Dobyns Ultra Finesse/BFS rods out now

[bulldog1935]

and all those other approaches use para-taper UL rods, while BFS uses a progressive taper rod.  

[waymont]

There seems to be many different ideas about what BFS is.

 

[Corey T]

On 1/9/2021 at 11:38 PM, FryDog62 said:

I have ordered a Dobyns 740 Ultra Finesse rod to use for throwing 1/16-1/8 oz hair jigs for smallmouth. May use as a Ned/DS rod some too.  I have a Daiwa Alphas, but odd as it may sound I will experiment with a Tatula Elite too. The Elite is not BFS but I have used it on a 7'1" Phenix Feather MLF and honestly get better distance than the Alphas.  Elite can be a little touchier, but once dialed in I can cast a light Ned about 10-20% farther than the Alphas. 

Did you get this rod in yet? I just ordered an Alphas Air TW to pair up with another Feather MLF but this rod has me wide-eyed. BTW, I paired my Steez CTSV up with another Feather per some of your advice last year and caught a lot of fish. 

[FryDog62]

I am on the current backorder for the Ultra Finesse. I have heard the order should be fulfilled in March. If it doesn’t arrive in time I’m thinking of another Feather in the 7’1” Light/Fast

?

[Deleted account]

On 1/12/2021 at 10:44 AM, bulldog1935 said:

and all those other approaches use para-taper UL rods, while BFS uses a progressive taper rod.  

It's a regressive taper if you look at it from the other end.... 

[PhishLI]

Pretty good quick review from a BFS hardcore.

 

[fishwizzard]

I broke down and ordered the 7'4" model, it should arrive this Wednesday.  That video of the taper has me way more excited than I was when I bought it.  

[redmeansdistortion]

On 1/12/2021 at 9:35 AM, bulldog1935 said:

Dave Whitlock and Joe Robinson began making XUL spinning rods from fly rod blanks in the 70s, and most of 30 years later, Joe got around to describing it in his book Piscatorial Absurdities.

Here in MI, we had a fellow named Dick Swan that made noodle rods for salmon and steelhead from Lamiglas fly rod blanks.  Many here still seek out his rods even though they're long out of production.  Swan's approach was similar to Whitlock and Robinson, a long 9'-14' fiberglass noodle and a small spinning reel spooled with 4lb or 6lb mono, used for throwing tiny baits to wary salmonids.  The rods performed beautifully, but the technique didn't catch on outside of the Great Lakes area.  A couple of friends of mine still fish those setups and do very well when the other guys are having a hard time getting a bite.  Browning once made a line of Dick Swan rods, but they weren't nearly as good as the rods that Dick made himself.

 

https://www.ourmidland.com/sports/article/Clare-s-Dick-Swan-was-a-giant-in-the-fishing-world-6918433.php

[OilfieldCowboy]

3 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

The rods performed beautifully, but the technique didn't catch on outside of the Great Lakes area.

I would argue against that, mostly from a parallel development standpoint. When I lived in Alaska there were plenty of people using those exact techniques to throw single beads above 3/0 hooks for steelhead. That was my first experience with an ultralight rod that was longer than 7'.

 

Now most of the people I know that are big into that technique use more centerpin rods than fly blanks built into spinning rods.

 

 

But, that's getting pretty far from the topic of this thread. I patiently wait shipping notification on both the Curado BFS and Dobyns Ultra Finess rod that were recently ordered.

[waymont]

On 1/12/2021 at 9:44 AM, bulldog1935 said:

progressive taper rod

What's that you say? I've never heard of such thing.

Are you referring to a fly rod style taper?

[bulldog1935]

exactly - stout butt, fast mid, short soft tip - a perfect dry fly rod, and that pretty much defines solid tip finesse rods. 

That's how they get such a wide range in lure weights, 1 g up to 20 g in the same rod - the longer the rod, the greater the upper lure weight - because increasing weight loads in a band farther down the rod - same idea as fishing close with a dry fly leader alone, while also being able to cast out 60' (3/8+ oz) of fly line.  The Japanese currently offer light game bait and spin rods out to 9'4".  

 

Just like in a 90-y-o Thomas cane fly rod, the stout butt gives you power to turn big fish.  

 

The Japanese have been making them a long time - this one is 12 years old - 7'9", 0.4 g to 6 g, will protect 2-lb test, and can fish 10-lb.  

solid tip, and note the extra weave graphite on the butt.  

I've been fishing these Japanese rods inshore (for winter glass minnows) that long - they're not for little fish, but for casting little lures a long way.  

[Corey T]

On 3/22/2021 at 6:31 PM, fishwizzard said:

I broke down and ordered the 7'4" model, it should arrive this Wednesday.  That video of the taper has me way more excited than I was when I bought it.  

Did you get your rod in? I have an Alphas Air TW on a Phenix Feather and I am strongly considering replacing the rod with this 7’4”. Would appreciate any initial thoughts you have. 

