GANGGREEN

So, my wife was good enough to purchase me a starter BFS rig for my birthday. I encouraged her to go cheap and I gave her a few suggestions and she got me the Shimano Sensilite rod (7' L power with a F action) and the Tsurinoya Dark Wolf Ultra casting reel. I'll probably put 5 pound fluoro on it, but may mess around with 4-6 pound mono or 8-10 pound braid (not sure if that's going to be too thin). I really am looking forward to messing around with it as I do "finesse fish" about 80 or 90% of the time and this will almost surely make certain presentations a bit easier. Not sure that I'm going to need to go hog-wild on BFS style lures, but I'll probably look at purchasing a few just for fun. Obviously I'm still interested in suggestions and tips and I'll continue to peruse the forum for other interesting threads about BFS tackle and tactics.

I'm another person who typically prefers to finesse fish. I probably finesse fish at least 80% of the time and it wouldn't surprise me to know that I'd gone a month here or there without "power fishing" even once. Of course, everyone who has responded that there's a time and a place for everything, depending on conditions is right, but in my personal opinion, I catch more fish over the course of the year by concentrating on finesse (and I freely admit that there are days when I did poorly and would have done better with a spinnerbait, jerkbait, crankbait, etc. etc.). I do have to argue with the responses that there's basically no chance of landing a fish in cover while you're using finesse tactics. Personally, I fish with an UL rod and 4 pound test an awful lot and have caught plenty of 5 pound fish (smallmouth and largemouth) with that gear (and recently some 4 pound spotted bass). Most guys probably consider "finesse" tackle to include 6 or 8 pound line and ML or M rods and there are darn few bass that I'd meet in my daily fishing day that I couldn't turn from cover with 6 or 8 pound test and ML or M gear. It may not be ideal, but the average bass that most of us catch is what, 1.5 or 2 pounds? A big one for most of us is what, 4 or 5 pounds? I've turned plenty of large bass with 4 pound test and a F action UL rod when I absolutely needed to and I'd argue that there are only a small handful of bass that I'd lose in a year's time because my gear wasn't heavy enough. I've argued for finesse fishing and think that I catch more fish over the course of the year because I use those techniques, but I would agree with this. On those days that the fish are really chewing, you're simply not going to keep up using a tiny grub, wacky rigged finesse worm, etc. etc.. So on the days where you can really fill the boat with them on power fishing techniques, I freely admit that I can't keep up, but I think there are more days when the fish are inactive, neutral or only slightly active than there are those days when they're really chewing. I'd prefer to catch a few every day even when the power fishing goes can't get bit and acknowledge that I occasionally miss out on days when the power fishing guys are really filling the boat (and hope that I'm smart enough to adjust and to partake in those days as well).

Looks like I could get a Lurestar Sigama 6'6" L casting rod (2-piece) and a Lurestar C9 Air reel for well under $150, but obviously I'd be ordering from China, it would take forever and....I'd be ordering from China. I've seen a few reviews that seem to indicate this reel is far from a clunky mess and I'd presume that the rod is also quite light (I just checked and it's 3.3 ounces) and responsive. It's listed as a fast action rod, which is what I'd likely prefer. I just need to get my head around the idea of ordering a Chinese rod and reel, but I really don't like the idea of spending $400, $600 or $1000 to see if I might like the whole BFS thing, so this is at least an option.

I do have a Daiwa Tatula reel and see where you can replace the spools on them fairly inexpensively. I don't really have a suitable casting rod though and will likely find a cheap option just to see if I like it or not.

No, my point with the M/ML rig was that I was suggesting this is the lightest that I've ever gone with baitcasting gear and that I was mostly unaware that you could now go much lighter. As I've mentioned before, I OFTEN fish for bass with 4 pound line and UL spinning rigs and I rarely go heavier than 12 pound test baitcasting rigs. I probably do 80% of my bass fishing with either 4 or 6 pound test, so the BFS thing appears that it would be right up my alley. Definitely worth more research and consideration for sure.

Yeah, but even those two options push the price tag well over $300 and I'm not prepared to pay that sort of money to "dip my toe in the pool" so to speak. If I tried someone else's gear and liked it or tried a cheaper option and loved it, at that point I might be willing to spend that sort of dough.

