The fish strike the fly which is attached to the line, which when drawn taut, transmits the vibration through the line to the rod and your hand, if you are touching the line. For you to feel the vibration through the rod it must be transmitted from the line to the rod to your hand. This would be the long route for the vibration by a few millimeters. The vibrations would probably travel down the rod due to its rigid state, faster than down the line, but considering we are talking a distance of a few feet I would think it would arrive pretty much at the same time.