Your ideal BFS rod action?

How small is your rod and how light is your line? It's not about the size of your tackle, but how you work it. Come share your Ultralight and Bait Finesse System (BFS) fishing success here!
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Your ideal BFS rod action?

Post by ultralight » Fri Jan 25, 2019 6:06 pm

Quick question: For you BFS UL fans, what is your ideal rod action? Medium, Medium Fast, Fast or X-Fast? And why? :D

OK, now back to work....:)

Thanks.

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Re: Your ideal BFS rod action?

Post by Craigthor » Fri Jan 25, 2019 6:48 pm

I’ll follow this one as I jump off the deep end.

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Re: Your ideal BFS rod action?

Post by John G » Sat Jan 26, 2019 3:31 am

I have never owned an XF UL rod but I do have a F so I wold say fast.

I'm assuming that you are talking about bass rods and not the whippy trout rods.

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Re: Your ideal BFS rod action?

Post by Houndfish » Sat Jan 26, 2019 6:53 am

I want an XF for some stuff, a F for some, and a MF for other stuff.

For an all-around BFS rod I would prefer a F leaning towards MF. I want the casting ease and due to to the smaller and thinner hooks involved, I am not too worried about hook-sets.

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Re: Your ideal BFS rod action?

Post by hoohoorjoo » Sat Jan 26, 2019 7:13 am

Houndfish wrote:I want an XF for some stuff, a F for some, and a MF for other stuff.

For an all-around BFS rod I would prefer a F leaning towards MF. I want the casting ease and due to to the smaller and thinner hooks involved, I am not too worried about hook-sets.
Ditto, though every action has its place in my rotation. I have a bfs rod specifially for ul cranks and tiny spinners, built on a Rainshadow Immortal UL moderate popping blank. It bends deep into the blank, maybe bordering on a slow action. It is spiral-wrapped, so no chance for the line to rub the blank. Now I really enjoy fishing those 3 gram-plus cranks with casting gear. But it wouldnt work well for anything with a single-hook, like weightless Roboworms or the 1/16 Micro-King spinnerbaits I often fish. My bfs rod count now stands at 6, if you count power-finesse combos for tiny jig-n-pigs and t-rigs.
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Re: Your ideal BFS rod action?

Post by Houndfish » Sat Jan 26, 2019 9:05 am

hoohoorjoo wrote:I have a bfs rod specifially for ul cranks and tiny spinners, built on a Rainshadow Immortal UL moderate popping blank. It bends deep into the blank, maybe bordering on a slow action. It is spiral-wrapped, so no chance for the line to rub the blank. Now I really enjoy fishing those 3 gram-plus cranks with casting gear.
I would love some pic and more info on this rod, I am still on the quest for my "Ultimate 1/8oz Spinner/Spoon" rod and I am thinking more and more that custom is the way to go. I have two rods that will cast them satisfactory but neither of them is close to "Ultimate".

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Re: Your ideal BFS rod action?

Post by Craigthor » Sat Jan 26, 2019 9:16 am

Houndfish wrote:
hoohoorjoo wrote:I have a bfs rod specifially for ul cranks and tiny spinners, built on a Rainshadow Immortal UL moderate popping blank. It bends deep into the blank, maybe bordering on a slow action. It is spiral-wrapped, so no chance for the line to rub the blank. Now I really enjoy fishing those 3 gram-plus cranks with casting gear.
I would love some pic and more info on this rod, I am still on the quest for my "Ultimate 1/8oz Spinner/Spoon" rod and I am thinking more and more that custom is the way to go. I have two rods that will cast them satisfactory but neither of them is close to "Ultimate".
Have you looked into any of the UL or L Moderate trout tapers? Custom may be cheaper if you have the means to build your own.

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Re: Your ideal BFS rod action?