[fishwizzard]

7 minutes ago, Corey T said:

Did you get your rod in? I have an Alphas Air TW on a Phenix Feather and I am strongly considering replacing the rod with this 7’4”. Would appreciate any initial thoughts you have. 

Nope, at some point yesterday the tracking changed to it arriving by EoD tomorrow.  Which is annoying as I have a little road trip thing happening tomorrow that will take me past dozens of spots where I could slay some white perch, which is one of the main things I bought the dumb rod for!

[waymont]

I have a 7' on order. AL said they are about 10 days away from getting them in.

[PhishLI]

On the water

 

[Corey T]

1 hour ago, PhishLI said:

On the water

 

Shoot. Lol. This video, and the current $152.99 sale price, got me. Looks like I am going to have to move my Zillion SV back to the MLF Feather to free up the Alphas Air TW. I’ll probably give it a go with the Steez CTSV as well for comparison and leave some feedback. 

[FryDog62]

On 2/14/2021 at 9:27 AM, Corey T said:

Did you get this rod in yet? I just ordered an Alphas Air TW to pair up with another Feather MLF but this rod has me wide-eyed. BTW, I paired my Steez CTSV up with another Feather per some of your advice last year and caught a lot of fish. 

Had a chance to get both the Sierra Ultra Finesse 7'4" and Phenix Feather 7'1" Light (As a reference point, I previously had/have a Dobyns 702c and Phenix Feather 7'1" ML) .

 

My take is the Ultra Finesse is great if you are just throwing a 1/16th oz hair jig or 1/16 oz trout crank like a Lucky Craft Snacky. I would really like this as a stream rod for trout...

 

However, if I'm throwing both 1/16th oz hair jigs and also a 1/8 oz Ned jig + plastic, or drop-shotting - I'd go with the the Feather "Light." It bombs the hair jig just as far as the Sierra UF and it also fishes the Ned very well - where I would NOT use the Sierra UF for that.  It just loads the tip too much, not enough power for Neds, drop-shots, etc and can’t imagine pulling through even light cover. 

 

The secret sauce here is the Air TW reel - it will wing light lures better than anything else and even make a slightly too powerful rod (i.e. my other Phenix Medium-Light) work relatively well with 1/16 oz lures, although I much prefer the Phenix Light.  

 

Another great all round rod I think for both hair jigs and Neds would be the Dobyns 701c but is no longer made unfortunately. That and the Phenix Light would be my two choices for baitcasting finesse for Bass... but with that Air TW makes everything work so well!

[fishwizzard]

 

Right out of the tube, I like any rod where I can get my finger on the blank when palming it.  

 

Balance with the Alphas is right in the middle of the locking nut, completely perfect.  I only tried two lures, a t-rigged 3: Senko (~1/8oz) and a grub on a 1/8oz jighead (~1/4oz).  Line is 6lb Supernatural.  Both lures cast well, but the grub really flew out there.  All my casts were pulling to the right, but I assume that is the solid tip messing with me.  The tip is super soft and crazy thin, it is going to be nerve racking the first time I get a good fish on.  

 

What remains to be seen is if it's powerful enough to give good hooksets on the little t-rigged plastics and the jigheads at the end of a long cast.  The rod has a lot of power in it's backbone but I don't know how that tip is going to be with hooksets.  It seems like it's going to be overkill for stocker trout and white perch, but we shall see about that as well.  One of my after work ponds got stocked yesterday, so hopefully tomorrow I can test it out on trouts and basses.  

 

The only downside so far is the cork, it's approaching "why bother?" bad, I wish they just did the entire thing in composite/rubberized and give up on the real thing. 

[Corey T]

3 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

However, if I'm throwing both 1/16th oz hair jigs and also a 1/8 oz Ned jig + plastic, or drop-shotting - I'd go with the the Feather "Light." It bombs the hair jig just as far as the Sierra UF and it also fishes the Ned very well - where I would NOT use the Sierra UF for that.  It just loads the tip too much, not enough power for Neds, drop-shots, etc and can’t imagine pulling through even light cover. 

@FryDog62 can you tell me a little more about what you mean? I’ve read that there is a good backbone on this (which I was thinking was a lot of the point of BFS). Are you saying that it just takes too long to hit that backbone so the rod is not fast enough? I’m not going to worry either way. This will make the perfect city pond and stream rod if I can’t get my weekend warrior bass applications out of it. 

 

1 hour ago, fishwizzard said:

 

Right out of the tube, I like any rod where I can get my finger on the blank when palming it.  

 

Balance with the Alphas is right in the middle of the locking nut, completely perfect.  I only tried two lures, a t-rigged 3: Senko (~1/8oz) and a grub on a 1/8oz jighead (~1/4oz).  Line is 6lb Supernatural.  Both lures cast well, but the grub really flew out there.  All my casts were pulling to the right, but I assume that is the solid tip messing with me.  The tip is super soft and crazy thin, it is going to be nerve racking the first time I get a good fish on.  

