Does BFS makes a finesse spinning setup obsolete?

[Darth-Baiter]

I’m in the market.  Thinking (spinning) 2500 Vanford with a Med Dobyns Fury.   Roughly $350ish

 

or

 

Dobyns BFS with Curado BFS. Roughly the same investment.  
 

both ain’t happening. 

[garroyo130]

This post is gonna ruffle some feathers but as someone who doesn't have experience with BFS, I am curious to see how the BFS rod powers compare to spinning. I've always been under the impression that spinning allowed you to cast light lures with a heavier power rod. 

[Born 2 fish]

No I just prefer a spinning rod sometimes.

[fishwizzard]

Specifically, the Dobyns BFS isn't going to be nearly as versatile as a Medium spinning rod.  The tip is extremely light and the rod has a lot of backbone.  It's good for a decent bit of stuff in the finesse univerase, but there are way way more presentations that it will be unsuited for.  It's proving to be a very fun rod, but it's quite niche, even for BFS/UL rods.  

 

For about the same money the Phenix Recon 3 L rods will be way more versatile for bass stuff.  The Major Craft Benkei line of rods is also very nice at that price point.  

[JustJames]

No it doesnt. Each have it own purposes not just determined by lure weight.

If you plan to use Curado BFS for Bass finesse fishing not just casting trout magnet, I’d say why not. It will make your life a lot easier when fishing something in 1/8-1/4oz weight (weightless worm, Ned Rig 1/16oz neko/wacky rig small jerkbait/topwater, even inline spinner), especially when you wanna use with thin braid. Some will say any modern baitcaster can cast those lures no problem, but with shallow light weight spool, you can cast further with less effort. You still have power and drag of baitcaster whenever you need it and also enable to use with any M/ML regular bass rod. 
 

Spinning on the other hand has it own place, to me it is about natural grip when holding just the rod not palming the reel. It help to move lure more naturally, more precise and subtle and doesn’t get tired as fast as palming baitcaster.

 

[jimmyjoe]

Just now, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

Spinning on the other hand has it own place, to me it is about natural grip when holding just the rod not palming the reel. It help to move lure more naturally, more precise and subtle and doesn’t get tired as fast as palming baitcaster.

 

   That's one thing that you rarely see mentioned; spinning uses the strong side, casting uses the weak side. Reaction time and torque control can be better with spinning, but using a baitcaster is definitely less tiring ...... at least for me.  ? 

 

   If finesse spinning is a Mazda Miata, then BFS is a hot-rodded go-kart.           jj

[JustJames]

4 minutes ago, jimmyjoe said:

 

   That's one thing that you rarely see mentioned; spinning uses the strong side, casting uses the weak side. Reaction time and torque control can be better with spinning, but using a baitcaster is definitely less tiring ...... at least for me.  ? 

 

   If finesse spinning is a Mazda Miata, then BFS is a hot-rodded go-kart.           jj

believe me trying to shake Neko Rig for hours and hours, and who would give up first ???.

Torque control, subtle and natural move you name it, you will be surprised with bigger bass you would catch with these techniques. 

[bulldog1935]

Night fishing.  

 

 

 

@Darth-Baiter

Especially for fine braid, I would go with the 2000 size Vanford.  

The combo above with Vanquish C2000S had landed doubles, with redfish on one end.  

[Deephaven]

2 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

 

   That's one thing that you rarely see mentioned; spinning uses the strong side, casting uses the weak side. Reaction time and torque control can be better with spinning, but using a baitcaster is definitely less tiring ...... at least for me.  ? 

Only if you hold your baitcaster in the wrong hand.  

[waymont]

I just posted a Dobyns 700 BFS rod in the Flea Market.

[Deleted account]

No.

[webertime]

No based purely on economics and versatility

 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

On 4/29/2021 at 9:41 PM, fishwizzard said:

For about the same money the Phenix Recon 3 L rods will be way more versatile for bass stuff.

What do you think of think of the Recon? I was thinking about buying one, but I haven't heard to many people's thought on them.

[FishTank]

My thoughts on casting BFS.......

 

 

I will still probably buy one at some point.

 

 

 

 

 

[cdlittle]

For me it almost does. I have two spinning setups, one is a 6' XXUL I use for 1/64 jigs with <2" plastics and the other is a 12' crappie float rod. Everything else is casting. The BFS setups that have replaced spinning setups are a 6' UL rod for 1/32-1/8 oz crappie/panfish jigs, a 7' light rod used for moving baits 1/8-1/4 oz, a 7' ML rod that I use for ned rigs/Bitsy Bug finesse jigs up to 3/8 oz, and another 7' ML rod that I use for drop shot (generally a 2-3.5" plastic with a 1/8 or 1/4 weight). All these rods have BFS reels on them.

