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BFS FISHING GUIDE

So, firstly, what is BFS? It stands for bait finesse system, a term coined by Shimano to describe a bait caster that's designed to cast lighter than those typically casted on bait casters at the time. It's essentially light or ultra light bait casting tackle. Now, why BFS? Well, for me personally, the gear is very fun to use, very aesthetically pleasing to look at, and also more customizable than spinning tackle. But the real reason that you should choose BFS over conventional spin tackle is that if you're putting in a lot of accurate cast in a close quarter environment such as stream fishing for trout, you're able to better control the distance you cast the lure by easily being able to stop it with your thumb, more efficiently engaging the spool without having to flick the bail arm. Also having less line twist in the line. To me, this is the main reason why BFS gear shines over all other conventional spinning gear. When it comes to all other factors, it's just a matter of the novelty factor of casting a bait casting reel over a spinning reel.

Now, before we get into the specifics of the gear, we need to figure out what you intend to use the BFS gear for. Whether we're trying to fill a gap in our current lineup of combos, whether we're looking to replace certain combos for a BFS orientated one, or if we're just wanting a multi-purpose combo that has versatility. Once we can answer that question, we then need to think of the species we're going to target mostly and the water that we find them in so that we can figure out the type of lures we are most likely to cast. So here we need to figure out a general idea of the profile of the lures we intend to use, the type of sink rates we might want to use for those scenarios, and then we can figure out a range of weights for those lures, and then we can decide an appropriate rod, reel, line, and leader combo to optimize our fishing experience. In a future video, I'll go through specific lure types that you might want to use for certain species in certain scenarios. In the next topic, I will cover options for various types of fishing and give you recommendations on what I think are the best value for money options for each scenario. Now, rod selection.

When it comes to ultralight and light casting rods, you need to consider three main things. That is what rod length you should buy, the casting weight rating of that rod to suit the types of lures that you want to cast, and the rod action. Firstly, I'd like to address a misconception about rod action and rod power. The terms ultra light, light, medium light, etc. are referring to the rod's power. These ratings go hand in hand with the rod's casting weight rating and also the recommended line class used on the rod. I think the line class rating is a very old school generic rating, and the rod's casting weight should be prioritized over the line class rating. Rods that have a 1 to2 kilo or 2 to 4 lb line rating may have different casting weights. One might be 0.8 to 5 g where another could be 1 to 10 gram. I'll go over this in more detail in a future video, but just wanted to touch on this to raise awareness for those that don't know about this type of thing yet. Okay, so when it comes to choosing a rod length, I'd prefer to put it into three main categories.

Short rods that are 5'6 and lower, medium length rods that are generally 6 to 6' 6, and longer rods that are 7T and over. As a general rule, if you're going to be waiting creeks or casting from the bank where there's a lot of trees and shrubs that will impede your casting action, you want to go for a shorter rod. These rods are the traditional style BFS rods used in stream angling and can be anywhere from the 4 to 5'6 range. If you're looking for a more multi-purpose rod, look for something closer to 6 to 6' 6. These lengths are kind of a jack of all trade length where you obviously make some sacrifices having a longer rod for close quarter scenarios, but you're able to get the benefit of a little bit of extra casting distance. If you're going to be mostly fishing in open water scenarios or in a boat where you think longer casting and covering water is more advantageous, then go for a longer rod. This is the type of fishing I mainly do, so I have about five rods in that 7 to 8 ft range. As far as the rod action is concerned, the action refers to the bend point of the rod. An extra fast action rod will bend most towards the tip section of the rod, whereas a slow action rod's bend point will be closer to the center of the rod. These were previously described as fast and slow tapered rods, as in the past, the taper of the rod's blank was the determining factor in its action.

These days, there are different ways a manufacturer can manipulate a rod's action by using different thicknesses and walls on the rod blank, different ways that the carbon wraps around the rod, as well as a use of different materials altogether, such as fiberglass or a titanium tip section. There are various action ratings, but in general, slow, medium, medium fast, fast, and extra fast are the ways I would describe most rods. Now, choosing an action can be personal preference, but also the lure fishing technique and the fish that you intend to target can influence what rod action is best for you. Typically, slower rods are best to use with moving baits and fish with softer mouth, such as trout. Faster rods can be better for bottom contact techniques. Their sensitivity and bite detection is more important. Plus, fast rods have more hook setting capability. A good all-rounder would probably be something with a medium fast action. If you want any specific recommendations for a rod, let me know in the comments section what fish you're targeting, what techniques you intend to use, and the preferred rod length, and I'll do my best to try and help you in the right direction.

Okay, now let's talk about reels. A typical low profile BFS reel could be in a 50 or 100 size, have four or 5 kilos of drag, be made of various materials, and have a variety of braking styles. BFS reels have a lightweight shallow spool that allows them to cast lighter weights, and that's really what differentiates them from a typical bass bait casting reel. Out of all the reels I've tested, as well as feedback from friends and from Facebook groups, I've created a tier list video with 42 different reels and then given my opinions on them. I'll pop a link in the top corner of the video as well and in the video description. To make this selection process easier, I'm going to recommend a few reels that might suit your needs in order of price.

