Years ago (50 or so) I always used a St. Croix ML and thought that was the nuts. Well, times have changed and now I realized I could have missed 100's of perch thru the years. I have changed my perch rods and only use a Micro-lite 7-8' from BassPro and a Sam Heaton Super Sensitive rod 7' from B' n M rod company. Using those 2 rods made a world of different, I can feel the fish swim by. Look them up, not that overly expensive and will make perch fishing great. Good luck....