[fishwizzard]

9 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

What do you think of think of the Recon? I was thinking about buying one, but I haven't heard to many people's thought on them.

 

Mine was a second gen Recon, but I loved it.  I sold due to some temporary madness where I decided that I had "too many rods".  I regretted it the moment it left my hands and someday I will buy another ones.

 

As a rod, it was near perfect.  The taper is just on the Mod side of Fast and the tip is soft enough to make casting lighter presentations easy, but the rod has the backbone to give good hooksets on t-rigged plastics and smaller jig hooks.  It's pretty sensitive too, easily enough for hard-bottom contact lures and weightless plastics.  

 

 

[jbrew73]

As someone that would rather use a Zebco 33 than a spinning reel,  I’d vote yes for bfs.

[Kdizzle]

3 hours ago, jbrew73 said:

As someone that would rather use a Zebco 33 than a spinning reel,  I’d vote yes for bfs.

I think that demographic would be the most attracted to this type of setup, buttttttttt would someone who would buy a Zebco reel to fish most of the time, spend that much money ever on a setup like this?

[brophog]

6 hours ago, Kdizzle said:

I think that demographic would be the most attracted to this type of setup, buttttttttt would someone who would buy a Zebco reel to fish most of the time, spend that much money ever on a setup like this?

 

The same thought experiment goes on with the Zebco Bullet, a $99 spincast reel designed to give features (such as a much higher gear ratio) common in a spinning/baitcast reel. By pretty much any metric a similar priced baitcast/spinning reel blows it out of the water and at a considerable cost increase compared to the average spincast reel it loses out on value. Yet it sells because it still does something unique.

 

 

 

 

[redmeansdistortion]

In the grand scheme of things, spinning is here to stay.  Widespread adoption of BFS isn't going to be a thing until products under $100 hit the shelves.  We are still a long ways off from that.  While it is true that there are plenty of sub-$100 BFS reels out there, they don't have the brand recognition that Shimano, Daiwa, and Abu have.  Once the Big 3 offer BFS-capable reels at that price point, we will see more willing to try it out since the price of admission will be far lower than it is currently.  That said, the Curado BFS looks like a nice reel and carries a price tag more in line with what most are willing to pay for a reel in general.  At under $190, it's a bargain compared to the JDM offerings, most of which run at least $250, and more commonly over $300.  If the OP wants to try it out, go for it, but the spinning outfit he has in mind is no slouch either.  Personally, I'd be happy with either one even though I thoroughly enjoy BFS.

[CrankFate]

Spinning will always be easier for lighter baits. No moving parts, just the fishing line and the resistance of the lip of the spool and the guides. 

[JustJames]

6 hours ago, CrankFate said:

Spinning will always be easier for lighter baits. No moving parts, just the fishing line and the resistance of the lip of the spool and the guides. 

Hey you forgot to mention line twisted ???? that will always be with spinning.

[brophog]

20 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

While it is true that there are plenty of sub-$100 BFS reels out there, they don't have the brand recognition that Shimano, Daiwa, and Abu have.  Once the Big 3 offer BFS-capable reels at that price point, we will see more willing to try it out since the price of admission will be far lower than it is currently. 

 

I wouldn’t go quite that far. Those three aren’t primarily known for their sub $100 reels. Nearly everyone, including the above, has a baseline $100 reel because that’s been a long standing price point for that level of reel. Sub $100 reels have gotten better over the years, but there still is too much corner cutting involved, as seen in those knockoffs. A $100 or more likely $150 reel across multiple manufacturers is needed as there is no question the barrier of entry right now is too high.

 

Rods, imo, has always been the bigger issue, and maybe more specifically the paradox that rod manufacturers don’t want to release product because of lack of reels and vice versa. So while neither is ground breaking, I think the mere fact we’ve seen both a BFS rod and reel released this year in the US is an important early step to greater adoption.

 

[fishwizzard]

6 hours ago, brophog said:

 

I think the mere fact we’ve seen both a BFS rod and reel released this year in the US is an important early step to greater adoption.

 

Phenix has been offering bfs rods for years, ones far more suited to general fishing then the Dobyn’s, but I think they lack the market presence to get much attention.  

[Bluebasser86]

Even after trying BFS, it just feels so much like a novelty thing whereas spinning gear feels more practical.