A BFS 101 would be nice. I’ve done it 20 years but there are important nuances: for example, a noodle rod can’t set the hook as well as a fast action with light single hook swim baits or tiny jigs/ craws. Best for treble baits. Also have to be careful high sticking fish in. Need to check and retie leader often. Alberto or FG knot because many BFS rods have micro guides. Don’t point rod at hung line to snap it. You can warp the spool. Tuning the reel… crank spool tension and cast control down and incrementally loosen one or the other depending on cast results. You can point out how those annoying bluegill can turn into fun with a tiny jig. A big blue gill is great fun. Finally BFS will make you a better angler. All the lessons translate.
Hey Matt, thank you for taking the time to reassure those of us who don’t live in trophy lakes just how much fun we can still have. You and Tim are real and you’re dialed into the Everyman. Thank you for what you do… 👊🏻
You guys should be the gold standard for any kind of fishing related influencer business. I‘m so tired of most of the fishing influencer but I follow your channel for years and you‘re still an inspiration. Very well done and thanks for your ongoing efforts!
I love that Matt and Tim always put a big emphasis on the FUN you can have throwing BFS instead of just the "get bit in pressured water" aspect. Fun video as always dudes.
If I didn't know better, I'd say you're on Oroville's after bay. Everything looks the same as the south end. The tulles, depth, banks, etc. I just came off of Bull Shoals and was using the same tactics as you but was bringing in a little larger fish (big - 4.78). Not toads to be sure, but a lot of fun. You're so right about smaller baits this time of year. Great video!
I’ve got a pretty inexpensive BFS set up, just the bass pro 6ft rod & reel with 10lb braid and 8lb flouro leader. At my favorite smallmouth spot I’ve been going drop shot. What I am about to tell you is not an exaggeration, over the past 3 days of fishing there I’ve caught 14 smallmouth from the bank and all but 2 of them have been well over 3lbs one was 4lbs 2oz. Catching these fish on this light set up has been some of the funnest fishing I’ve ever done. Before this spring, a 3lb smallie was very abnormal for me and an absolute unit for me to catch but man…BFS FTW!!! Sometimes it takes me 30-60 seconds to get one of them to my hand, they are just pissed off and are letting me know about it.
There's two fisheries we go to to catch #s of bass from 20-50 and then there's the lakes we always catch 3lb-5lbers. This year the jig was our go to big fish bite but in two trips our biggest fish came on a 3" Easy shiner. Literally the 4lb fish were eating the smallest bait we use to catch fish in general. So much fun. You'd know it to because they'd eat in in 5' of water and just head for deep water screaming drag.
I have been loving my bfs gear i have the cashion bfs 6 10 med light and i caught a 7 pounder on a black wopper plopper 60 last weekend. Talk about fun.
Can y’all do a video on setting up your go pro, also post what type of mic y’all use for your go pro and how do y’all prevent wind noise. Love the channel !!! Tight lines 🎣🎣🎣
The river smallmouth love the Karashi around here. Matt, do you have a replacement hook recommendation for the Karashi? With all the catches, it's only a matter of time before I'll need to change out the hooks.
There are FINALLY quality replacements available in the US Market. Owner now has the ST-26 Trebles in the US market. Here is a direct Link: bit.ly/3URHlrP Also, for matching split rings you should use the Owner Hyperwire Split Rings are now offered in a size 1 here: bit.ly/2v8ArBX
There's a lake in CO that I'd love to see how you guys approach it. It's a tricky lake because it's electric only, and if it gets windy you can get stuck. But there are 7-8lb smallmouth and 6-8lb largemouth in it. It's just not a lake you can cover quickly.
picked up an ark gravity a few weeks ago and was pretty impressed. for 160 it does what it says it will, which isnt always true for cheaper bfs reels. glad i got it before you posted this, itll probably be sold out soon lol.
How do you guys set up your bfs reels? I like to cast aggressive over-hand but with the bfs reels it is not possible. I can only cast side arm. I own the Curado bfs and the kastking kestrel elite on Dobyns bfs rods and the Expride bfs rods. Thanks, love the channel!!
I wish we could get the “zero gravity” rods back in production from I believe Mitchell . Those rods could load the super ultra light tip and cast 1/64th oz jig heads out quite a ways with the right line and reel.
I always throughly the same thing with top water. I’ve almost came to the conclusion that we seem like birds of prey on are boats,yaks,and bank fishing and I’ve notice the fish can school right up on a point but let bird land and the almost shut down on top and eat sub surface. Definitely gonna have to look into it more and see if it constantly happens but so far I’ve noticed it without trying too
I'm fishing in water with poor visibility and purchased your Karashi combo, using TW affiliate links, of course. Do you still recommend a leader? If so, how long? I purchased the Sufix 832 10lb braid recommended in previous videos.
What would be better for an all purpose bfs rod, a 6’6L, 7’3L, or a 6’10ML, I’m mainly throwing a lipless, karashi, t right and a jerk bait they weigh around 5 grams.
Regarding the Karashi, have you experimented with different hooks on them once those need to be replaced? Any suggestions? Loving the BFS thanks to you Matt!
Ok finally giving it a shot, just ordered a Shimano Curado BFS would you suggest Cashion element 6'10 or the St. Croix Bass X 6'8" Medium X Fast as a "Do All Rod"
One bfs bait you have to try if you haven’t already is the euro tackle Z-pop that thing is money for them when they are chasing fry for me here in Florida
Seeing this just reminded me that I need to order some more karashi’s. Lost one the other day when I went to set the hook and line just went limp. Almost wanted to jump in the water after with how many I’d caught off it. On a side note do yal upgrade the hardware on the karashi or is it straight stock?