Thanks. In general, I fish a LOT of soft plastic finesse options, a LOT of them. I'd say that's probably "my thing", but I've always used UL, L or ML spinning gear and 4-8 pound test to accomplish this. I can't say that spinning gear has been any sort of drawback for me, but I like new fishing gear, so I'm more than happy to give this a try. I won't spend $400 or $500 for an outfit to get my feet wet and I fear that I might end up regretting it or assuming that BFS is not for me if I stick with a $100 or $150 set up though. It seems like some of the Chinese options really do get good reviews, but d**n, I really hate the idea of buying Chinese stuff given the political atmosphere these days.

I've been living on my new lake (southeastern US) since December 1 and had my very best day yet on Tuesday morning in a south wind. They chewed really good while the wind blew, although it was slower when/if the wind died down. I've also had my best walleye fishing up north during an east wind at times.

And I should mention that I very briefly used the search function, but haven't had time to read everything yet (have to pre-fish for a tournament this morning). For what it's worth, I do have a Daiwa Tatula reel and saw the information about after market BFS spools for them and I may have to try it out, but I still need a lightweight rod that won't break the bank if anyone has recommendations (or would like to trade something if they have a spare lying around that they won't use and have need for something else).

I've always enjoyed using baitcasting gear for certain techniques even though I probably do 90%+ of my fishing with spinning gear. I've also always had my eyes open for finesse baitcasting tackle and tried it with previous rigs down to about 8 pound test and M or ML rods, but never really found one that worked good, so I mostly gave up trying. Now I see the Shimano BFS rigs and they're absolutely appealing to me, but geez Louise, are they made of precious metals? Has anyone used these rigs or something comparable and does anyone make a reasonable rod/reel that don't cost the proverbial arm and leg?

So far they aren't moving back from here yet. Lots from Chicago, NJ, PA, etc. etc..

I think I qualify to answer the question. My wife and I just purchased a very small, seasonal home on an upstate SC lake last May. We aren't lakefront, but we live in a lakefront community and as such, we have privileges, a launch and a community day use dock (no permanent boat dock or slips though). So far, at least from my perspective, it's been a fabulous decision that I/we haven't regretted. Because we don't have our own dock on the lake, we still have to launch daily, but it's literally minutes to launch on "our lake" or less than half an hour to launch on a couple of other large and well-known lakes. Because we're keeping our farm up north, at least initially, it DOES increase my maintenance, but I can only work on one house/yard at a time anyway and my maintenance on the "lake house" is pretty minimal. I went from fishing a couple of times a month, but only from March-November, to now fishing several times a week and being able to do it literally straight through the winter. When we head north in a month or so, I'll be back to my normal routine of only fishing occasionally, but over the course of the year, I fish MUCH more than I used to. The decision for us was and is mostly a financial one. If we were independently wealthy, we'd live lakefront with a permanent dock, but on our lake the real estate has just become stupid expensive.

Personally I've never had any trouble politely telling the time share people "no" and having them immediately leave me alone. I think if they're pestering the hell out of you, it's likely that you were sucked in and engaged them in a conversation.

My suspicion is that they'll be much better in the heat of the summer, because there's almost no cover on this lake and they'll need to get out of the heat and direct sun, but so far, my experience hasn't been much better than yours. Don't get me wrong, I've caught some fish off of the docks, but my suspicion is that I would have caught at least as many if I never cast to a dock so far.

I'm fortunate to still have a good bit of "inner child" going on. Sadly, my dad's been gone for 30+ years. God how I'd love to fish with him again.

I've spent most of my adult life up north fishing permanent docks that have wood (or metal) structures that are anchored to the lake floor. We've recently moved to South Carolina and the land owner (typically Duke Energy) prohibits anything but a floating dock. The docks are anchored to the bank by cables and anchored in deep water by cables, but otherwise they're wooden or aluminum structures built onto plastic floats. They create shade for sure and on my home lake, there's very little shade to be had, but they create next to no structure (other than the cables which are definitely a bigger PIA than a benefit). I know that many/most of the locals fish the docks a lot and in my limited time on the lake, I've definitely caught some fish on docks, but in my experience, they just don't relate as tightly to these docks as the ones up north (or elsewhere) that have structure associated with them. Admittedly, I've never fished these lakes in the summertime and I have to believe that the shade the docks create become a huge attraction then, but what are people's thoughts about fishing the floating docks from fall through spring (when I'm down here on the lake)? (my apologies to the OP, I had intended to post this as a stand alone thread, not sure why/how it was posted here, but I'm sure it was because of my own stupidity).