Post by Houndfish » Sat Jan 26, 2019 9:56 am

Craigthor wrote: Have you looked into any of the UL or L Moderate trout tapers? Custom may be cheaper if you have the means to build your own.
I have, but I am leery of spending too much on a trout rod due to the potential bycatch for the species I want to target. I want the rod to fish for White Perch in brackish rivers, but a very common bycatch will be schoolie Stripers, Pickerel up to the low 20", and even schoolie Blues. I worry that most Trout rods will not have the strength/backbone to land them without taking too long and killing the fish. The Stripers especially cannot abide a long fight when the water is hot. I have a Kuying Teton I am using now and it is pretty close to what I am looking for, I just want a little more length for a little more casting distance and a little more backbone.

My ideal rod will be soft enough for easy, accurate casts and to protect lighter line, but with enough power to get a 24" Striper to the boat in a hurry if need be. I feel like a custom rod will be my best shot at finding a blank like this as I will have all the varied spinning rod blanks to pick from as well. I have a ExtraLight/Mod St Croix rod now that is close to what I want but it will not cast with the ease I am looking for. Perch fishing for me is 100% a numbers game, I like to see how many I can catch on consecutive casts and this means getting the spinner/spoons right up next to, in, or under the cover the perch are schooling up to.

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Re: Your ideal BFS rod action?

Post by Hobie-Wan Kenobi » Sat Jan 26, 2019 10:24 am

Really depends on line preference and technique. I found braid with faster BFS rods can tear holes with the tiny hooks. The fish seem to be able to shake free easier too. When I switched ti FC on my St Croix Legend Elite 7ft Light Fast custom, My land percentage was better, especially with small cranks.

Rods are SOOOO different. I have a custom MHX Spin Jig UL x-fast rod. Rated to 1/32oz and normal-ish UL line ratings. That rod will never do 1/32oz legitimately, not even with a spinning reel. The rod is x-fast but, does give under some pressure (more than most panfish are able to give).
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Re: Your ideal BFS rod action?

Post by DirtyD64 » Sat Jan 26, 2019 10:52 am

So far only tried one, but fast was what I chased the whole time I looked to purchase one. Cranks and small trebles are a back seat lure to jigs and plastics for me though.

To the previous comment, I still want to try some UL fluorocarbon too, it doesn't add to much more weight than braid does it???

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Re: Your ideal BFS rod action?

Post by hoohoorjoo » Sat Jan 26, 2019 2:39 pm

My custom Immortal bfs rod handled this 3.5# lmb with no problem. Caught her on a OSP mini crank, around 1/8 oz. With braid, I was able to land her in under a minute....and she whacked the crank while it was sitting, at the end of a 40 yd cast. Having the drag set right makes a world of difference.

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Re: Your ideal BFS rod action?

Post by poisonokie » Sat Jan 26, 2019 2:59 pm

The only one I have is a super crisp regular fast. It's a fast to extra fast at first, but bends more deeply as the pressure builds. I consider it to be very versatile, which to me is pretty important in an expensive setup. I wouldn't want a whippy bait finesse rod, but I only occasionally target anything other than LMB.
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Re: Your ideal BFS rod action?

Post by poisonokie » Sat Jan 26, 2019 3:02 pm

DirtyD64 wrote:So far only tried one, but fast was what I chased the whole time I looked to purchase one. Cranks and small trebles are a back seat lure to jigs and plastics for me though.

To the previous comment, I still want to try some UL fluorocarbon too, it doesn't add to much more weight than braid does it???
It is heavier, but no more than you have spooled on, I don't think it makes a difference. To me the benefits of using fluorocarbon outweigh whatever marginal difference in weight it has with braid. Of course, if you're using a truly extra fast rod you probably won't want to use braid, anyway, while if it's a regular or slow it might be necessary.
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Re: Your ideal BFS rod action?

Post by Edward78 » Fri Feb 01, 2019 8:31 am

I mostly use rods with Fast to Moderate fast actions, I have noodle rods and extra fast rods but mostly only use my Kuying Teton 662L and MC Benkei 65UL/BF both with Moderate to fast actions

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Re: Your ideal BFS rod action?

Post by southpaw619 » Fri Feb 01, 2019 2:24 pm

I like the fast action bass style rods. They cast low weights just as easy as whippy trout rods but have better hooksets for single hook baits.

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