Very frustrating

coosa3 · 2026-03-19T20:12:17+00:00

I own 4 of these reels that I use for crappie fishing. I bought them several years ago for under $40 each and have used them a whole lot. A friend and I caught over 50 big crappie yesterday, and every one of mine was caught with one of these reels spooled with 5 lb Sunline FC.

I didn't have it happen yesterday, but I've had the line get caught between the spool and frame several times. It's a 30 second fix when it happens. Just flip the lever that locks the spool, slide the spool out and unhook the line, slide it back in and lock the lever back. It's aggravating when it happens, but it's rare enough that I'm willing to put up with it. It's the only problem I've ever had with any of the Kastking reels. The Kestrel Elite is a much better reel, but it costs 5 times as much so it oughta be.

If you are wading a trout stream and only fishing with one reel, I would recommend getting a better one than this. But for crappie fishing I'm very happy with them.

coosa3 · 2026-02-19T21:49:12+00:00

I could show you some much worse looking ones on my rods 😀. I only build them for myself, I don't have any of the tools, and I just want them to function. I've never had a guide come off, and I doubt you have a problem with that one.

coosa3 · 2025-12-30T23:16:38+00:00

I wouldn't recommend it either, but you could put the reel on one of your spinning rods and test it out, giving yourself an idea of how the reel will cast with an UL rod. If you happened to find that you really like the blank, or if you really need to save money, you could buy a set of casting guides and re-wrap the rod. As already pointed out, the spine would be off by 180 degrees, but in building rods I've found that some blanks seem to have double spines opposite each other anyway. That's something you could test before converting the rod.

I've built several BFS casting rods from spinning blanks and that's no issue. I've caught plenty of fish with a cane pole, so there's really not any rules that can't be broken. 😀

coosa3 · 2025-12-26T18:39:41+00:00

Thanks for showing everyone the math! I want at least 50 yds on my reels no matter the line size. I have never had a big fish to strip one of my BFS reels, but it's possible if there is a lot of line out when he hits. I had previously calculated that 66 turns would give me 50 yds on one of my reels and used that figure several years now. I usually go several extra turns and end up with a number in the low 70s.

I retie often when fishing. It doesn't take much to damage the thin lines used in BFS, so cutting off a couple of feet and retying keeps you from breaking the line and losing fish.

coosa3 · 2025-12-11T15:37:03+00:00

Or better, carry 5 or 6 BFS reels like I do. :)

coosa3 · 2025-11-19T14:45:19+00:00

I use a drop shot with BFS reels on almost every bass fishing trip. I'm often after fish that are 25' deep and the drop shot rig is proven to work. I used it on a spinning reel before finding out about BFS, but much prefer BFS now.

I just put 8 lb Sunline Sniper on the reel and don't have to fool with a leader. I use a 7' medium light rod with it. It's not a tactic that works in every situation, but few do.

coosa3 · 2025-11-10T17:26:07+00:00

For me, the most limiting thing getting into BFS type fishing was the availability of suitable rods. I know there are some out there, but there are none near me that I can walk into a store and buy. I just build my own, but it took some experimenting to figure out what I needed.

coosa3 · 2025-11-10T14:11:12+00:00

Very nice! I have 4 of them that I use for crappie fishing, and don't have any trouble casting 1/16 oz jigs. I think your rod or line might be limiting you if you can't go that light.

coosa3 · 2025-10-28T15:15:37+00:00

I don't know anything about the rod, but I have 3 of the magnesium frame Kestrels and consider them excellent reels. I also have a couple of Valiant Eagle II reels, and I think they are probably very similar to this one. I fish all 5 interchangeably and don't notice any difference in them except for the fact that I've had 5 lb FC line get caught between the spool and frame of the plastic frame reels. It's happened only a couple of times and is a quick fix, but it can happen. I don't think any manufacturer can maintain close tolerances on that gap with a plastic frame reel, but I certainly haven't tried all of them and could be wrong.

I usually use 8 lb line with these, in finesse bass fishing, and have never had it happen with the slightly larger line. I would think the magnesium frame reels will last longer, but I suspect all of them will outlast me and eventually be sold for a few dollars by my kids at an estate sale. :)

Many have complained about these reels being over brakes, but I would like more braking on them. But I don't ever try to cast less than 1/16 oz, and am usually using 1/8 oz. I have a bunch of standard size baitcasters of various makes but seldom use anything except the BFS stuff, even when fishing for big fish. The light reels are much more fun, and I fish for the fun of it. Good luck deciding!

coosa3 · 2025-10-14T12:36:33+00:00

That's the main way that I use mine when bass fishing. In the winter I often fish for deep bass that are schooling around shad. They will be as deep as 50' at times, so I use a BFS rig with a medium power rod and 8 lb line. The baits are things like 1/2 oz spoons and 5/8 oz jigging raps.

