It is currently 28 Mar 2024, 14:34


New Topic Add Reply
Author Message
Summer BFS in the Sierra
Post 13 Jul 2022, 14:01 • #1 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 05/22/16
Posts: 1760
Location: SJC
This kind of goes into the "Long BFS travel rod" category. I ordered another JDM rod earlier in the year, more of a "budget" model, and perhaps targeting a younger crowd -- the Abu Garcia Salty Style STCC 704 LT, four pieces, 7', rated lure weight 2-18g. They come in various colors, and I chose green, well, because :) It's another saltwater-rated model, with Fuji Alconite guides. I'd been to the casting pools with it a few times, but before this past weekend hadn't actually fished it yet. Interestingly, the rod is also 2% glass.

Reel was a Daiwa Gekkabijin Air TW, line was Sunline Small Game PE-FG in 8# (PE 0.5) with a 6# fluoro leader. I picked up an aftermarket spool from aliexpress made by some company called KKR Custom Project, which also fits the Alphas Air TW since the two share the same spool size (size/model "T35 new"). I was expecting it to work mainly for short-range casting, but it performed surprisingly well on long casts, too.

Image

The handle isn't cork, and the design is a little garish, but not bad "for the price".

Image

I spent the weekend day-hiking to various lakes. First up an 11000' lake with typical alpine lake brookies. I caught some on hoppers with my Echo Big Water Glass 5wt (8'6" 4-piece).

Image

Image

Image

Then switched to the BFS rod, using various spoons. PIctured are Tsurinoya M14's (2.5g, both red and pink worked well, the brookies were not picky) and a 1/6 oz Thomas Bouyant (probably some copper or red variant).

Image

Image

I headed back down to another lake, more around 10,200'-ish. The afternoon wind was picking up, and a bit of smoke from a fire in the nearby national park was blowing in. The aftermarket spool came with a ceramic hybrid bearing, so I had to notch up the brakes a bit from what I normally use for the stock spool, but was really surprised at how well it behaved, even in a breeze.

Image

Image

Image

Who doesn't love brookies ? :)

Next day I scrambled up over an 11000'-ish ridge to another lake, around 10400'.

Image

Image

I'd never fished this lake before. The fish seemed to be keying in on midge emergers; not hopper season yet, I guess. I switched from fly to BFS fairly quickly.

Image

Image

Image

The rainbows here were plentiful and well-muscled; a few went airborne and threw the hooks, kind of exciting.

I used much the same lures the whole trip; spoons in the 2.5 - 4.5g range and found the rod loaded well with them.


Top
  
Quote
Post 13 Jul 2022, 18:27 • #2 
Guide
Joined: 07/22/20
Posts: 175
Location: Ancient City, Florida
Nice trip! Haven’t bought any micro spoons yet, damn you ;)


Top
  
Quote
Post 14 Jul 2022, 08:36 • #3 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Thanks for the report and great photos.
Daiwa Zaion knobs have a big fan club for their light weight and accent colors, though I replaced a pair from an SLP double spinning handle with round Avail.

Throwing in some spoon examples - the bottom is 3.5 g, I believe the two smaller are 2.3 and 2.5 g
Image

btw, that 3.5 g Rodio Craft spoon was my best lure last time out (different color), so my last Japan order duplicated that color and added another. Oddly, the glow spoon above, I bought for Arroyo dock fishing, where it's shut out, and where Duo Ryuki shines,


Last edited by bulldog1935 on 16 Jul 2022, 10:17, edited 4 times in total.

Top
  
Quote
Post 14 Jul 2022, 12:44 • #4 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 05/22/16
Posts: 1760
Location: SJC
Thanks guys for turning me on to this nutty sport :)

I think the lightest lures I own (other than soft plastics) are a few 1/16 oz rooster tails, panther martins and some eurotackle hard baits, etc. If I'm going light I usually just pare it down to some 1/12 oz kastmasters. The micro-spoons sound interesting, but my FOMO just isn't there yet ;)


Top
  
Quote
Post 14 Jul 2022, 17:45 • #5 
Guide
Joined: 07/22/20
Posts: 175
Location: Ancient City, Florida
Last time I was in N Ga fishing, my wife had the 1/16 and 1/20 ounce rooster single hooks and completely out fished me dragging nymphs. Sad day indeed. They are a classic for a reason and available at WalMart ;)


Top
  
Quote
Post 14 Jul 2022, 18:03 • #6 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 07/11/14
Posts: 1784
Location: urban Colorado
excellent..

in my experience 2g is the lower bound for non-specialist BFS reels.. even with my cheaper reels, 2g and up is straightforward and casts well. Unfortunately the best trout spoon I know is the Shimano Slim Swimmer 1.5g.. on a good day I can cast it decently well, bad days or strong winds (often the same day) it can be tricky. Then I have to fall back on the 2g and up, the Kastmaster 1/12 oz is 2.5g and flies really well. I think I read about this lure in one of your posts, thanks..