Some of you guys are spoiled and don't recognize that some people MUST drive 2, 3 or 4 hours one way to get decent fishing opportunities. I live in northern Pennsylvania and I'm blessed to have a lot of really good options within a 4 or 5 hour drive, but almost none of them are less than an hour and a half away and many/most are 2-3 hours away. I've purchased a seasonal home in South Carolina recently and my situation changed drastically and I can now be on Jocassee, Keowee or Hartwell in well under an hour and there are probably 7 or 8 good choices less than 2 hours away. My answer to the question is that I'd easily drive 4 hours one way for an overnight trip if my lodging was nice and the fishing was good to great.

Definitely my dad. He wasn't really a fisherman himself, but he recognized that some of his children, especially me, loved to fish, so he made an effort to get me out there. The strongest memories for me are wading the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River with him and catching Rock Bass and Smallmouth on live bait (crayfish and hellgramites) or on soft plastics. The PA Fish and Boat commission had an essay contest about this topic years ago and my article was chosen and published in their PA Angler magazine, I'll have to see if I can find that and post it sometime.

Other than going to the Expo on Friday, I didn't really do anything or visit the Classic at all, but had I known you'd be camping and fishing out of a canoe, I probably could have been talked into launching the boat and picking you up to fish for a few hours. I used to enjoy fishing from a canoe and still do occasionally fish from a kayak, but it's usually just much easier and more productive from a boat. I don't run a 21 foot bass boat and 250HP outboard, but my rig is definitely suitable.

Don't hesitate to reach out for anything you need. I'm presently a seasonal resident, so not sure I'll be here when you are, but if you need a guide on the lake some day and I AM here, I'd be happy to take you. I'm retired and while still ridiculously busy, my schedule is very flexible. Edit to suggest that I now see you're planning on being here "next month" and I likely WILL still be around if you need/want to reach out. I can make some suggestions for restaurants, etc. as well. And, for what it's worth, we also own/maintain a gentleman's farm in Pennsylvania, so owning a lakefront home on Keowee at the present time isn't possible for me, but given what I think I know about the California real estate market, you'd likely be in a much better position than I would to afford something. When/if we ever sell the farm up north and make this more of a full-time residence, we may look into upgrading our home here or even looking into possible lakefront on Lake Hartwell. I prefer Keowee for a few reasons, but the fishing's better on Hartwell and real estate is more reasonable.