Okay, so if you're looking for a super budget option, my two picks are the Seasir Cast X and the Cemreo Phantom. The Seasir Cast X is a very good value for money reel. It's a 100 size reel that comes with both a shallow and a deep spool. It's best for casting lures 3 g and above. Now, the Phantom does cast a little bit lighter out of the box, probably 2 g, and is smaller and a lighter reel, but the quality isn't quite as good as the Castex, but both options are quite good. The next two reels are essentially the same reel. That's the Solar King Acura, also known as the Dobylo Hick 50 and the Kingdom Micro Monster. Both of these reels are lightweight 50s size reels with the Acura coming in with the option of a deeper spool. You can't go wrong with either of these options, and with practice, they're able to cast under 1 g.

The build quality is also very good on either one of these, so they're both a great option. I feel like the braking on the Micro Monster is a touch stronger and a little bit more user friendly. So, I'd give that one the edge if you're a first-time BFS angler. If we bump up the price a little bit more, we have the Kingdom Micro Monster Pro that comes stock with a medium depth spool, but also has the option to purchase a shallow spool as an extra. This is a great looking reel that hasn't been on the market for too long, and the general feedback on this reel is quite good, and the price point is really good, too. So, I think this is an awesome all round performing uh option for those that want something that's versatile. The Purelure Silver Feather Air is probably my pick of the bunch as the current price to performance ratio cannot be beaten in my eyes.

I've done a few videos on this reel before and it's a very user friendly reel that's capable of casting 1 g and has very good build quality and only weighs 119 g. If you're wanting what I think is the best reel right now, I'd look at the Purelure Silver Feather XA DC reel. This is a digitally controlled or DC reel which has amazing braking capabilities and is extremely user friendly to cast. It comes with a slightly deeper spool, so I'm using this on my longer rods where I want long casts and potentially cast heavier lures. But all in all, it's an absolutely fantastic reel. Definitely the best release of 2024. All of these reels should be able to cast up to 10 g. And when it comes to the EXA DC, I've casted 18 g on it with no issues.

Now that we have a roden reel, we'll need some line and some leader. The majority of BFS anglers tend to use a braided line for their main line with a fluorocarbon leader. The braided line is much thinner than straight monofilament or fluorocarbon line, which makes casting light lures much easier as it's lighter and cuts through the air more. Also, because it has almost no stretch, it makes bite detection and even hook setting easier. Now, because we want lower visibility and abrasion resistance, we tie on a length of fluorocarbon leader to the end of the braided line. There are many knot videos on YouTube that demonstrate this, but I use a very basic double uni knot, which is what I'd recommend to every first time lure angler. For the line choice, we have a few things to consider. There are braided lines that have three, four, eight, or even up to 13 strands of braid that are woven together to form the line. As a beginner, I wouldn't delve too deeply into this subject as I think experience will dictate what's best for you.

As a general rule, I would not think of any lines in terms of the breaking strain, but think of them purely based on their diameter. Now, you may have heard of PE or GOU ratings of line. Many lines these days have the PE rating, and typical Japanese braided lines will have the go rating system. These are both very similar, so I wouldn't worry about looking into that too much. Line diameters and braking strains that are listed on the packaging from a lot of known manufacturers are often incorrect. That's why it's best to use the PE or go rating system. If you want more information on this, please check out Tim from the Line Laboratory YouTube channel as well as his website. This is pretty much the only resource you'll ever need when it comes to choosing a line.

You will notice from the various tests that he does that often the braking strain and line diameter varies a lot from what's written on the packaging. Some brands are way more guilty than others when it comes to this. The first place I would start is a 006 PE or go braid. This will have a breaking strain of around about 12 lb. You may think this is quite heavy for BFS applications, but with some reels, if you go for a very thin line, you may end up running into some issues with the line getting caught between the spool and the reel's body, or perhaps the line digging in on itself a little bit on the spool. 06 is a great all purpose line, and the great thing is that you can always change a leader to suit your needs.

Some of my favorite budget lines are the Kingdom MicroFly, which is definitely the best value for money, as well as the CISO Red Bull and the lines from Zukibo. I'd recommend that you go for a fluorocarbon leader with an approximate braking strain of 6 lb. From there, if you wish, you could go down to 2, 3, or 4 lb, or even up to 8 or 10 lb. But anything beyond that, I wouldn't recommend unless you have a specific use for it. When it comes to leader length, I typically like to have just enough leader so that the braid to leader knot is just sitting off the real spool with about 4 in of fluorocarbon leader hanging out of the tip of the rod.

From there, you can either tie the lure directly onto the line or tie on a lure clip, which makes changing lures much easier, and that's what I recommend.

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