My annual BFS casting lesson :)

:Rofl. I don’t know why I even try .
Maybe I should say bi-annual , because once or sometimes twice a year I’ll get out one of my , so designated, BFS combos and give it another try .
Today it was a 5’6” Abu Garcia Mass Beat III UL casting rod paired with a Daiwa Fuego CT100H reel spooled with six pound P-line .
Anything lower test line gets behind the spool too easily . Maybe I should try 8# . :)
Anyways , I tied on a 2.5g spoons and went to the end of the driveway to cast across the street . The most open area I have.
After a few successful 25’ casts at the magnetic brake set on ten , I started loosening up the brake on the next the handle to where the spoon slowly drops to the ground without a backlash. And I started backing off on the magnetic brake to where I hit my goal around 4 .
I made about three successful casts out to maybe 50-60’ .
I’m getting frogging now . :) .
I cranked my spoon a little too close to the rod tip and on the next cast the hook caught the eye or rod and without a thumb on the spool ,I had a mess that wound up having to be cut out .
The backlash is cleared , the line threaded back through the guides and the brakes and drag are backed off , the rod is ready for the rod rack for another six months or so .
BFS , I don’t get it . But I keep trying hoping one day a lightbulb will appear over my head and it’ll all click .

I smiled reading this. I’ve had many bird nest I’ve had to clean up. :Rofl

I admire your dedication to the trials but I’m not gonna join ya on this one. I have enough addictions in this fishing game already. I’ll let folks call me names for not trying it and smile. My hard drive is close to full and my patience is thin. We already have enough bad words that slip out from time to time so I won’t create any new ones. I hope that on one of these visitations to the new concept you get it right, I for one am rooting for you!

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

I admire your dedication to the trials but I’m not gonna join ya on this one. I have enough addictions in this fishing game already. I’ll let folks call me names for not trying it and smile. My hard drive is close to full and my patience is thin. We already have enough bad words that slip out from time to time so I won’t create any new ones. I hope that on one of these visitations to the new concept you get it right, I for one am rooting for you!

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I admit I fell the hype .
All of this casting light lures ACCURATELY .
I used to use a baitcaster back when I targeted bass . I used them for crankbaits , buzzbaits and spinnerbaits.
Great tool for that job . A quick flip cast and you’re cranking again .
Then I became more of a finesse fisherman before finesse fishing became cool.
But it just doesn’t work (for me ) with light baits .
And before someone suggest I try a real BFS reel , I have a couple of KastKing BFS reels that were highly rated .
My Daiwa Fuego is two times the reel and is easier to cast .

Personally I believe spinning tackle is the way to go for light lures. You have to spend a lot of money to make a BFS reel effectively cast 1 gram or below. I spent $150 on an after market spool for the Gekkabijin Air TW. Definitely not needed for light lures or open water. Having said that, I most certainly prefer BFS over spinning for trout stream fishing. Reason being casting accuracy (lures weighing 2.5 gram or more). No lures lost since fall 2023 :) I have tried to manage casting accuracy with a spinning reel by feathering the spool with my index finger, but it doesn’t work as well as BFS.


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Danny, I’ve grown up feathering a spinning reel and have a couple of nice BC reels in the shop but not bfs. I don’t handle the BC reels enough to be as good as I once was. One of them is a Shimano curado which was the bomb at the time and I’m sure has been left in the dust by now. For me they’re a green fish tool using heavier baits in any conditions except wind. I’ve even toyed with the idea of selling them.

Tim! Nice to hear from you. I sure need to get better at feathering a spinning reel. Never quite seem to get it just right despite studying several videos on YouTube.


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Have you done anything with your Fuego? Shallow, lightweight spool? To solve with over run spool with light lure, you need light spool weight to help startup, shallow spool to maintain better line lay and circumference for better distance and lightest smaller line possible to help the line peeled off spool easier. I’m not gonna talk about rod and load since your rod is capable of light lure I assume.
too much control 8lb line no backlash but no distance either. Another misconception is light break to gain more distance for light lure you want to be able to stop overrun of spool VS line pulling off (backlash happen when spool spin faster than line being pull out) you need stronger brake to slow down spool enough.
Profile of lure is very important to BFS too, a little bit of lure shape different(aerodynamic) would effect BFS significantly compare to heavier lure type.

I would be happy to cast 25-30yards out on 1/16oz crappie jig with baby shad (almost 3 grams total weight). The lowest I can cast with distance and controllable is 1/24oz with aerodynamic plastic shape like baby shad. I now only use baitcaster when searching for crappie (slower line retrieve than all my spinning) or when vertical jigging where I can let the line off just a press of finger and ready to sethook without worrying about manually closing bail.

I’m able to get off some nice casts , I’m just not consistent.
One little mistake and it turns into a big mess.
Just not worth the hassle IMO .

Let me first say SORRY.
if you started wrong, doing the wrong thing and doesn’t work as you want or you see from others, it becomes a HYPE. Consistency and fishable distance is successful to have fun of using BFS. Now if you started right successfully catch plenty of fish but it is not your thing at least it is not a HYPE.
BFS to me is excellent for stream fishing where distance is not concerned but more of accuracy. Small farm pond or when kayak, float tube fishing. Have you don’t dock fishing with Baitcaster it is more fun than spinning (I don’t know how to back reel)

Supposed to be resting and off my feet but I had to do something close to fishing .
I dug out my KastKing Zephyr BFS reel and mounted it on an UL casting rod . Actually the rod is one I converted from a 5’ flyrod I had built from a spinning rod blank and didn’t like how it cast .
Removed the handle and grip replaced with a casting pistol grip .
I oiled the spool tension knob by the handle before attempting any casts .
I was tossing a 2.5g spoon and was getting pretty good distance out of it . Enough to be useful, and no tangles this time . May be hope for me yet . :)