San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

My BFS rods had short handles and after fishing the opener at Barrett I added extensions to the butts. Worked great my second trip and on vaca.

I have a few rods where I wouldn't mind some extra handle length for longer casting from a float tube. What materials did you use and where did you get them?

I would have expected the rod blank would have extended almost to the end of the handle. How far from the end does it typically extend?

I ...

I used quadcopter carbon fiber tubes and the ends were small fishing rod end caps all from Amazon. I looked at other rods i have and cut to size.
Rod extended to around 1/2" from end of grip. I added wood shish cabob sticks inside with epoxy for strength. There are some good you tube videos on do it.

Thanks for the post, I could’ve used that lure last time I was at Murray the bass were chasing super small bait fish they didn’t like any of my offerings ( small soft swim baits ) A guy across from me was nailing them on a small megabass arachie, seems similar.

Hey Dannicus, since adding BFS to my arsenal thanks to you, I almost never take this smaller lighter swim bait off of it. I have caught fish throwing at boils just about everywhere but especially at the Barrett busters. It isn’t as purty as these newer jointed swimbaits but seems as effective. Have ...

Thanks for sharing, I’m shore bound but I have a chance to go Friday so it looks like I’ll be packing some bluegill baits, cranks have been troublesome from shore but I’ll pack some soft bluegill baits along with some cranks.
Thanks again for being so open with your posts it really helps.

My BFS combos:
IMG_20250418_171533856_HDR.jpg

From top to bottom. All rods are 7 foot single piece.

1) Rod: Dobyns sierra ultra finesse 701c Reel: Ark Gravity BFS
2) Rod: Trika 6x light/fast Reel: Bates Hundo 100 LTS
3) Rod: Cashion Icon light/fast Reel: Ark Gravity BFS
4) Rod: Cashion Element ...

Congrats Jwall! I have to say I use my 3 BFS's all the time now and only use my broom stick models on the big baits. Rat, plopper, spinner bait, chatter bait, frog.
The lighter stuff is easy to throw all day.

Congrats Jwall! I have to say I use my 3 BFS's all the time now and only use my broom stick models on the big baits. Rat, plopper, spinner bait, chatter bait, frog.
The lighter stuff is easy to throw all day.


Boy you’re not kidding. Every time I switched to my other setups it felt like I was ...

Now that I have been fishing with BFS I fight myself to use my normal rods that work curtain baits better. When using my regular stuff, it's like is this rod even going to bend on a hookup (They do). The BFS stuff has helped my tired hands and the fights are so much more fun. It's my new norm.

I started using BFS and wanted something less expensive to see if I liked it. I went to aliexpress and fell in love with the handling magic l rods I have now a few and the price is less than 50 bucks. I paired them with A Dark Wolf ultra bfs baitcaster and they are around %0 also. Cant be happier ...

So the tariffs have made the aurora air reel simply not worth it any more. Sure it casts really lightweight lures but it’s still a very cheaply made plastic reel.

Half of the plastic on the thumb bar exploded away randomly in the sun at Barrett. Still works, just less place to rest your thumb.

I ...

Perfect

I've never seen that one before. Nice!

Thanks for the tip. (As well as the others you’ve posted) My first BFS set up arrived yesterday. Can’t wait to try it out.

I’m new to the BFS world and just adding to my tackle bag. I primarily do saltwater fishing and have done decently well in estuaries and quite areas of the San Diego and Mission bay.

Does anyone have any suggestions on baits and jig heads. Weirdly I had success using little swim baits on the Zman ...

Are you fishing from shore, float tube, kayak or boat?

All of those heads will catch fish if used correctly. Spotties really like a slow, stop and go retrieve with pauses on the bottom. The main choice is whether to go with an exposed hook or weedless, which depends on how much weeds are in the ...

Oh, I read that article several times over. Thank you.

Me personally I’m fishing from shore. Seems like no matter what the type of jig head it is you want it close to bottom or having some contact with bottom.

Any tips with using the ned rig ?

Ned rig has worked well for me although I can't say it is better or worse than the other heads for spotties. It has really worked well at Barrett for LMB. I prefer the weedless versions with an offset hook. The Zman Ned heads really retain the baits although you have to pull hard to get the Elaztech ...