 

What remains to be seen is if it's powerful enough to give good hooksets on the little t-rigged plastics and the jigheads at the end of a long cast.  The rod has a lot of power in it's backbone but I don't know how that tip is going to be with hooksets.  It seems like it's going to be overkill for stocker trout and white perch, but we shall see about that as well.  One of my after work ponds got stocked yesterday, so hopefully tomorrow I can test it out on trouts and basses.  

 

The only downside so far is the cork, it's approaching "why bother?" bad, I wish they just did the entire thing in composite/rubberized and give up on the real thing. 

palming that thing is going to be a dream! I really have no idea what to expect at this point but I am confident that it will be fun if nothing else. 

[FryDog62]

19 minutes ago, Corey T said:

@FryDog62 can you tell me a little more about what you mean? I’ve read that there is a good backbone on this (which I was thinking was a lot of the point of BFS). Are you saying that it just takes too long to hit that backbone so the rod is not fast enough? I’m not going to worry either way. This will make the perfect city pond and stream rod if I can’t get my weekend warrior bass applications out of it. 

 

palming that thing is going to be a dream! I really have no idea what to expect at this point but I am confident that it will be fun if nothing else. 

I think it will be a very good pond/stream rod. If I trout fished more it’d be a winner for me. 

Yes, the rod can cast a variety of lures. However, the tip is extremely thin and soft. It doesn’t have the power in the tip to drag a 1/8 oz Ned effectively - and if you encounter even light weeds not sure how you’d pull it through.
 

The rod does have backbone once fully loaded and I think once you’ve hooked a fish it would be adequate in most situations. But the tip is too soft for most bass fishing applications (Ned, drop-shot, etc.) IMO. Great with 1/16 oz hair jig provided no cover to contend with. Probably a great trout stream rod. 

[fishwizzard]

18 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

Yes, the rod can cast a variety of lures. However, the tip is extremely thin and soft. It doesn’t have the power in the tip to drag a 1/8 oz Ned effectively - and if you encounter even light weeds not sure how you’d pull it through.
. 

The conflicting “Ned Rig” definitions strike again!  I do agree that trying to pull my 1/8oz headed grub across my reasonably trimmed lawn wasn’t working, but I do think a MWF-Style (1/32-1/16oz head, #2-4 thinwire hook, like ~3/16oz total presentation weight) is going to be right in this rod’s wheelhouse.  
 

 

This is one of the main presentations I am hoping to use with the rod, total weigh is just under 1/4oz.  Hook is an Owner 1/0 Twistlock, I also have other hooks to try, Owner 1/0 Finesse Twistlocks, which are shorter, a little deeper, and a little thinner. 

[redmeansdistortion]

20 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

I would really like this as a stream rod for trout...

It would be a nice rod for the bigger mainstreams, but far too long for creeks and could become a little difficult to swing.  That said, it would work good for bobber or drift fishing where you're letting the current work your bait instead of the rod and reel.  A St Croix Panfish 5'6" on the other hand is an excellent creek rod for trout.  There are some casts that can be performed from heavy brush that you wouldn't be able to pull off with a long rod.

[Corey T]

1 hour ago, BaitFinesse said:

I do have a sold tip BFS rod and it is less useful than my other BFS rods thanks to the solid tip but still a fun stick to use for bass, trout and panfish.

@BaitFinesse can you educate me on this one? In what way does the solid tip influence techniques?

[fishwizzard]

Took the Dobyn's UL out today after work, spoiler alert, 20mph winds are not super great for finesse fishing.  

 

I hit up a pond that got stocked on Wednesday with the idea of trying it out on some trouts. Threw a 3.5g spoon a round for a bit but had no takers. The rod loaded and cast it pretty well, but with the wind I had the brakes up high and was taking it really easy.  I couldn't feel the spoon wiggling, but didn't really expect to.  I changed to a 1/8oz jighead w/ 3" grub and found a nice wind-blown corner.  Got into a school of tiny tiny bass and managed 19 of them in like 45min with 6 in a row being the record. 

 

The grub+head did as good in the wind as it did in my yard, very respectable distance even when casting parallel to the wind.  It was hard to get any idea about the rod's sensitivity or hookseting power due to the wind but I managed to hook and land every hit I was able to detect.  None of the bass were big enough to really load the rod much past the tip, hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow and I can try to get a few on the t-rigged grub and see what this thing can do.  

[fishwizzard]

16 minutes ago, BaitFinesse said:

How does it stack up to a Majorcraft L power and taper?

Bearing in mind that I haven’t had a real good fish on yet, I would say if the power is probably a little greater than a MC Light.  Because of the tip it’s going to be strictly an open water rod for me and I would feel confident in controlling any fish that can’t instantly snap 6lb mono.  
 

Taper is too hard to tell, it’s my first solid tip rod and I don’t know what to expect.  The 1/2lb monster only just started loading the midsection and but even when holding the rod dead still, the turbo-dinks could jump and thrash all they wanted and the tip kept tension on.  
 

I am dying to know whether or not I can get reasonable hook sets with the lighter t-rig plastics, an open hook-only rod isn’t super useful to me for my bass fishing, but it’s looking like close to my ideal kayak inshore rod.