TackleTour

I have read both. Is both the same?

More-less the same...

That is a super-interesting question! I would say no.

BFS developed to solve a presentation problem to help win bass tournaments. The problem was presenting down-sized jigs/soft plastic on 6-9lb FC without having to use spinning gear. I have specific knowledge of this as a friend of mine has spent lots of time in Japan and has met many of the prominent Japanese bassers and got an understanding of BFS from some of the pioneers and industry insiders working for Jackall, Evergreen etc.

BFS, UL trout (area or stream) and Aji tackle have all been quite extensively discussed as to there suitability for UL purposes. The idea of using UL gear because it's a challenge or fun is essentially an American idea and entirely foreign in Japan and most other places as far as I can understand. All of the JDM tackle styles mentioned above were developed working backwards from the presentation required. So for Aji rods, anglers were trying to catch fast-biting, small pelagic fish mostly on the drop with micro jigs at long range. Result is 7'+ UL rods with solid insert tips and super fine braid.

By contrast, there is a lot of discussion on this forum about, for example, 'How light of a lure can I throw on a particular baitcaster?'. Nothing wrong with this, just a different emphasis. I got into UL because I liked the idea of UL as a concept, using light tackle even where it wasn't the best choice overall. As time has passed, I have become much more focused on the presentation I need and working back to rod and reel from there.

I've seen these both ideas discussed on this forum. Alphahawk has found the Aji and Mebaru tackle works really well for panfish. Others like using UL tackle because it's UL tackle. As the the French say, 'Vive la difference'

I would say that BFS and UL baitcasting are similar to me in some areas depending on lures, line, rods, etc.

I use a ML rod with fluorocarbon (under 8lb) and an SV105 for a ton a Bait Finesse presentations. 1/8 road runners, 1/16 jigs with tiny Keitechs, dropshots, darter heads, ned rigs, etc. It is FINESSE with a baitcaster, just not UL BFS. UL baitcasting is LITERALLY ultralight tactics with a baitcaster, so no way around calling it what it isn't.

BFS I guess could be interpreted as finesse baitcasting so maybe its definition is broader is what I am getting at? I don't really own a true BFS reel, so maybe I am not the best to chime in.

So again, I would say ultralight baitcasting is exactly what it says it is, true ultralight fishing but with a baitcaster... And BFS is bait finesse, so whatever your definition of it is slightly separates it, even if there is some overlap in BFS definition carrying over to ultralight baitcasting territory.

They're not the same but they are similar. The rods differ mainly. A BFS rod is meant for bass fishing and an even an UL BFS rod will be stiffer and have more backbone than a true UL rod. Majorcraft has seperate BFS and trout rods for a reason.

I also read that bfs rods are usually faster and stiffer and usually they tend to work better around the upper range of the casting weight. So a bfs rod rated 1/16-1/4 would usually cast better around 1/4.

So for sub 1/8 a true ul or trout rod would be better but those rods tend to be softer so they are not really good for active animation with the rod (like bottom bounce jigging or twitching hardbaits) and better suited for animating it with the reel.

Japanese BFS presentation is often skipping, pitching so side- or underarm style. The rods are usually fast actioned downsized contact bait rods, almost classic MBR. Trout game rods are slow or medium action that load and unload further down the blank so power is applied a little more progressively to improve accuracy.

What is the lowest weight baitcasting makes sense?

Dominikk85 wrote:What is the lowest weight baitcasting makes sense?

It depends on many circumstances such as quality of BFS tackle, type of fishing, one's ability with spin gear, and etc. For me personally I'd say around .6 grams. Every time I take my spin gear out when weather is inclement I immediately miss the performance and accuracy of BFS. Around .5 grams is where casting gets tedious or not possible. I have friends who have great success shooting .5 gram and under midges and such on spin gear but since I can't shoot lures and am terrible with spin gear there is no weight where a bait caster doesn't make sense for me. There's two situations however where low weight bait casting doesn't make sense to me. First is in inclement weather where spool gets heavy from rain or can be damaged from mud. Second would be when fishing areas of extreme heavy cover where I want fish not to take drag causing me to worry about damage to spool or rod.

Dominikk85 wrote:What is the lowest weight baitcasting makes sense?

Take a look on "Enjoy Fishing Channel" on You-tube...Those guy doing classy vs 3-5 gramm plugs...
I'm fishing a lot vs 2-3gramm plugs and going up to 0.6gr jighead. Of course you need a rod and line fitting to this kind fishing.And a bit upgrade your reel

This 18" smally was catched on rod up to 5gramm test(Yamaga Blanks Blue Current 63 Bait),Calcutta Conquest51,0.6PE line(10lb),and Rigge35F (2gramm weight)
So,I beileved,this mare sense!

For me the lower limit is around 2.5 grams. I have a kuying xul and a chronarch with a micro cast spool. With spoons I can do 2g but then it gets really tricky. 3-4g works very well.

Dominikk85 wrote:For me the lower limit is around 2.5 grams. I have a kuying xul and a chronarch with a micro cast spool. With spoons I can do 2g but then it gets really tricky. 3-4g works very well.

Yea, for Chronarch all shallow spool is 9-10gramm...plus centrifugal brakes.So,you're good vs 2.5 gr. If you want to go lower,just need a 6-7gr spool (it's bunch of reels for them) and magnet brakes.
On my previous post CC51 with Microcast Spool CNQ5016BL (7.5gr) and magnet brakes SHSC-05A works good from 1.0gr.

I think my spool is around 9g. Cc51 is super nice and also great looking but a little out of my budget:).

Dominikk85 wrote:I think my spool is around 9g. Cc51 is super nice and also great looking but a little out of my budget:).

If you want it,you'll get one day!

Sure I just need a way to buy it without my wife finding out. She already thinks I'm crazy when I buy a 150 buck reel:).