What do you guys prefer braid or floro line? Everytime I use braid I sometimes get to much backlashes because I feel like the line diameter is too small
Humback is a killer for me. Idk why I can't get the karshi to work for me the way you do. I have all the colors and tried all the diff ways to bring it back to the boat. Make a video of how to exactly fish with a karshi please!
I have ordered several karashi off your tackle warehouse link and they have a single hook on the back and they don’t sink. I see these have a feather treble hook
Thank you for the video. I just bought my first BFS setup. It is the Cashion and Curado BFS. Would you guys mind doing a technical video on how to fish the BFS baits? Kind of how you did the jerk bait video seminar.
Im looking for a bfs rod. Ive seen in your other bfs videos that you describe the shimano exbride and curado rods a do everything rod. Those are a little out of my price range. I see in this video your using the cashion element bfs. I was wondering in your opinion can the element be used as do everything rod?
I just recently picked up the curado bfs I spooled braid on it because I wanted a line I can tie leaders on for either top water or whatever I’m fishing but I’m not sure if it’s the braid or what but it feels like it fishes heavy to keep the spool from over running idk if I should try a copoly or not any recommendations
too heavy of braid or too much line will make the spool weigh too much. the reel's brakes/spool tensioner arent designed for that much weight. the spools on these bfs reels are only about 5 grams, throwing that off with heavy line will cause the reel to perform badly. i use 6-8lb braid on my bfs reels, about 50 yards, and at the most a 10lb fluoro or mono leader. I really like kastking's super power braid in 6 and 8lb, its worked really well for me, its thin but abrasion resistant, no break offs around wood and rock. ive tried nano braid with high weave counts to save weight and have more line on the reel, but they just arent good for bfs, not abrasion resistant enough for bass fishing. i can cast micro texas rigs with a 1/32 oz weight, small jerk baits, and micro crankbaits on medium-light fast/medium-moderate fast rods very far. You can run straight fluoro too, i like 7-8lb, cant put as much line on though.
Is it possible for you guys to start mentioning line ties and connection knots in your videos ? I have been catching fish on you guys’ tips, tricks, gear, and bait selections, but sometimes find myself using the wrong knot. Not sure when to use a loop knot or palomar knot . Thanks !
Often it’s that there is plenty of food for all the bass but not enough “big” meals. Every bass survives and there isn’t a real “survival of the fittest” situation so fish get stunted. If it’s a managed lake they could put a slot limit in to encourage people taking smaller fish home for the frying pan. Then the remaining fish have less competition.
Likely no because of the air resistance. Big flies can certainly have weight to them, especially the articulated ones with shanks, but they also have a lot of fiber. Now not saying one could not produce something that would work at the bench. I have tied some "hybrid" jigs in my time that were basically flies on a jig head. Pro tip tube jig heads that have long cylindrical lead sections keep the weight inside of the body a good amount. UV resins help keep shape and form a head. I tied a streamer on a chatterbait mini that did great and then I lost it. Need to make a other one. Also taking crappie jig heads and making angel hair minnows is a quick easy tie and I have caught both bass akd crappie that way. Good way to get hardbait shimmer and flash on a traditional crappie jig/hair jig/float n fly size package. Good luck. Always love to see boundaries crossed! Get some smaller swim jig heads and have fun.
There are FINALLY quality replacements available in the US Market. Owner now has the ST-26 Trebles specifically for BFS and finesse applications. Here is a direct Link: bit.ly/3URHlrP Also, for matching split rings you should use the Owner Hyperwire Split Rings are now offered in a size 1 here: bit.ly/2v8ArBX
I appreciate the tips here but but let’s talk about lures you can actually buy without going to Japan or giving your first born to someone on eBay. That Karashi bait must be really good because it’s the second time you promoted it in a video but it’s hard to come by.
Man i would love to own some bfs gear, but im too cheap a man to commit to buying the nice bfs reels when a 40 dollar spinning reel from walmart does the trick
Looks like fun on light tackle..BUT, Big fish > Big baits...not to say u can't catch a big bass on small baits, but im convinced bigger bass would rather spend energy on a 1 bigger meal than 4,5 "snacks" most of the time...AND, catching them on big baits is a total addiction!
to me that depends on where ya live. i catch most of my bigger fish, 4-6+lbs, on downsized stuff. my last three over 5 were on a 4 inch lizard, a micro squarebill, and a bitsy bug flippin jig, all on bfs or spinning gear. i also live in indiana, a 6 here is a big fish. i fish alot of mag drafts and glides, but they just hardly get bit here.
@@tagg946 I'm in ohio, and last couple years bigger baits have gotten me way more over 5 lbs. including over a 7 last year on a 7" Googan Dart soft jerkbait...that particular bait has gotten most of mine over 5....10" Rats, big wakes, glides...won't get many bites, but when u do it's immediate addiction 🤣 also, my 7 lb was in Indiana
How hard can it be to make a quality bfs rod- and make it affordable. It’s everything they’re already using, only with little tiny micro components..i understand it’s how to make those components LAST and stand up to fish- but we should’ve had the technology to do so years ago. No reason BfS should be bougie ..or more expensive than your standard setups..ALSO , I see and hear it all the time people posting catches saying “BFS” ..sure yea the bait is finesse but the gear used and techniques aren’t… where’s the line drawn between finesses and bait finesse..in the gear correct?
Wish you didn’t give away all the tricks of bait finesse!! I do smash the barbs of my hooks for the sake of my fingers and the fish!!!! Little fish and small hooks can be painful!!
