BFS system for Crappie

[M R Dux]

The big attraction to the BFS type tackle is being able to spot big crappie 60-80 feet away with forward sonar then cast tiny jigs to them. Much better bait control with bait casting tackle than with spinning gear. I plan on using it a bunch in my area in winter and very early spring when big crappie may be in 10-20 feet of water but only 1-2 feet deep. Lots of times our clarity will be slightly stained so it would be hard to approach the crappie otherwise.


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[IkenI]

I went and researched that st croix number, I am afraid I jumped to conclusions that we were all on the same page far as pistol grip. A fine rod I’m sure. But what I was speaking nostalgically about was something like my picture here. In my youth they were common on even higher end rods. Never mind me, sorry to bother. Attachment 464170


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com[/QUOTE]Bass Pro has a couple of them on their low end rods. I use my SC 5 1/2 ft for very light Ned Rigs and for casting light swimbaits for crappie. The St Croix is short but not a pistol grip like you are interested in. I actually prefer it to the old style pistol grips. It's no longer cataloged. Mine's actually about an inch and half shorter as I had to repair a broken tip. They were rated for 1/8 oz but will throw a 1/24 with a cheap BFS reel.

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[IkenI]

I found another reason to like BFS. Vintage Rods! A little background. I'm a TRUE Geezer in my early 80's. I still fish ever chance I get, and by myself. My boat is a smaller tiller operated Alumacraft V hull. 25 years or so ago, I was big into tournament bass fishing. I quit that and became interested in the "Midwest Finesse system" of fishing during a few years of living up near Kansas City. That's when I became interested in applying that to Crappie. I enjoyed that, but that was secondary to bird hunting. I've had German Shorthairs since 1971 following an Army tour in Germany. When I went to Kansas, I became very serious about it and acquired Ike ( my CDC namesake.) He was a NAVHDA trained world class Pheasant dog, and my constant companion for over 15 years. We hunted many states every chance we got, and in the off season he was in my Lund with me. My interest in bird hunting died with him. So, I came back to fishing. I have a bunch of old bass rods, and I am finding they work much better with BFS reels. I was 15 before I saw my first spinning reel. I grew up fishing my Dad's bait cast reels. I've never liked spinning outfits but was forced into them in order to effectively crappie fish. Half my BFS reels sit on vintage bass rods. My most recent experiment is an old Browning Silaflex fiberglass crankbait rod rated for 1/4 ounce lures. I paired it with a less expensive BFS reel, and it throws a 1/16 ounce jig with a 2-3 inch swimbait a country mile and much more accurately than I could ever do with a spinning outfit. The reel is adjusted so I never touch the spool with my thumb and no overrun. A lot of fun!

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[M R Dux]

Boy do I have some memories of the Browning Silaflex rods.

During my bass tournament days of the late 70s and early 80s they were tops. I was making $5 an hour at a chemical plant and they were mostly out of my reach. I did end up with a couple I bought used and loved them.

Funny story about Browning. A buddy who made even less $$ than I did saved up and sold whatever he could to buy a new Browning boron rod. It was in the $100 price range and his prize possession.

We were fishing late fall on Lake Jackson near our Conyers, Ga homes. We were throwing cranks on a point when Andy hung his bait.

He maneuvered the boat directly over the snag and ran the rod down to poke it loose. Not only was the bait hung but now his $100 boron rod was too! His first words were along the line that his wife would kill him if he damaged that rod!!

He had me hold the rod and use the trolling motor to keep us directly over the snag while he stripped down to his underwear. He slipped over the side and dove down. He then popped up with his rod, his bait, and a bed spring from a full sized bed. We cut the bait and rod loose and the springs were returned to the bottom. I then pulled him back over the side.

Even though the water temp was probably in the mid 50s, we finished out the trip with no other disasters.

Those boron rods ended up being recalled by Browning because they were not only super sensitive but also super brittle and when broken, would essentially come apart like needles. I guess some folks were stabbed by the shards so Browning pulled that model off the market.

Andy got his refund on the boron in Silaflex rods.


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[J White]

Boy do I have some memories of the Browning Silaflex rods.

During my bass tournament days of the late 70s and early 80s they were tops. I was making $5 an hour at a chemical plant and they were mostly out of my reach. I did end up with a couple I bought used and loved them.

Funny story about Browning. A buddy who made even less $$ than I did saved up and sold whatever he could to buy a new Browning boron rod. It was in the $100 price range and his prize possession.

We were fishing late fall on Lake Jackson near our Conyers, Ga homes. We were throwing cranks on a point when Andy hung his bait.

He maneuvered the boat directly over the snag and ran the rod down to poke it loose. Not only was the bait hung but now his $100 boron rod was too! His first words were along the line that his wife would kill him if he damaged that rod!!

He had me hold the rod and use the trolling motor to keep us directly over the snag while he stripped down to his underwear. He slipped over the side and dove down. He then popped up with his rod, his bait, and a bed spring from a full sized bed. We cut the bait and rod loose and the springs were returned to the bottom. I then pulled him back over the side.

Even though the water temp was probably in the mid 50s, we finished out the trip with no other disasters.

Those boron rods ended up being recalled by Browning because they were not only super sensitive but also super brittle and when broken, would essentially come apart like needles. I guess some folks were stabbed by the shards so Browning pulled that model off the market.

Andy got his refund on the boron in Silaflex rods.


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I remember those boron rods, though never owned one. For me a Lew’s graphite speed stick was the deal. Most had short handles, when I got a 7 foot extra heavy with the two-fisted long handle, diamond-patterned - I was on top of the world. I was into bass fishing and crossing their eyes then


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[jason penn]

i'm using bfs stuff for crappie. i have a few different rigs, but for fishing 1/16oz jihead + 2" baby shad it's a tsurinoya 7'3 l hacker 2/kastking kestrel elite with 6# berkley x9 and either a 6# or 8# leader