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Post 11 May 2022, 19:22 • #101 
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Joined: 12/05/06
Posts: 2087
Location: US-PA
Interestingly, the particular shipment I hope to have in my anxiously awaiting hands tomorrow went from Sennan-Shi to Indianapolis, not Memphis. I hope that means it isn't going to Memphis which will add another day.

The new reel is spooled up, the baits have been converted to single hooks and I am busting to try it all out...


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Post 12 May 2022, 09:12 • #102 
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Joined: 05/22/16
Posts: 1760
Location: SJC
Good things come to those who wait ;)

What rod did you order ? pics ? I think we on this thread all appreciate little gear pr0n now and then ...


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Post 12 May 2022, 12:14 • #103 
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Joined: 12/05/06
Posts: 2087
Location: US-PA
I ordered and received my rod today from JDM Tackle Heaven!! To say I was impressed would be an understatement.



Having purchased more than my share of fly rods packaged in every way imaginable from a Winston Retro I bought from a guy in Sweden that arrived unscathed, despite the fact that the guy only wrapped the factory aluminum tube in a single layer of paper, to a double cardboard tube encapsulated Tom Morgan Rodsmith seven footer.

To say I was worried about this rod traveling from Japan to Pennsylvania and getting damaged in transit would be an understatement.

Apparently most BFS rods from Japan don't come in rigid rod tubes. My new Tenryu Rayz Spectra RZS51LL-BC came in a very nice soft padded two compartment case which was inside of a long bubble wrap sleeve from Tenryu. JDM Tackle Heaven put that into a thick walled PVC tube that even had a long multi corded string taped to the outside with instructions on the outside of the PVC tube to "pull the string slowly to cut the packing tape and enjoy your rod."

Absolutely an amazing first class pack job!!

The rod is a 5'1" two piece graphite baitcasting rod that is real eye candy and feels in the hand to be just what I was looking for.

I plan on taking it and my new Aldebaran out this afternoon on a local trout stream and see if I can hook up!!


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Post 12 May 2022, 17:44 • #104 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 07/11/14
Posts: 1784
Location: urban Colorado
have heard good things about the Tenryu rods, look forward to your report..

I too wandered from the true path of fiberglass..



That's a Kuying Teton 632UL, 6'3" rated for 1-4g, for me it's more like a 2-7g. It's a terrific bargain for the price, paid $73 including shipping on Aliexpress. Feather light, with the Abu RevoX 4 it balances perfectly. Good quality guides, casts those light weights nicely. The reelseat even has a small section to expose the blank, which theoretically gives better sensitivity to nibbles. The merest quibble - I'd prefer a more conservative handle, that's a bit gaudy.

The lure is a 1.5g Ned head EWG hook, with 2g Strike King KVD Dream Shot Open Pour Technology (OPT) Drop Shot Bait.
Man that's a lot of words to describe a weedless plastic worm.. ha.

To add some fiberglass content, here's my first fish on the Abu Delta 5 reel, on my old SF807. It's a goldfish ;-)
Saw some big grass carp in here earlier but they were shy today..



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Post 13 May 2022, 08:24 • #105 
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Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
the stream bait rod formula is about identical, regardless of the brand - here's Tailwalk Troutia.

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The Smith telescoping version looks a little different, and has a more progressive taper because of telescoping configuration.
I get to admit I like this taper better than the more-para Troutia.

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The stream trout bait rods are in such high demand, they just don't stay in stock, and you have to grab them when you find them.
There are multipiece versions out there also for packing small, and I just checked Valleyhill Accustream at fishihgshop.kiwi, which are OOS now, and they had stock when I bought the Smith.
That's also kind of noteworthy, because fishingshop.kiwi seems to have the lead on Valleyhill rods - always has the best stock and best prices.
I found the Smith I wanted at TackleJapan, and looks like they still have stock.

A bait rod must have more guides than a spinning rod, because bending the rod under line load puts torsion on the blank.
(spinning rod or spiral wrap needs fewer guides because rod load is pure bending)
Telescoping rods have sliding guides that seat on the blank. They're really strange the first time you put them together, but after a day (literally) in the saddle, the process of moving and stretching a rigged rod makes sense and becomes second-nature. You do depend on the alignment marks.
Your brain tells you top to bottom is safest, but impossible to keep aligned - stretch and seat the blank from bottom to top, collapse from bottom to top.
(Telescoping rods also have a threaded plug on the butt to drain the blank)
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Justification for two? Not afraid to take the lower-priced 2-pc Troutia on the kayak.


