On 12/18/2025 at 3:34 PM, little giant said:

@Flyfish-mt

I bought that Gomexus shallow spool for my TW 80. It works great! It was my first plunge into bfs and I never looked back. I use 10 lb braid on it, throws light baits very well using a ML rod.

I was wondering how much “line capacity” you are getting on that spool? It shows 50 meters of PE 0.8, would you say that’s about right? I’ve been eyeballing that spool since @bulldog1935 pointed it out to me.

Edited December 21, 2025Dec 21 by Eric 26
Added content

@Eric 26

Yes that's pretty close. 40-50 meters. I can get close to casting all the line out but never completely. It probably could with more weight but I only use 1/8 or less. 

To me it is a fun way to fish rather than replacing spinning gear. I still use spinning in many situations. Bfs fishing makes the fight more fun and I like casting gear better than spinning normally. Big fish is this 5.85 from the bank on a 1/16th little jig with a 2” or less soft plastic.

 

Thanks to this thread it dawned on me why BFS just works (for me). My first “real” rod was a now old and retired St. Croix Premier medium-light spinning rod, for that first decade or so of bass fishing it handled the majority of what I needed on the water. I pretty much adapted my entire fishing style around that medium-light blank, trying to make lighter gear do more than most people expect. My sole bfs outfit at the moment is a kistler helium med-light/ss air.

 

Light tackle and new technology are fun and exciting, but BFS has also been quietly tapping into a bit of nostalgia for me. 

@Bass Rutten That ML-F is a pretty sweet rod, I have a FM Stradic 2500 on mine. Sweet rod n reel. 

No complaints, thing was a tank (edit:the st croix), never an issue, that said realistically it's a bit heavy and dull compared to today's mid range gear. I don't know maybe they improved the blank, I hope so! I got mine around the mid 90's.

14 hours ago, Bass Rutten said:

Thanks to this thread it dawned on me why BFS just works (for me). My first “real” rod was a now old and retired St. Croix Premier medium-light spinning rod, for that first decade or so it handled the majority of what I needed on the water. I pretty much adapted my entire fishing style around that medium-light blank, trying to make lighter gear do more than most people expect. My sole bfs outfit at the moment is a kistler helium med-light/ss air.

 

Light tackle and new technology are fun and exciting, but BFS has also been quietly tapping into a bit of nostalgia.  

My first quality combo was a 6' MLF Berkley Lightning with a Penn 430SS spooled with 4# XL.  Caught tons of panfish with a few carp, bullheads, pickerel, smallmouth and largemouth bass thrown in the mix.  Still have this combo.  Although I won't get rid of it, I enjoy baitcast reels more.  It may see some use if I get a chance to go after panfish down here.

14 hours ago, Bass Rutten said:

No complaints, thing was a tank, never an issue, that said realistically it's a bit heavy and dull compared to today's mid range gear. I don't know maybe they improved the blank, I hope so! I got mine around the mid 90's.

Absolutely, a lot changed at Kistler. 

1 minute ago, F14A-B said:

Absolutely, a lot changed at Kistler. 

Oh wait I thought you were referring to the st croix as sweet haha. I jumped on the kistler wagon in 2023, but yeah that helium blank is all the rod I'll ever need, I got 5 now, fantastic value. I never owned any of the earlier ones.

20 hours ago, Bass Rutten said:

Thanks to this thread it dawned on me why BFS just works (for me). My first “real” rod was a now old and retired St. Croix Premier medium-light spinning rod, for that first decade or so of bass fishing it handled the majority of what I needed on the water. I pretty much adapted my entire fishing style around that medium-light blank, trying to make lighter gear do more than most people expect. My sole bfs outfit at the moment is a kistler helium med-light/ss air.

 

Light tackle and new technology are fun and exciting, but BFS has also been quietly tapping into a bit of nostalgia for me. 

I will also add my 90’s St Croix Premier light powered spinning rod was a do all catch everything rod when I first bought it. I loved it then and I still love it now and will agree it’s a bit “dead” feeling which is why I use it for smaller treble hook baits.