I was on my hands and knees in the backyard peeking down a rabbit hole when my dog bumped my but and I fell in! The rabbit hole just happened to be a BFS fishing rabbit hole! I now have three BFS rods and reels and have been panfishing with them. Panfishing with BFS is without a doubt, the most fun I have ever had fishing!
The Reels- Compared to spinning reels, they are not cheap. The highest quality reels are all from Japan, JDM, and either Shimano or Diawa. I have a Shimano Curado BFS (purchased stateside) and a Diawa 25 Alphas BF TW (purchased from Digitaka in Japan). Shipping time from Digitaka for me was 3 days to northern Wisconsin. Both of these reels are on light action casting rods rated for 1/16 to 3/8. The Curado can throw a total lure weight down to 1/8 oz. well. Get below that and it gets tougher with the Curado. The Alphas can throw a 1/16 oz. jig with plastic well. Below this weight, things get tougher. To throw lighter lures, I puchased an Ark Gravity BFS (Chinese) with a claimed capability of throwing down to 1/50 oz. right out of the box. I haven't tested that claim, but I throw 1/32 oz. jigs with plastic with no problems. I throw the Trout Magnet on the 1/32 oz. tungsten jighead. For this I use a UL 5' rod rated from 1/32 to 3/16 oz. I can throw the 1/32 Tungsten Trout Magnet jighead and body 45-48 feet. The 1/16 jig head and plastic I can throw 65-67 feet. These distances will improve with more time.
The Rods- For a decent rod rated to the weight of the lure want to throw, you are gonna drop $100-$150. There are only a few rods stateside that are rated down to 1/32 oz. Most are rated at 1/16 oz. All of my rods are stateside purchases. The BFS industry stateside is geared heavily towards bass fisherman and heavier lures. This is changing quickly though.
The Line- Braid is the answer with a leader of you choice. Leader can be either mono, fluoro, or copolymer. I use Trout SOS for all leaders. After a ton of research and a lot time reading on a website called The Line Test Laboratory, one thing is obvious, Varivas consistently makes the best braided line. Varivas 4 and Varivas 8 are common choices for BFS reels. Pricey, but good. Believe it or not, Suffix 832 is rated really well and can be bought just about anywhere. Speaking of line, a BFS reel is typically loaded with 50 yards/meters of line! Less line, better casting distance.
The Baits- Bait choice depends on the reel capability. With the reels I own, it is basically a 1/32 oz. jig (with plastic) and up. They sky is the limit on baits. Small inline spinners, spoons, plastics, you name it. I essentially use everything I was using with my spinning gear except for using the 1/32 oz. tungsten jig head on the Trout Magnet instead of the standard 1/64 oz. jighead. You can throw the 1/64 oz. Trout Magnet on my Ark Gravity BFS, but the guys doing it are really experienced.
Casting- Casting a BFS and a light lure is a challenge at first, especially if you have fished with traditional baitcasters for bass or musky. The key to distance and consistency is to tone down your cast. Small side arm softer wrist cast are the ticket. You can throw overhead to, you just need to tone it down. Throwing hard will make the reel backlash and effect accuracy and distance. I struggled with this at first. Traditionally on a larger baitcaster with a larger lure, the harder you throw, the further you go. This doesn't work for BFS and is the stumbling point for everyone getting started in BFS. Consistency in form and strength of throw will get you distance and accuracy. It takes a little practice to achieve this.
The reels need to have the spool zeroed to be properly setup. You move the spool with you finger side to side and adjust the spool tension knob until there is no side play. Once you have this, you back the tension knob off ever so slightly. This is adjusted once and left alone. It is the same for all baits. Casting control is now all the braking system, and is the only thing you adjust per bait weight. Start casting with the mag brakes turned up high. Use short side arm cast and observe where you were aiming and where the lure stopped. If you're right handed using a side arm cast and you stop the rod, and the lure goes to the left, the reel is over braked. Turn the mag brakes down a click or two at a time until the lure lands in front of the rod where you were aiming. Now you can continue to turn the mag control down a click at a time until you just start to backlash, then turn back one or two clicks to be safe. Properly setup and casting in the open, you don't need to thumb the spool at all.
Casting technique is a huge factor in getting distance and accuracy. Consistency in your casting form and strength of throw are important. These need to be practiced!
Why- Spinning reels work fine and have for a long time, so why in the heck would anyone do this???
Bait casters offer better cast control and accuracy. When casting to cover, you can thumb the spool to stop the lure right on target. Line twist is eliminated as well as wind knots. For me, it's also the fun factor.
The downside is cost for sure. A BFS rod and reel typically cost more than a spinning rod and reel. Baitcasters have something known as backlash or a birds nest. Experience can reduce this, but no matter what it's going to happen and is caused by a phenomena known as user error.