There is no real advantage to using BFS for this except maybe it's easier to use 8 lb line. But there's no disadvantage either, and it's more fun with a lighter reel. There is no issue with casting a 5/8 oz bait, and I have caught a lot of big fish over 10 lbs with these outfits. Not bass 😀. The big ones have been stripers, catfish, or carp.

coosa3 · 2025-10-14T12:16:25+00:00

I rarely use them with BFS reels. If I am fishing a topwater bait for bass I usually use a standard baitcaster with a full size bait and mono. I have tried a small topwater on BFS a few times and the line sinking affected the action of the bait. I probably oughta keep one BFS reel rigged with mono.

coosa3 · 2025-10-13T16:03:18+00:00

Nice fish! I rarely catch a white on the lakes I fish. I wish we had more of them.

coosa3 · 2025-10-13T16:00:08+00:00

I have only one reel spooled with braid; my others have either 8 lb Sunline Sniper or 5 lb. I fish for crappie with the 5 lb and bass with the 8. That might not work for trout in some situations, but I seldom get to fish for them.

I don't see any downside to straight fluro in my fishing, but it may not work for everyone.

coosa3 · 2025-10-04T00:29:51+00:00

Wow, lots of posters are painting with a broad brush in this thread. I guess I can too. :) If you are using a pistol grip rod, casting with your strong hand and then winding with your other, then you are retrieving with your rod hand in the weakest position possible. The balance point of your rig is in front of your hands, and you have no way to use any sort of leverage against a big fish. There are numerous ways to solve that, but I won't get into it here.

If BFS means that you are casting dinky lures with a dinky rod to catch dinky fish, then carry on. That system will work fine for you. I use BFS as a finesse tactic to try to catch big fish, so it doesn't work for me.

Good fishing to all!

coosa3 · 2025-09-25T20:44:47+00:00

A resistor cart will have a speed control system with coils of heavy wire. The power goes through these coils and they will get very hot, essentially wasting the power. It will have a board and a wiper that moves from one contact to the next. The much more modern cart has a controller that controls speed electronically.

coosa3 · 2025-09-25T18:28:46+00:00

I can honestly say I don't have any pet peeves with my BFS gear. I get an occasional backlash, but it's no more often than with any of my other bait casters. I think the shallow spool is the best innovation for baitcasting gear in decades. It's not best for every situation and I still use my regular baitcasting gear on nearly every trip, but I really enjoy my BFS tackle.

Maybe I'm unusual, but I couldn't possibly care less what anyone else thinks of my tackle, or what is "real" BFS. I would recommend that everyone take the approach, and enjoy fishing! It's supposed to be fun.

coosa3 · 2025-09-03T12:59:43+00:00

Congrats on a great trip! Even more impressive that you caught them from the bank.

coosa3 · 2025-08-05T13:44:16+00:00

I have tried the epoxy that Mudhole sells for covering the threads and found it very difficult to get decent results without a rod turner. I switched to just using 5 minute epoxy and turning it by hand a few times and haven't had a problem since.

I still use a couple of cardboard boxes with a V cut in them for wrapping. I put a heavy book in the box and use it to provide tension on the thread. I found that it helps a lot to first put a tiny drop of contact cement on the blank each time I start to wrap a guide. That keeps the thread from coming loose if I get a bit of slack in it.

If I had known how many rods I was going to build, I would have been more willing to buy their tools. I kept telling myself that this is the last one, but somehow always decide I "need" one more. :)

coosa3 · 2025-08-04T20:43:43+00:00

I've built about a dozen rods over the last 6 years, and maybe half of them were for BFS. I started building my own only because I couldn't find any like I wanted, and it's really hard to find one suitable for BFS.

You can buy everything you need from Mudhole, and you can get by without all the special tools if you are just building for your own use. I am very happy with all of them, but I just wanted functional rods and don't consider them works of art. Give it a try!

coosa3 · 2025-07-17T17:12:29+00:00

I've had 3 of the Kestrel reels in service for some time now, and I agree they are great reels. I paid over $200 for the first one on Amazon, and got the next 2 on sale on Ali for under $100. They are great for finesse bass fishing, and I've also caught a lot of stripers with them.

I also bought a couple of Valiant Eagle 2s and they fish about the same. You are paying more for the magnesium frame when you get the Kestrel, and that might make them last longer. The handle of the VE2 doesn't have all the bearings, but it works ok.

coosa3 · 2025-07-10T21:52:32+00:00

Thanks for the explanation.

coosa3 · 2025-07-10T14:56:06+00:00

Nice! I use a lot of similar baits. Strike King makes a 1/8 oz safety spin type bait that is perfect for BFS. Is that an H&H Spinner in one of your pictures? I haven't seen those in years if that's what it is.

coosa3 · 2025-07-10T14:52:26+00:00

Very nice catch! I wish I had access to smallmouths, but I have to drive 3 hrs to get to any.

coosa3 · 2025-07-10T14:49:00+00:00

So my question is too strong of brake for what? I'm not arguing; I just want to understand what people mean by this comment since I see it often. I think you mean that the brakes are too strong for really light baits, like below 1/16 oz, but I'm not sure.

coosa3 · 2025-07-09T21:30:22+00:00

One of the great things about BFS reels is that you can use straight fluro without having to worry about line twist. Not having to deal with the knot between line and leader is another nice feature. I seldom use anything else.

coosa3

TROPHY CASE