BFS Gear For Crappie and Other Panfish

[Scottemory72]

Anybody using BFS gear for crappie instead of spinning gear? I’ve thought about making the plunge into it.

[zummy]

I use baitcasters for vertical jigging crappie. I converted from spinning.

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[Alphahawk]

If you’re talking about BFS gear compared to JDM spinning rods you’ll be giving up sensitivity. BFS is not a good setup for micro plastics no matter what anyone tells you. It was conceived for casting hard baits to trout… then the Japanese bass guys jumped in on it, and it eventually made its way to the states. Many will tell you that casting 1/32 is not a problem but in reality it just doesn’t work for that. The nature of BFS casting rods is different from spinning rods. Now that I am out in Arkansas I will most likely get some BFS gear to throw hard baits for trout using 2-8 gram lures. If you don’t want to fish micro plastics for bluegill and crappie, and you use bigger plastics say on a 1/16 jig head and up you’ll be fine. If you get proper BFS reels with the right bearing set you’ll need to spend some money. It all sounds good and looks good to use BFS for crappie and bluegill but the reality of that is it is just not practical. Some reading this will confuse BFS gear with the plain casting reels. They are just not remotely the same. And I can tell you from handling both the Chinese made BFS reels, and the Japanese BFS reels, the difference is night and day. If you want to see some great BFS in action check out the Enjoy Fishing Channel on YouTube. The guy is a master at it.

Regards

Enjoy Fishing Channel - YouTube


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[Brag]

I live on a lake that's fairly deep and clear and it's loaded with Spotted bass, so I got myself a BFS reel last year. At the time, there was literally zero stock of BFS casting rods and I couldn't find one, so haven't had the opportunity to put it to use, but I'm sure it will work fine on this lake for Spots. The lake also has a moderate population of Crappie and some really big ones and I'm curious to give it a try, but will have to make a more concerted effort to find a decent rod that won't break the bank so I can do so soon.

[Just_Bass]

Anybody using BFS gear for crappie instead of spinning gear? I’ve thought about making the plunge into it.

How do you plan to use BFS? Location and type of lures, weight? Do you expect to cast 20 yds out to be able to catch fish?
I think BFS for crappie in small lake it is more like novelty and just for fun but not in serious business. Please don’t mix up with steam trout fishing with casting, that plain use tool to the max of accuracy, fast casting to target that distance is not matter and lure weight around 1/8oz or more.
Alphahawk really show some good point there too, as wel as @zummy for using casting as vertical jigging searching for crappie, much more convenient than back reeling on open the bail on spinning.