The setups:
Light - Aldebaran BFS XG with Avail spool, 5'6" Ace Hawk Double UL , .15mm Stren Crappie mono in high-viz yellow and a Trout Magnet on a 1.6 g jig head.
Medium - Fishband GH100, 6'2" Kuying Teton L, .20mm SpiderWire flouro and a Ned rig (1/15 oz mushroom jig and TRD).
I'm a fan of the Teton line and for the light setup I could have brought a TTC-50FUL (1-7 g), which is probably a better rod than the Ace Hawk Double (.5-4 g), but the Double really does cast light lures better than the Teton and I need all the help I can get. Both the TTC-50FUL and Double are cleverly designed for one handed casting, but habits die hard and I often brought my left hand up to cast and grabbed only air.
With a 1.6 g jig head and Trout Magnet on the light setup, getting accurate casts went pretty well for a beginner. However, when I switched to the 1/64 oz. TM jig heads things fell apart, so I stuck with the 1.6. Hoping my skills improve to the point where I can use a traditional TM plastic and jig.
My first hit of the day was a good sized smallmouth, though I was expecting a redbreast. The smallie bite was on and I'd catch almost as many of them as I did sunfish. Most were about the size of the 4th in the composite below but the real excitement came with that first one and the other two larger ones. As would be expected, the bigger fish were in prime holds around fallen trees in the river's flow. Had to move them and then the kayak away from the snags quickly to fight them in more open water. They sure do peel drag!
The only time I used the medium setup was when I saw big smallmouth chase a perch I'd just hooked. Switched rods and tossed out the Ned rig and got an aggressive hit but to my eye's surprise it wasn't a smallie but a pickerel. The area was full of grass and boulders but took my time and brought it in safely.
My takeaway from my first few BFS river sessions is that I much prefer BFS to spinning. Yes it takes greater casting skill but precisely stopping a bait is much easier than on a spinning reel and I just plain enjoy the handling of BFS reels in general.
PS: Discovered something funny. I thought redbreasts was two words and typed it that way but the preview kept showing "red things". Obviously a family friendly site.
