Hey Hall of Fame Family,
By now, I'm sure you've all heard of the Bait Finesse System (BFS) rods and reels that have gradually made their way from Japan into the United States since the turn of the century. There's been a huge buzz around them online for the past couple years now. Essentially, they are baitcasters designed to throw ultra light baits: rooster tails, crappie grubs, 1/16 oz Neds, etc. Their spools are very shallow and do not hold much line. I was gifted a BFS combo for Christmas, the HANDING Magic L rod and Kastking Kestral reel. The rod is fast action, 2.13m (7 feet), can take 8-17 lb line, and can use lures from 7-20 grams. I recently broke it out for the first time! Took me long enough, right? I was wanting to take it trout fishing for it's first use, but since the closest trout water is 2 hours away, I just haven't had the chance to get out there yet. On an early Juneteenth morning, my friend Matt, who also owns a BFS combo, and I took our setups to a local stream notorious for big smallmouth. He has a similar rod but different reel. This creek is known for having ultra clear water that flows relatively quickly, with the creek channel consisting of almost all rock. There's little vegetation, and the main cover is fallen down trees. It can be a hard place to catch numbers, but the few fish we catch are usually plus sized. We only brought BFS gear.
Honestly, I was slightly intimidated by hooking into a big creek smallie on such light gear. But at the same time, I couldn't wait to get out there! Matt helped me spool my setup with straight braid, 8 lb. Suffix 832 to be exact. He showed me an informative video on how to do it. If you're learning too, check out raWr fishing's tutorial on YouTube. I tied on a 6 lb test monofilament leader, and my first bait of choice was a popper. It's a small, Bass Pro Shops (I think they're called the Tourney Series?) popper. It's green and yellow, has those cheap hooks, and is the smallest popper I own. Upon getting down to the stream, I was feeling ready. I'd heard horror stories of people failing with their BFS gear, and I didn't want that to happen to me. Matt helped me adjust the brakes on my reel, he had them a little too tight on purpose. He referred to the settings as "training wheels", with the idea being for me to loosen the brakes as I get used to fishing the BFS combo throughout the day. I took a few practice casts at our first spot, trying to hone in my casting. At first, I was having trouble getting the lure close enough to the grass line on the other side of the creek I wanted to fish. We worked our way slowly upstream, and it felt as if I was getting better and more accurate with every cast. I was soon enough loosening the brakes on my reel. As I fished, I became more comfortable using the BFS setup. I was expecting the learning curve to be a little more drastic.
After about the first 45 minutes, we got our first bites. Matt was throwing a micro Ned-rigged craw to hit the bottom while I covered the top. I happen to look over at Matt as soon as he's setting the hook on his first fish. I get excited and cheer him on! When I look back over to my line, I realized my popper was gone and my line was headed upstream. I gingerly set the hook, trying to be a little extra delicate with this light gear, and it was fish on! It was an epic battle which resulted in my first BFS catch being a 2 lb creek smallmouth bass! Matt and I were both stoked! We took some photos and sent our fish on their way. I caught another decent smallie about 100 yards upstream on that same popper, and I was quickly learning how to maximize my casting efficiency with a BFS.
I didn't catch any other fish for another hour or 90 minutes, but Matt was getting regular bites on his Ned rig. Now that my casting was getting decent, it was time to make a lure change... to a bronze and black micro crankbait. I called this bait "The Walmart Special" because I got it from the bargain bin at Walmart and I don't even remember the brand. It worked though, and I was quickly catching fish again. It was a blast catching on my BFS combo. It was hard to tell how big some of the fish were when they would initially bite, as even the little fish felt like a decent size! When it was time to turn around, Matt and I traveled about 3 miles upstream and each caught 10 bass and a variety of other species, the largest fish being the first smallie I caught.
I really enjoyed fishing with my BFS setup for the first time. That first smallmouth was especially epic! My combo held up to 8 hours of tough, close quarters fishing. The reel felt as smooth as it did when I first took it out of the box, the rod still feels sturdy, and it survived it's first mission. By the end of the day, I was putting my bait anywhere I wanted, and as far away as I wanted. I loved feeling smallmouth fight against this light gear, and I will definately be using it again soon. However, for all the positives I experienced with this BFS combo, there are some things I did not like. I want to emphasize, these aren't knocks against my particular combo, either. Just things about BFS fishing in general that I didn't find ideal. The first being that I found myself wanting to throw something bigger and/or heavier than what I could with my setup. In a creek like the one I fished, a spinning rod could easily throw a larger Ned or wacky rig, as well as the small baits I used. I felt the BFS was somewhat limited in what baits I could use. That brings up the next issue I had, which is nobody's fault but my own, in that I don't own many small lures that are suitable for BFS fishing. A trip to the tackle shop is in my future! Next, it took me a moment to get used to the drag system. The drag on my reel clicks like a spinning reel, and when that first smallmouth pulled out line, I thought the reel was breaking lol. I was also expecting it to be harder to learn how to use. I think part of what helped me not get many backlashes was fishing with Matt, someone who is experienced in BFS. He was able to help me get setup and tighten my reel down to where it needed to be. I think my BFS has carved out a little niche in my rod and reel arsenal, though. Will it replace a spinning rod or ultralight? No. Is it a nice addition to them, allowing me to use micro sized baits specifically? Yes. I will continue to fish this combo, and I'm sure I'll only continue to learn as I do!
I hope you've enjoyed reading my experience and review!
Tight lines,
Erik Hoffman, Hall of Fame Outdoor Co