Trout Baitcasting Rods
Trout baitcasting rods are an outgrowth of the Bait Finesse System (BFS), which allowed bass anglers to cast light lures accurately with baitcasters. It did not take long for Japanese anglers to adopt BFS reels for trout fishing, and rod manufacturers were not far behind that. There are now a number of excellent trout baitcasting rods that can handle light lines and light lures.
To reiterate a point made on the BFS page, purists consider BFS to be specifically a bass fishing method. BFS reels, for example the Shimano Calcutta Conquest BFS, can be used quite effectively for trout. BFS rods, though, - rods that have BFS written on the rod - are bass rods and will be too stiff for trout fishing. The Japanese companies who make baitcasters for trout fishing call them "trout" rods, not BFS rods. (Trout rods are broken down into spinning and bait, or S and either B or BC.) Thus, while you can refer to all the baitcasting reels on this site as BFS reels, to be precise, the rods on this site are trout baitcasting rods, not BFS rods.
As with spinning rods, JDM baitcasting rods for trout can be divided into rods for stocked trout in Areas (managed pay-to-fish ponds) and rods for wild (native) trout in mountain streams. And, as with spinning rods, the two different rod classes illustrate the two different sides of the finesse coin - micro lures and ultra light lines in the Areas, and extremely accurate casting in the mountain streams. However, there are very, very few baitcasters designed for fishing in Areas. Spinning rods are just so much easier for the average guy to use when casting micro spoons, which by far are the most popular lure used in the Areas.
There will be a gap. It is supposed to be like that.For Japanese baitcasters, as with the spinning rods, when you put the sections together there will be a gap. It is supposed to be like that. Please don't force it.
Finesse-Fishing Home > Bait Finesse System > Trout Baitcasting Rods
Header photo: Tenryu Rayz RZ4102B-UL, Shimano Calcutta Conquest BFSHG ('17)
Warning:
The hooks are sharp.
The coffee's hot.
The fish are slippery when wet.