bait finesse system – Velox Seeker

Outing 24 June 2023…

It was a beautiful start to the morning. After a 2 hour drive just talking and drinking coffee, we hit the river running. The temperature was hanging right around 70F and the skies were grey and cloudy. We could hear some thunder way off in the distance but we opted to fish anyway.

MajorCraft Fiberglass rod with a 2017 Shimano Scorpion BFS reel.

She opted to try her Teucer fiberglass rod as well.

She used her Daiwa Silver Creek Stream Custom 8.5L reel.

I was a bit surprised when she told me she wanted to try using a baitcast setup on the river. She has practiced with me many times before so I knew she could do it. She was worried about bird nests and I told her it was going to happen and was inevitable…so don’t worry about it.

First fish on a baitcast setup for her. YEAH!!!!

We had a really good morning session on the river. We managed to catch 73 with about half of them being decent. I hadn’t spent a full day behind a baitcaster on the river before and thoroughly enjoyed it. Watching the smallmouth rocket up from the bottom to smash the lure was a sight to see.

Her efforts were ended early due to a weed! There was a piece of Johnson grass at her side and when she cast, she hit it which resulted in a reel spool full of mayhem. And try as I might, I couldn’t pick it out. I offered her my setup but she was quite content to fish on with her spinning outfit. I was and am, very proud of her. I think she sees that there is some value in that method in regards to how and where we fish.

It wasn’t long before the wind picked up, the skies grew ominous and the sound of thunder got louder. We decided to call it a day and started heading back upstream to the car. And of course we weren’t fast enough and we both were absolutely soaked by the time we made it back. Zip? He could’ve cared less and was having the time of his life!

It was definitely good to be back on our home waters. We are not looking forward to the heat that we know is coming, but there’s nothing to be done about it. Stay tuned for the next one!

Bait Finesse System Tackle…

BFS or Bait Finesse System styles of fishing were developed in Japan to help catch highly pressured fish…Largemouth Bass in particular. It soon morphed over into the Trout world in regards to both Area and Stream fishing. This method uses specially made rods and reels to cast lures down to sub-1 gram weights. Using 2# test line on a BFS baitcaster has become pretty commonplace for those who use this type of gear.

I was intrigued by the method but having never really spent any time using a baitcaster, I was pretty intimidated. There was a definite learning curve for me to become somewhat comfortable using this gear. My Dad tried to get me into it back in the 80’s but for some reason I couldn’t use a right-hand wind reel very well. Fast forward to the past few years, and in Japan you will find every reel made today comes in a left-hand reel version.

For me…this style comes into its own when you pair a BFS reel with a fiberglass rod. It is a lot of fun. The accuracy is better, the speed is better and it really shines when you have limited casting space.

Practice, practice, practice! I did just that…casting my baitcasters in as many different scenarios as possible. Standing in the driveway, standing in a boat, standing waist deep in a lake or stream. They all require some subtle nuances that are different enough to affect casting. Adjust the braking system and spool tension until you get to where you are comfortable casting. And it will change with different weights.

And I’ll be honest…2.5 grams is the lightest I have felt comfortable casting so far. I have had my fair share of bird’s nests to date and some have required cutting line off and re-spooling. But keep in mind that I came to baitcaster’s rather late in life ( around 50yrs ) so I am still learning to master this technique. For me, throwing minnow type lures with a baitcaster seems to be the best method and that was why I got into BFS.

Fishing Trip 9 JULY 2022…

We had a cold front come through last night with the forecast calling for a high of 97F on Saturday. After a week of 100F+ temperatures we were happy and decided to go fishing. The alarm went off at 0345 and we were on the road by 0425.

We arrived just as the sun was coming up and the temp was 74F, but very humid. We couldn’t wait to get in the river and start wading, hoping it would cool us down.

Zip was constantly racing back and forth between the two of us.

Zip is really coming along and his confidence grows with each outing. He has started swimming on his own and crossing the river on his own as well. I think after the Cossatot River trip he figured out that swimming in the river was a good way to cool off.

We ended up catching 20 fish in the 4 hours that we were there. Only one was decent but we didn’t bother taking pictures of them. We each were wearing our old Simms Flats Sneakers to see how my glue job on the sole worked out. Short story: it didn’t work so these might get retired. It’s sad really, since the uppers are in great shape but the soles are SUB-PAR for sure.

I waded in to cool off and I guess Zip thought I was drowning so he came to “the rescue!”

And now for what is probably the dumbest decision I have made while fishing.

Apparently someone had a pop-up awning set up on the river bank. I noticed 4 mounds of rocks and dug into them to find dumbells that were used to anchor it down. As anyone who has read my blog knows…I can’t stand seeing trash in my rivers. So yes, I loaded them in my pack to haul them out. My wife took a 10 pounder while I took a 10 and a 20 pounder. For the math majors out there…4 corners and 3 dumbells= the fourth mound had a big rock as an anchor.

The Yeti Panga 28 hauled the load with no problems. Not ideal nor comfortable but we made the 3 mile hike back. I need the exercise and I could use some dumbells for the house. Unfortunately, my decision to haul them out pretty much ended the trip. Neither one of us felt like continuing downstream then hiking back up in the full sun and heat. Plus, we had a group behind us and I wanted the weights.

I did get to test a new rod on this trip and thoroughly enjoyed using it. I also tried out a Shimano Scorpion BFS reel and REALLY liked that one. I will probably do a post on both soon. We are still having internet issues. The technician was out 4 times last week and ran a bunch of new wire and all sorts of other stuff to no avail. Last we heard, they would be back out on Monday. We currently have 11Mbps available to us and it is difficult to get blog posts out. Hopefully we will have more posts soon…Take care.