BFS Telescopic

[Knotty]

I love exploring small streams. Keeping a rod at the ready in the dense woods of northwestern NJ has always been an issue. A two piece doesn't break down small enough for safe transport. A 4 piece travel rod packs better but is such a hassle to rig and un-rig. Figured telescopic might be the answer but would it be spin or spin or BFS? Spin is better for the lightest lures I use but I like the way a baitcast reel mounts close to the rod, making it easier to transport strapped to a backpack, so that's what I decided on.

Being this was a test, I didn't want to drop big bucks on a rod but I knew having floating guides would be critical (especially with a baitcast rod). Did a good bit of searching and found a 1.8 m Chinese rod for just $21. Ordered it in November and it arrived late December.

Rod comes in a nice rod tube plus a fabric rod sleeve. Unfortunately, the rod has an awful name that I suspect is the result of a bad Chinese translation...Fishing Jehad. Yikes! Going to cover that with some black electrical tape. Can't you just see me being pulled aside by TSA if I fly with it?



For the first outing I mounted a Fishband GH100 spooled with 6# SOS copolymer. It did fine casting 2.5 and 3.5 g spoons but I felt the setup wasn't ideal. The good news was that dealing with a telescopic was definitely an improvement over multi-piece rods. I really like the short butt section since most of my BFS casting is one handed and it makes the rod easy to attach to my daypack.



The next day I swapped out the first GH100 with a Tsurinoya XF50 with a lighter Spirit Fox spool and 4# Berkley Nanofil and test casted in the yard. What a difference! The rod is rated down to 2g and with this reel it cast 2g with ease, which was not the case with the other reel and line. Tried 1 g and it could be done but not with any accuracy or distance. Too bad because a 1 g Trout Magnet setup is my go to lure. Next I tried a 1.6 g jig head and it cast just fine. Didn't have time to experiment any more but I suspect this setup can probably go to maybe 1.3 or 1.4 g comfortably.

The stream I fished produced no fish on either BFS or a tenkara rod I brought. Not surprising as it doesn't hold trout. So, I have no idea if the rod is sensitive or plays fish well but I'm very pleased with this experiment thus far.

I mentioned tenkara. Having experience with those rods comes into play with the telescopic. With tenkara, it's very easy to snap the tip section while attaching line if you don't use the right procedure. With the UL telescopic I see similar risks, since the two floating guides are in the tip section and you need a steady hand to safely position them. Also, the rod comes with a very strange and minimal foam tip cover. It's difficult to remove and put on, so I moved between spots by just collapsing the rod, putting the lure on the keeper and applying a little tension with the reel to keep it compressed. However, at one stop I put my pack down and noticed that the lure was missing. A branch must have snagged the line and snapped the Nanofil. Luckily the rod was undamaged. Need to find a better solution. Also think I'll order the spinning version. Got nothing to lose at this price.

[Craigthor]

Nice to see a real review on some telescoping BFS rods, I’ve eyed a few over the last year but most are an investment. At that price it may be worth picking up to mess with. Currently skipping the BFS but I’m looking to play with some 0.5g spoons to see how they fare.

[Houndfish]

I went down the same road, wanting a telescoping rod for hiking. I ended up with a Daiwa BBB that I am really happy with. It locks up super solid and while the blank is very thin at the tip, it has survived enough Maimi canal fishing that I have a lot of faith in it’s strength.

[Knotty]

Nice to see a real review on some telescoping BFS rods, I’ve eyed a few over the last year but most are an investment. At that price it may be worth picking up to mess with. Currently skipping the BFS but I’m looking to play with some 0.5g spoons to see how they fare.

This rod is available in both spin and baitcast but I doubt either is well suited for those 0.5 g spoons you're playing with.

I went down the same road, wanting a telescoping rod for hiking. I ended up with a Daiwa BBB that I am really happy with. It locks up super solid and while the blank is very thin at the tip, it has survived enough Maimi canal fishing that I have a lot of faith in it’s strength.

Interest in that Daiwa Triple B is what drove this purchase. Wasn't ready to drop two bills without first knowing if telescopic suited me or not. Also needing to decide on BFS or spin. Depending on how things work out with these cheapie rods, a BBB may still be in my future.