Yeah, I've recently done this research at least to some degree. We got really lucky with a small house in a lakeside HOA and we bought it, so the research ended. A few thoughts. Jocassee really is one of the prettiest lakes anywhere and there are some slobs in that lake, but there's very little development on or near the lake and if you could find a home on the lake, most normal people couldn't afford it. For me, having the ability to drive and launch on Hartwell or Jocassee within 30 minutes or so while still living on/near Keowee is the best of both worlds. Hartwell probably features slightly better home values, both on and off the lake, but for whatever reason it's not the sexy lake right now that Keowee seems to be. Water clarity isn't as nice, more/higher water fluctuations, etc., but Hartwell fishes better than Keowee (some of the local bass fisherman call Keowee "Lake Keepaway"). Depending on what part of Hartwell you were to settle on, you might have more amenities and things to do than on Keowee or you might have less. Hartwell is huge and it's sprawling. Clemson is close to the northern end and it's a nice town. Anderson is a larger town with most amenities, restaurants, etc. and it's mid-lake, but many areas on Hartwell are pretty isolated too. Keowee is really nice and as noted, it's red-hot and "sexy" right now to the retirement crowd (or even the younger crowd who are now working remotely post-Covid). As such, the real estate market is just stupid. Just really stupid. Not sure if you're hoping/looking for a lakefront home or if you'd just like to be close, but lakefront will run AT LEAST 600K and that wouldn't be much of a house/property right now. Most lakefront homes are going much higher than that and even some nice lake lots are being sold for 1 million plus. The good news is that there are really good public launches on Lake Keowee and there are a bunch of them, so you don't have to live on the lake to have very convenient fishing nearby. To give you an idea, we purchased a cute and well-maintained but VERY small home in a lakefront HOA for under 200K last spring. We really felt like we hit the jackpot even though the house and lot are very small. Even so, since May of last year (roughly 10 months), the appraisal on our place has gone up by 30% and I have zero doubt that we could sell and make a quick 50K after having done a very few renovations. The problem is that we like it here and where would we go if we did sell? We'll stay put. As for the fishing, it can be really good and it can be tough. For me even during the tough times it's cool to be out on a beautiful lake during mid-winter, so I put up with it and do most of my fishing here rather than running to Jocassee or Hartwell, but Jocassee does have trout and Hartwell does have stripers, so that's cool. Winter and summer fishing are often done in REALLY deep water (like close to 100 feet deep), but spring and fall are usually on the docks, on the banks, etc.. Like I said, a tough day might feature zero bites or maybe one or two fish, but a good day might feature 20 Spotted bass and they're very healthy on this lake (good forage source). There's also Crappie, Catfish and Largemouth in the lake, but it's mostly Spots. Amenities? We're from a really rural area up north, so from our perspective, this place is great and there's anything that you could want (grocery stores, restaurants, box stores, golf courses, etc.) but people who are from bigger areas occasionally complain about the lack of this or that here (I see that you're from southern California and you may not find certain things that you're used to). I just don't see it. We've only been here for less than a year and that's been seasonal living and we already have several good pizza places that we enjoy, half a dozen GREAT barbecue places that we like, good Mexican food, one great Italian place really nearby, etc.. We have several acceptable grocery stores and if you need Whole Foods, Trader Joes, etc., you can find that in Greenville, but I guess you'll have to decide for yourself when you get here. We live about 1/3 of the way up the lake on the west side, so we're within 15 minutes of Seneca, which has most of what we need. We're about 20 minutes from Clemson, probably 40 minutes from Anderson and an hour from Greenville (becoming a trendy "foody" city of 70,000+ residents). I like where we're at very much for it's relative location to Seneca/restaurants and also to the national forest, the mountains and the trout streams. One caveat and this is important. The area is being destroyed by the development. Honestly, I'm not sure that the local agencies and governments are prepared for the boom here and I don't know whether they'll be able to adequately handle it. Furthermore, the very things that I moved here for (truly nice, conservative people, nature, good fishing, etc. etc.) are slowly being replaced with a different crowd and with rampant/run-away development. I'm in my late 50s and presume that by the time the place is ruined that I'll be a very old man anyway, but you have to really consider whether you want to move to an area that's going to continue to be built up for years and that WILL change. If you're looking for a truly rural retreat, I'd encourage you to check out areas on Hartwell or Greenwood instead and to be honest, I spent most of my time on/near Keowee and can't really give you a ton of info about those areas. I should also probably mention that some of the Georgia lakes are very nice and the area can be pretty over there as well. Lanier is GREAT fishing, but it's practically within the Atlanta sprawl and it can be very busy. Carter Lake, Blue Ridge, Chatuge, etc. are really good fishing and very pretty, rural areas, but I think you'd be much further from lots of amenities (I'm not terribly familiar with that area, so I'm not completely sure). Burton Lake is not far from Keowee (I think 1-1.5 hours west) and it's a very good fishing lake and very pretty, but again, I think lakefront property is through the roof and you might be a bit further away from nice amenities, again, I'm not really sure. Just some food for thought, some of those lakes also have pretty good Yellow perch and Walleye fishing as well and Burton has a few big trout.

That is odd and I have no answer to the question. I'm just figuring out my own side scan. I don't get the kind of detail that I see photos of, but I haven't had any issues where I wasn't seeing what I thought I was supposed to see (what was under and to the side of the boat).

That's your problem. Assuming that the water depth is 50' and you're set at 50 or 60 feet, it basically means that you're only downscanning and not looking to the sides at all. If you want to see 60 feet to the side, you need the depth of the water PLUS your intended target to the side, so 110 feet in the above example.

Happy to admit that I very rarely get truly skunked. May not catch what I'd wish, but there's usually something put into the boat and most often, at least a few somethings. I even live on a lake that some tournament anglers call "Lake Keepaway", but I typically catch SOMETHING every time out. That said, I'm at the age and of the experience level that it really doesn't bother me that much and I really DO enjoy my time on the water for the other intrinsic things.

I can't say more emphatically....do it if it's clear that it's what you want. We only have so many days in this world and there's no sense being miserable if there's an option. Obviously not everyone can just up and pull the plug to move or to purchase a second home because of financial realities, family obligations, etc. (we have all of these too), but if you're able to do it and you wish to do it, you won't regret the choice, at least my wife and I haven't.