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  1. Member jigheadworm's Avatar
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    #21
    Phenix Feather 7'1 L makes a great bfs rod.

  2. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by LowRange View Post
    But yeah the Phenix L and ML rods are excellent alternatives to JDM rods and I have heard from a few sources that they are versatile too with a slighly slower taper than a JDM BFS rod. They look like BFS rods too with the large diameter blank on the back half of the rod. A BFS rod vs a trout or panfsh rod is going to shut off near the striper guide and give you rigid lever to move fish. Something a buggy whip trout rod will not. You have to watch out because people will call those BFS even if they are not. Look how big the blank in on this Light powered BFS rod. Only the middle and tip of the rod is Light powered. The rest of it is built like a M rod.
    That makes sense. It looks as the phenix feather 71L will suit my needs because I’m gonna stick to 8lb flouro max and most of the time 6 or 7lb and my lures I’m throwing I think will only reach around 1/4oz at most. Maybe 5/16 and def 3/8 absolute max but I doubt that. It will literally be 1/16oz and 1/10 and 1/8 ned heads with plastic (trd or similar stick bait) and 1/8oz max swimbait head with a 3” swimbait like a spark Shad. The light will still cover me on hook sets with weedless neds (light wire hooks) shouldn’t it?

    Thanks for all the help everyone, it’s great to have others who have actually used this style gear and know how it works and how to get me on the right setup. I think I’m basically just wanting to decide between the phenix feather light or medium light

  3. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by jigheadworm View Post
    Phenix Feather 7'1 L makes a great bfs rod.
    That’s what I’m leaning to at the moment. What all do you throw on it jigheadworm? And are you happy with its ability to hook and keep fish pinned?

  4. Member
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    #24
    Yes, caught a 5.8 oz LMB last Fall on a 3/32 oz Ned. Has the backbone when needed.

  5. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by FryDog62 View Post
    Yes, caught a 5.8 oz LMB last Fall on a 3/32 oz Ned. Has the backbone when needed.
    Awesome. Thanks all, I’m going to go with the phenix feather 71L

  6. Member
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    #26
    Quote Originally Posted by Spot-a-saurus View Post
    Awesome. Thanks all, I’m going to go with the phenix feather 71L
    Sounds like an excellent choice. Give it a review. We need for feedback on the non JDM BFS sticks.

  7. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by LowRange View Post
    Sounds like an excellent choice. Give it a review. We need for feedback on the non JDM BFS sticks.
    Absolutely. Will report back in a few weeks hopefully

  8. Member jigheadworm's Avatar
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    #28
    I caught a 4.90 yesterday on a 2.8 kietech on 1/8 head and it handled it well even though it is a light it has good backbone.
    Quote Originally Posted by Spot-a-saurus View Post
    That’s what I’m leaning to at the moment. What all do you throw on it jigheadworm? And are you happy with its ability to hook and keep fish pinned?

  9. Member
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    #29
    I have been looking at the dobyns finesse rod. Can't make my mind up either. Can't find a reel as most BFS are out of stock experience for the kast king. Not sure about the kast king quality.

  10. Member
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    #30
    Quote Originally Posted by scott c View Post
    I have been looking at the dobyns finesse rod. Can't make my mind up either. Can't find a reel as most BFS are out of stock experience for the kast king. Not sure about the kast king quality.
    BFS reels are unobtainium. I've had a Shimano Curado BFS on order with Tackle Warehouse since 11/24/21. I did manage to get one from AliExpress but that took 2 months.

    - 2019 Ranger Z185 - Mercury 150 Pro XS

  11. Member
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    #31
    Just get a scorpion BFS if you can't find a Curado BFS . Same reel but cheaper and been around since 2017.

  12. Member
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    #32
    Quote Originally Posted by jigheadworm View Post
    I caught a 4.90 yesterday on a 2.8 kietech on 1/8 head and it handled it well even though it is a light it has good backbone.
    A JDM reel is your best bet. Alphas Air, Gekkabijin, Scorpion BFS, Aldebaran BFS, Abu revo BFS reels ect. Honesty of what you're throwing is 1/4 oz total (a 1/10 head and TRD for ballpark example) then you dont even need the fancy super shallow reels. A Tatula 70 SV or 70 MGL should be more than enough.