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Played around with the foam rod tip cover today and made a discovery. The problem I first saw was that the tip top guide gets caught inside the cover and you have to be very careful removing it so as not to break the thin tip section. But, once the rod is rigged and held compressed by the line, the foam cover goes off and on much easier. I think it will offer some additional protection in the field.

[Houndfish]

Interest in that Daiwa Triple B is what drove this purchase. Wasn't ready to drop two bills without first knowing if telescopic suited me or not. Also needing to decide on BFS or spin. Depending on how things work out with these cheapie rods, a BBB may still be in my future.

I only use mine maybe a dozen times a year but I have been really happy with it. They also come with a really nice case that you can zip up around a reel, letting you keep the rod protected and have it pre-rigged and ready to go.

[Knotty]

Houndfish, that's a nice case the BBB comes with. Definitely not something your going to get with a $21 rod.

Decided the foam tip cover just doesn't cut it, so using a scrap wetsuit I sewed a custom cover out of the neoprene. Much better if I don't say so myself.

[Houndfish]

That is really slick looking. Covering all the eyelets makes keeping the rod stashed in an exterior pocket a vastly less risky endeavor.

[MaitreTea]

Do you have a link to this rod on AliExpress? Tried looking around and couldn't find anything. Thanks!

[LowRange]

Does that Aliexpress rod say "Fishing Jehad" on it?

[Slazmo]

Wait till he finds out Spongebob is jolly...

[bigeye135]

Found it on aliexpress under "Carbon Telescopic UL Fishing Rod pole 1.8m 2g-7g Ultralight Portable Travel Spinning Casting Rods with Rod Bag for Trout Pike", select the "white" color, even thought it isn't white.... Anyways, just got in in after 16 days and I'm honestly really impressed. It casts down to about 1/16oz, which is where my reel starts to struggle, so no problems here. Comes in a nice rod tube now instead of the zipper bag thing.

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[Knotty]

Glad to see some new comments on this thread because honestly I kind of forgot about this rod being in my quiver. The only fishing I did with it was in winter on a stream that's pretty barren. Time to try it on more productive waters.

[patrickrio]

I have this telescopic rod also. I really like it for 3 reasons:

1. "Guerrilla Fishing" - I have a few places where I fish on golf course ponds and semi private small streams. While not illegal necessarily, I could be asked to leave at any time so being unobtrusive is useful. This rig fits inside a regular bookbag type backpack easily and goes from hidden inside pack to casting in about 2 minutes. I can easily pack it up and unpack it to move from one screened location to the next. Between locations I just look like I am on a nature hike.....

2. Always ready to fish rig. I can carry this and a minimal zip lock bag based "tackle box" with me everywhere I take any backpack or larger laptop bag.I have one mini case with two sided doors for hard lures and spinners that can fit in a front jeans pocket. All the gear weighs less than a pound and takes very little room in my bag. If concerned about being seen in a work environment, I have a cover bag for the whole kit so it can't be seen with the laptop backpack open.

3. Carry On bag air travel rig. Basically a variation of the always ready to fish rig above that has a larger zip lock bag based tackle box and has a second non bfs spool already wound with heavier braid and flouro leader and has non bfs lures and tackle included (and a few sabiki rigs too convert it to a bait rod...). The heavier tackle is still pretty light though since this is still an UL-L rod. On a business trip I might only have carry on bags but this kit fits in a carry on and the small hooks don't get confiscated by TSA. On a vacation trip I might have other fishing gear in checked bags, but lost bags don't mean I can't fish because this set is in my carry on.

I end up using this set more than any other rod/reel combo because it is with me more often and is convenient to set up and take down. When saltwater pier or wharf fishing, I use it as a bait rod now pretty much exclusively because I am used to it. It is super light though for bait... I may find a slightly heavier cheap telescopic for travel so I can do 3/4 oz lure/rig weight instead of the 1/4 oz this one handles. I have gone about 1/2 ounce but it casts badly at that weight. Its not ideal as a bait rod, but I have it with me, so thats what I use.

I had telescopics as a kid but they always broke. this one hasn't broken yet even though I have abused it a bit. maybe I just got better at babying a rod since I was a kid but I think it is pretty durable for such a light weight telescopic.

I quit using telescopics for years because they were more expensive and kept breaking... after buying this one for such a cheap price (got it for $15 on an aliexpress sale) I am ready to try some more telescopics because I really like the speed, stealth and portability of this one.