Top
  
Quote
Post 15 Jul 2022, 04:49 • #7 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 11/09/10
Posts: 1355
Location: US-CA
Nicely done!


Top
  
Quote
Post 25 Jul 2022, 21:38 • #8 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/09/05
Posts: 2524
Location: US-CO
Very nice! After my earlier high country trip this month, I have decided to carry a small spinning rig with me to mountain lakes. In some cases backcasting distance is limited, wind can be a factor, and one can cover a lot of water with a spinning setup.


Top
  
Quote
Post 26 Jul 2022, 20:49 • #9 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Donny, don't pass go, get the small Stradic.
There's good current stock in Japan at outrageous exchange rate advantage - if you want a buying tip, LMK.


Top
  
Quote
Post 07 Feb 2023, 12:26 • #10 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 05/22/16
Posts: 1760
Location: SJC
January has been unexpectedly stormy out here. Lots of rain and snow in a series of atmospheric rivers. Some parks and a national forest closed due to flooding / damage / public safety concerns, and some are still closed. But the snowpack in the mountains is good, at least for now. Not bad for a La Nina year ...

I took my Salty Styles rod to a Sierra river in the mid-elevations, to look for some browns.

A few inches of snow on the trail still.
Image

Image

Image

Daiwa Alphas Air TW with Aliexpress spool and Varivas Double Cross 0.6 PE
Image

Image

Image

I lobbed a few 1/8 oz kastmasters, some ~2-ish gram Tsurinoyas, etc. but the fish here were just fine with 1/6 oz Thomas Bouyant's of various colors; I could very well have brought my Alphas SV TW 800S and thrown them on the stock spool (~12g).

Image

Image

Image

Nutty action for this time of year.


Top
  
Quote
Post 07 Feb 2023, 13:29 • #11 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Great report and really nice fish (and photos).
I might have missed it, but what finesse spoon is in that last fish photo.

Abu is blowing through BFS rod models. It's a good thing they're putting so many good rods on the market at bargain prices.
It can be a problem if someone wants to try one you like - it probably won't be made again.
FishingShop.kiwi is still my favorite rod vendor, though their shipping is high, their rods are deeply discounted, and they seem to have a lead on all the rod (+line and lure) distributors.


Top
  
Quote
Post 07 Feb 2023, 14:13 • #12 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 05/22/16
Posts: 1760
Location: SJC
Thanks Ron !

That last one is a 1/6 oz Thomas Buoyant in red/gold. I must have caught seven browns on that one lure. They were hungry ...

From what I can tell, the Salty Style Colors STCC-704LT is still available on a number of JDM sites. Apparently they are also made in yellow and blue, but I have a thing about green :)


Top
  
Quote
Post 07 Feb 2023, 14:59 • #13 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 07/11/14
Posts: 1784
Location: urban Colorado
excellent, handsome browns..

just acquired JDM Abu ZoomSafari on sale, 7'6" rated for 2-15g in 5 pieces for portability. Haven't cast it yet but I rather doubt the 2g rating, think it will be happier with the 1/6oz Thomas spoons at the low end.

As you can see I like green too.. looks mighty like my 1980s vintage Abu Zoom baitcasting rod, which is glass but unfortunately rated for 15-30g which is too heavy for anything in my neighborhood.



it will also be perfect for throwing soft plastic swimbaits at the nighttime walleyes come spring..


Top
  
Quote
Post 07 Feb 2023, 21:24 • #14 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
My experience with two Abu rods, one rated 1.5 g, and the other starting at 3 g, their low-end ratings are spot-on.

Also, 2 - 15 g is an easy range to hit - the rods I mentioned are rated 1.5 to 20 g in 7'3", and 3 to 28 g in 8'9".
Noteworthy, the shore micro-jigging rod casts it's low-end 3 g true. But when I tried casting 2 g, it would always hook the cast way inside in the direction of follow-through - so it won't cast below its low rating. (I have other rods, especially glass, that cast well below their low-end rating.)

Don't take this the wrong way, part of the trick is having a reel that can cast the light weight to effective distance.
My racy 1500CI for creeks fishes 1.5 g like a champ, even on 5'5" UL stream trout rod.


Has a lot to do with targeting big fish on light tackle, but I always target my rods for the light-end rating, and fish them there.
Especially true inshore, where all my rod niches are exactly matched at the light-end lure rating.


Last edited by bulldog1935 on 08 Feb 2023, 07:56, edited 1 time in total.

Top
  
Quote
Post 07 Feb 2023, 21:26 • #15 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 05/22/16
Posts: 1760
Location: SJC
Nice ! I agree, your new Abu may surprise you; my Salty is rated 2-18g and casts 2-4g just fine all day.


Top
  
Quote
Post 10 Feb 2023, 11:48 • #16 
Master Guide
Joined: 09/23/18
Posts: 614
Location: Eastern Wa
Thanks for sharing Odonata! Wonderful imformation, beautiful landscapes, fish and equipment! Good stuff!


Top
  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  

New Topic Add Reply



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Jump to:  
Google
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group