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Post 13 May 2022, 10:00 • #106 
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Joined: 05/22/16
Posts: 1760
Location: SJC
Cool stuff. I'm definitely a fan of Kuying rods; good components and their aliexpress store seems to ship relatively quickly.

Did not know that about the telescopic models. Hmm !

Haven't really gotten into baitcasting on streams yet. I can think of some narrow river sections where it might be fun in late fall / winter / early spring, as an alternative to nymphing. Usually there is a fair amount of brush involved, so a rod having a small packed length is helpful.


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Post 13 May 2022, 14:52 • #107 
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Joined: 12/05/06
Posts: 2087
Location: US-PA
Odonata:

For years I have been fishing nymphs, soft hackles and junk flies on spinning tackle for trout.

I use Pompano floats that I buy and I open up the hole with a #52 drill bit to turn them into sweet little slip floats or "indicators" if it makes you feel better. ;)

Thread a stopper & bead on your line, add a fly and some split shot above the fly so you can cast the rig and you can have a blast fly fishing on spinning gear. I also fish dries on occasion using a larger float for weight with a stopper & bead set about 18" or so above the fly, sans split shot. I limit the dry fly fishing to foam terrestrials I don't have to dress so I don't have to carry floatant with my spinning gear.

Anyway, I manged three stocked trout yesterday on an abbreviated outing at a small local stream with my new BFS trout set-up. I admit to a couple of blow-ups initially, but as this was literally the day I received the rod, it was the first time I ever used either. I attribute the blow-ups to first time jitters and inexperience with such light casting equipment and an overfilled spool which I attribute to stupidity.

Once I sort of got the hang of it I was casting and catching fish on my regular trout fishing lures with a Swiss Swing, a marabou crappie jig and a beadhead Prince Nymph under a slip float getting the fish!!

Unfortunately, that overfilled spool and another clumsy blow-up I tried to remedy led to line getting down into the spool spindle which I couldn't see very well so I was perplexed as to why all of sudden I couldn't cast but a few feet. I attribute that error to the super clear 4lb test fluoro line I was using, old eyes, product ignorance and more stupidity.

At that point, I walked back to the car, grabbed my 5' Orvis Superlight bamboo spinning rod & 50 A reel and managed a few more fish on flies to make it an even five before I called it after about two hours.

Today I took care of the blow-up, removed some line and I plan to practice a little bit in the back yard to dial in this combo but for now...

...it is awesome!


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Post 13 May 2022, 15:35 • #108 
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Joined: 08/10/05
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Of course I put the back-yard time in my 1500C setting it up, but I was delighted with its performance last week.
Near-enough backlash-proof, casting as light as 2 g. It didn't even over-run much when it was my fault - all I had to do was lift the rod and let my mistake spool out.

Image


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Post 13 May 2022, 16:12 • #109 
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Joined: 05/22/16
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Location: SJC
Nice ! Glad to hear the new setup is treating you well.

I've dabbled in spin-fishing with a casting bubble a bit. I've never used it for trout, just panfish and bass at a few of my local warmwater ponds, generally during the winter. It has its moments.

BFS for me is about learning something new, and there is also kind of a techno-gearhead side to it, which is fun for me as an engineer.

I had kind of a fixed idea about it initially regarding what I wanted to do with it (trout fishing in high country lakes), but as I practiced, read and experimented I realized I could use it for other things, like kayak fishing for bass in my local reservoir, or trout fishing the wide slow sections of Sierra foothills rivers (which are basically lakes).

BTW I actually own a telescopic spinning rod made by Balzer (Germany), when they still had a distributor in the US. It's caught me lots of bass from said ponds. I haven't picked it up in a while, but I remember expanding it from the bottom up, just like Bulldog said.


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Post 14 May 2022, 10:20 • #110 
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Joined: 12/05/06
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You need to dabble with small slip floats and stoppers and some split shot versus a casting bubble. I use floats similar to these with a couple of split shot to give me just enough weight to cast it where I want, which gladly in most cases isn't 100 feet away.

