I was the same way...until I started bowling on Sport shot conditions. On house shots, the extra oil in the middle creates hang for me with pearl covers, even pearls with surface.
However, move to flatter shots, and the hang is gone, and so is the hold I am used to with solids is gone as well. Pearls hold the line longer and thus for me, especially on lighter volumes and shorter Sport patterns, pearls are the name of the game.
The last 3 weeks I have had a really good look on Alcatraz with the Raven Invasion (pearl reactive) and we moved to the Boardwalk pattern last week and provided I had enough speed, the Invasion was the right ball again. When I finally had to move away from the Invasion, I went to the Warlock XV pearl and bingo, right ball again.
Everyone is different though...and the patterns will play different from house to house and from surface (wood) to different surfaces (synthetic, guardian, etc). So what works for me in this house (all wood surface) may be the completely wrong ball at the house right down the road.