brief issue with that - added a couple of strips of black tape to the leading edges of reel seat

And BAM - Locked in & good to go.

A-Jay

More of an inconvenience than anything. I used a small piece of heat shrink tubing on the reel foot and it worked, but not something that should be needed. 

Hope these are as good as the Smallmouth series was. I just sent a broken one in for replacement and it looks like I'll need to choose from the new line of rods. 

They are very good in the sensitivity department but they are a little heavier than the smallmouth series as they seem to be more powerful. When I got my smallmouth rods I was wondering how much the non-exposed reel seat would hurt sensitivity but surprisingly it doesn't seem to hamper it at all.