With a slip float, you can fish as deep as you want without having three or more feet of line hanging off your rod when you cast, which is a pain. It also makes less of a disturbance than a plastic casting bubble or weighted Styrofoam float.

I have also used bigger floats of the same type and I have been experimenting with making them weighted with Neko or nail weights, or some small #4 stainless sheet metal screws. The weighted slip floats cast further and eliminate the need for split shot which allows me to fish dry flies.


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Post 14 May 2022, 10:44 • #111 
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Joined: 08/10/05
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
When you get into slip floats and line stoppers in moving water, you're essentially trotting (steelheading) and, of course, a freespooling bait reel fills this niche very nicely.
There are many nice slip float options, balsa, quill...
The important thing is finding a line stopper that will get through your rod guides.


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Post 14 May 2022, 11:24 • #112 
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Joined: 12/05/06
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The thread stoppers are the smallest, but they don't stay put as well.

I use the smallest size of these which have the smallest diameter of any I've tried. Occasionally, I rub a little lip balm or a bit of nose oil on them which makes them "slipperier."

Unlike other rubber stoppers out there that come with beads, these don't so you have to source your own and make sure the bead hole isn't too big or the slim stoppers slip right through. Unfortunately, I recently discovered a bunch of 3mm & 4mm plastic beads I just received have holes that are too big...

Fortunately, I have another bag full of supposed 5mm beads with smaller holes that work just fine and are easier to pick up and thread.


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Post 15 May 2022, 07:38 • #113 
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Joined: 04/18/20
Posts: 28
Location: Central Texas
Bulldog turned me onto the Tailwalk Troutia 55L/C and I was able to find one on Ebay, and actually went back and got another one thru the same seller. I have had a blast with this BFS rig on hill country rivers, the amount of bites that this technique produces is great and so much fun.


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Post 15 May 2022, 11:45 • #114 
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Joined: 08/10/05
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
thanks for the report - perfect rod for Texas Brook Trout (endemic Guadalupe bass).


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Post 16 May 2022, 09:33 • #115 
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Joined: 05/22/16
Posts: 1760
Location: SJC
"You need to dabble with [...]"

No, actually I don't ... Cheers :)


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Post 16 May 2022, 11:44 • #116 
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Joined: 08/10/05
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
my girls used to clobber bluegill on nymphs fished below sliding bobber in deep runs on Cibolo Creek - even with Stubcaster and Portage Atlas.

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Post 16 May 2022, 14:04 • #117 
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Joined: 07/11/14
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Location: urban Colorado
had a couple of hours on the Arkansas tailwater below Pueblo, river was high and cold.. not much for fish, but it was nice on the river anyway.

It got a bit industrial up near the wall



the swallows are nesting below the bridge



bfs lets me wing out a cast 30-plus yards to fish that big beautiful eddy on the far side. The light braid floats in the air so it is easy to keep above the currents (while standing on a rock). Working the lure with small pauses, the braid even works as a strike detector. With all those advantages I still couldn't get a fish out of there..



eventually caught two fish. In my book that means the day was a raging success ;-)



one monster backlash when I hooked a bush on the back cast, as it were. The Kawa braid is remarkably well behaved, thought I'd have to go back to the truck for the backup Phillipson spin rod, but was able to sort it out.


,


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Post 17 May 2022, 08:55 • #118 
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Joined: 05/22/16
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Nice, that is more along the lines of what I'm after, trout-wise. What was the lure weight ?

Which kawa braid ? I bought some handle knobs from their aliexpress store, didn't know they also sold braid.


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Post 17 May 2022, 09:54 • #119 
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Joined: 07/11/14
Posts: 1784
Location: urban Colorado
mostly fished the 1.5g Shimano Slim Swimmer spoon, it outperforms every other trout lure I have by a factor of 3-4.. and casts well for such a light spoon. Used a 2.5g Shimano for the far eddy, then a Daiwa 5g minnow in hopes of a freak result..

The line I bought at a hazard since I was buying a spool from Kawa anyway - maybe this link will work, if not check the Kawa store on Aliexpress for "KAWA Fishing PE Line, 8 braided 150M, Soft and Strong, protofilament Imported from Janpan".


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