Cuba is only 2 hours from Springfield. If you go on I 44 going toward St. Louis cuba is on the way to there. Yes I do shop at bass pro, when I'm on my way to go see my family down in Kansas I stop there and shop, thats were I get most of the guys in my family gifts. The closest water way to me would be the Meramac River.

Hey Mike...I'm not familiar with the action of the Eagle Claw Ultra Light rods, but there are indeed applications for softer rods that bend uniformly over the entire length of the rod. They are traditionally good for longer casting and they can set hooks from a distance better as the longer length allows a greater 'sweep' and line take-up when you set a hook...something that shorter rods can't do as well, especially on the end of a long cast or deep water drifting or jigging applications.

Where strike detection is needed, longer graphite rods tend to be a good choice and some of them have the backbone in the bottom 1/3 rd of the rod to hoist big slabs from brush. It is also very likely that some of your walleye rods my do well in panfishing situations as well. I hope this helps!