  13. Member
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    #33
    I have been running a couple of the Alphas SV 105 variants for my BFS setups, one with a Rays shallow spool and have had good luck casting down to a 1/16 weight with a ned sized plastic, and pitching down to 1/32 with a small ned plastic. I don't think I am going to go any lighter and do decent with what I have, no need for me to chase any further down the rabbit hole. I do have one of the Kastking BFS reels and while it works, it is not great, the cast control isn't anywhere near what the Alphas SV offers and I will end up with backlashes 5-10x more with the Kastking vs the Alphas in side by side tests. I don't think I would get the Kastking unless you are dedicating a rod to light weight pitching duty, I think it is somewhat well suited for that as cast control isn't nearly as big of a concern with a low velocity presentation.

  14. Member
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    #34
    Quote Originally Posted by LowRange View Post
    Just get a scorpion BFS if you can't find a Curado BFS . Same reel but cheaper and been around since 2017.
    Scorpion BFS cheaper than the Curado BFS? Do you mean SLX BFS?

    - 2019 Ranger Z185 - Mercury 150 Pro XS

  15. Member
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    #35
    Quote Originally Posted by contium View Post
    Scorpion BFS cheaper than the Curado BFS? Do you mean SLX BFS?
    Weak yen means the JDM reels are cheaper. At the curado BFS launch the going rate for a Scorpion BFS was under $200. Not sure what the going rate is now but it should be even lower considering the current exchange rate.

  16. #36
    So I went with the phenix feather 71L casting rod. Truly great feeling rod that casts light lures like a dream. Open hook Ned’s and treble hook baits are what I think it’s going to excel at for me after fishing with it Saturday. I’m going to test a number 5 Shad rap on it this week if I can make it to the river.
    I’ve been selling equipment from my garage by the loads that hasn’t seen sunlight in a couple years so I’m feeding my BFS itch lol.
    I have a Zodias 72ML BFS rod on the way as well. It will be here in a couple days. My plan is to use it for small texas rigs. Will report back on how it goes with that. 7lb sniper will be the line I run on it

    Would love to pick up a curado bfs reel but lord knows where you can get one of those currently

  17. #37
    Also I think the phenix feather 71L is fairly accurate on its low end weight range at 1/8 oz. I took a 1/16 oz weight and tried to throw it and it struggled imo. Just didn’t load enough for a true easy cast. A 1/16oz ned head with a trd bugz (will weigh it to be precise at work tomorrow on our legal for trade scale) is slightly less than 3/16 but over an 1/8 and it will bomb that set up on a cast. A 1/4 bait would absolutely go into orbit on this blank lol. I appreciate the recommendation on this rod from others in this thread. It’s gonna make a useful and fun rod to include on my lake trips on the boat as well as my wading trips to local creeks and small rivers.

    Also so far the largest fish I have caught on it weighed about 2.5lbs and it handled the fish very well. I had to pull the fish (as much as you can with 6lb test) away from brush and it actually muscled him away without it feeling like a struggle to do so. And the fight on the rod is just plain fun. I actually let some of the 1lb+ that I caught just jump a little and dig because the rod played them so well. I can definitely see this rod playing 3lb, 4lb or larger fish if I am so blessed to catch them with it. Will report more on how it handles the crank baits in 3/16oz range as the ned is all that’s been on it so far.

  18. Member jigheadworm's Avatar
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    #38
    I'm using a curado bfs and it is very nice.
    Quote Originally Posted by LowRange View Post
    A JDM reel is your best bet. Alphas Air, Gekkabijin, Scorpion BFS, Aldebaran BFS, Abu revo BFS reels ect. Honesty of what you're throwing is 1/4 oz total (a 1/10 head and TRD for ballpark example) then you dont even need the fancy super shallow reels. A Tatula 70 SV or 70 MGL should be more than enough.

  19. Member
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    #39
    Tackle Warehouse pushed out my Curado backorder to September. That's 10 months it's been backorder. Cancelled and ordered on from aliexpress. Got it in 7 days.

    - 2019 Ranger Z185 - Mercury 150 Pro XS

  20. Member
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    #40
    [QUOTE=Spot-a-saurus;12526239]Also I think the phenix feather 71L is fairly accurate on its low end weight range at 1/8 oz. I took a 1/16 oz weight and tried to throw it and it struggled imo.

    I think that rod will cast 1/8 oz better than 1/16th... but the rods I have tried that are rated down to 1/16 I've found to be too light/whippy for most bass fishing applications. I do routinely cast a 1/16 oz Marabou hair jig with the Feather 71L and it works well. Part of the key in getting enough distance with a lighter lure like that to create enough "load" is to leave an extra 6-12 inches of line out when casting. Seems to help anyway ~

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