BFS Newbie

[dk2429]

Long story short, one of my buddies acquired a KastKing Kestrel and gave it to me since he’s a saltwater fisherman. Never owned a KastKing but it seems nice. 
 

I’ve never bothered with the new BFS stuff but since I got this reel now, I don’t mind stepping into it. What kind of rod/line/lures do y’all do this with? It has a really shallow spool on it. I’d prefer to not get some super high end rod for this just yet since I’ve never fished like this

 

Thanks 

 

 

[bulldog1935]

your friend missed out

He could fish 20-lb braid and MinnowZ on 1/8-oz Texas Eye jighead on any ML inshore rod.  

[msgf91]

I would start out with a Light powered rod or even a ML if you wanted. Handing rods from Amazon or the dragon II rods off Aliexpress or bfs empire. I use 4 lb fluorocarbon for my Light power rods. Then maybe 1/16th or 1/8th ounce roadrunners to practice casting with. Roadrunners with small swimbaits are my favorite light lures to throw. They catch everything 

[dk2429]

9 minutes ago, msgf91 said:

I would start out with a Light powered rod or even a ML if you wanted. Handing rods from Amazon or the dragon II rods off Aliexpress or bfs empire. I use 4 lb fluorocarbon for my Light power rods. Then maybe 1/16th or 1/8th ounce roadrunners to practice casting with. Roadrunners with small swimbaits are my favorite light lures to throw. They catch everything 

Thanks for the info. What is the point in the BFS gear anyway? If I hang an 8lb+ bass on 4lb test and an light rod that just seems like a recipe for diasater 

[MickD]

It's fun to cast really light lures on a baitcaster.  If you don't want to use 4 pound test, don't.  Try 10 pound braid with an 8 pound leader.  Or 8 pound mono all the way.  There are many ways to enjoy BFS.  But if it's all about landing the big fish, maybe it's not the right technique for you. 

[dk2429]

3 minutes ago, MickD said:

It's fun to cast really light lures on a baitcaster.  If you don't want to use 4 pound test, don't.  Try 10 pound braid with an 8 pound leader.  Or 8 pound mono all the way.  There are many ways to enjoy BFS.  But if it's all about landing the big fish, maybe it's not the right technique for you. 

Thanks for the info. I have some medium light trout rods that I could use and see what it's all about. I'm not after big fish all the time, I'm just saying that it sounds like a bad time to hook a big one with that light of gear lol.

[Bigbox99]

22 minutes ago, dk2429 said:

Thanks for the info. What is the point in the BFS gear anyway? If I hang an 8lb+ bass on 4lb test and an light rod that just seems like a recipe for diasater 

Or a good time.  The point is to use fluorocarbon too heavy for a spinning reel and to present light baits to pressured fish in cover.  

 

Turn on captions and auto translate to English to hear the story of BFS from the guy that invented the term.  

 

 

You don't have to bass fish or use bass rods.  The reel doesn't care if it's on a bass rod or a trout rod.  You'll have to decide what you want to do with the reel.  If you want a cheap BFS rod for bass fishing doing what you see in the video then you want something like a Majorcraft L, Phenix L or Shimano L BFS rod.  Maybe a Tsurinoya Elite 65L if you want to stay around $100.  

 

If you want a trout rod then you have a ton of cheap options.

[little giant]

I use an inshore ML rod. 15 lb braid, 8 lb flouro leader. Biggest Florida LM so far, 8.3 lbs. It's a challenge but a great fun one!! Note that inshore salt fish go over 10 lbs, rod is built for them!

[dk2429]

3 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

your friend missed out

He could fish 20-lb braid and MinnowZ on 1/8-oz Texas Eye jighead on any ML inshore rod.  

 

He doesn't need to know that. I'm always happy with new gear

 

I inshore saltwater fish trout/reds too from Galveston Bay all the way down to Port Mansfield. I don't see how this reel would be practical for that. It looks like it holds maybe 40-50yds of line lol. Plus I'm using 30# braid for inshore

 

I have a Waterloo HP Lite I'll put it on and try for bass fishing. Who knows, I might hop on the wagon too! Heading up to Fork in a few weeks. Will be a good time to try it

[bulldog1935]

To me (and JAFTMA) PE#1 is 20-lb braid.  

It's the same diameter as 10-lb braid in USM  

 

what's not practical is fishing 3/8- and 1/2-oz lures and dragging up grass every cast.  

1/8 oz keeps your lure in the zone on top of the grass and BFS casts it into next week

A TX inshore neubie from PNW spent a fishless year on the coast, reporting on Texas Kayak Fisherman forum.  When he bought an Alphas Air and followed my lead, he brought home fish every trip.  

Also, this time of year, you have two choices - imitate 6" mullet for the few big fish that are willing to eat them - or fish tide passes and imitate tiny glass minnows, where 200 redfish are sipping them like candy - this lasts into April.  

Every March, you hear, "inside the pass, we saw 200 redfish and they weren't eating anything" - - yes they were, just not what you were throwing.