The Top Five BFS Fishing Reels

By: FishUSA Staff

July 27, 2023

A BFS casting reel isn't just any ordinary casting reel. As soon as you pick one up, you'll notice it's quite a bit smaller and lighter than what you may be used to. You'll also notice the spool is much shallower than that of a standard casting reel. BFS casting reels are also equipped with specialized brakes and a load of other features that make it possible for them to be used with light tackle. Each reel has its own unique features that separate them from the rest, so let's take a look at what each one has to offer.

A typical BFS setup with popularly used BFS line, lures, and baits

Best BFS Fishing Reels

Daiwa CR80 Low-Profile Casting Reel

Buy The Daiwa CR80 Reel

Although this reel doesn't have BFS in the name, it certainly meets all the qualifications necessary to fit the category. If you're looking for a good deal, this reel is very reasonably priced reel to get started BFS fishing.

Features

Compact body design makes it easy to palm
Magnetic cast control assists with casting light lures and baits
Carbon resin frame/side plate
Double anodized aluminum spool
32mm spool diameter
90mm swept handle

KastKing Kestrel Elite BFS Reel

Buy The KastKing Kestrel Elite BFS Reel

The lightest BFS reel on the market coming in at just 4.4oz! The KastKing Kestrel Elite BFS is a very impressive piece of machinery.

Features

Magnesium alloy frame to keep real extremely light yet strong
Flyout Arc Finesse auto-adjustable braking system specifically designed for finesse fishing
BFS shallow feather weight spool weighs just 5.6 grams and requires less effort to turn and get up to speed
Palm perfect body compact design (36.5mm) height
Main gear and shaft constructed from hard anodized aluminum and linked to a 100% brass pinion gear; carbon handle and side plates
Patented Low Friction Tapered Vortex line guide limits friction during casts
8.4:1 gear ratio

Shimano Curado BFS Reel

Buy The Shimano Curado BFS Reel

If you're a fan of Shimano reels, you probably have a Curado in your lineup. It's one of Shimano's most popular reels, so it's no surprise they shrunk it down and made the proper adjustments to create a BFS version.

Features

HAGANE Body design means this reel has a metal body with high rigidity. The result - angler's actions are directly transformed into cranking power
X-SHIP design ensures that gears stay turning and in the right place
A Cross Carbon Drag allows for a huge variety of settings and ultimate smoothness
S3D Stable Spool Design leads to significantly reduced spool vibration
SF (Super Free Spool) eliminates friction on the spool shaft during the cast, helping to launch light baits a mile
S A-RB bearings featuring shields on both sides that reduce the possibility of salt or sand inhibiting the bearing's rotation
Drag makes an electronic sound when in use, adding excitement with each run from a big fish
Finesse Tune Brake that achieves unparalleled casting performance of lightweight lures by eliminating the brake unit from the spool

Daiwa Tatula SV TW70 Low-Profile Casting reel

Buy The Daiwa Tatula SV TW70 Reel

Amazingly lightweight and incredibly small. The Daiwa Tatula SV TW-70 features an aluminum frame, handle, and sideplate that houses Daiwa's Hyper Drive design gearing system, which provides exceptionally smooth cranking.

Features

T-Wing System constricts line flow by delivering a T-shaped line guide that is larger, wider, and less restrictive
SV spool minimizes backlashes while both magnetic and centrifugal breaking technologies provide the reel with extreme castability
7+1 ball bearing system
Hyper Drive Design
- Hyper Drive Digigear: continuous strong and smooth rotation achieves increased meshing ratio without reducing the gear tooth size
- Hyper Armed Housing
- Hyper Double Support
- Hyper Tough Clutch

Shimano Aldebaran BFS Reel

Buy The Shimano Aldebaran BFS Reel

This reel is not yet on the market, but it's sure to be a BFS fishing machine upon release. Similar to the Curado, the Aldebaran is a BFS make of a standard-sized casting reel. If you've used the standard Aldebaran, you probably know how special this BFS version will be!

Features

Magnum lite (MGL) Spool III to reduce start-up inertia for unparalleled control and accuracy
MicroModule Gear technology - state-of-the-art and ultra-refined gear tooth design
Shimano's FTB (Fine Tune Brake) system
Lightweight magnesium frame and specialized braking system

Conclusion

As BFS grows in popularity, the technology developed around the technique will only become more and more advanced. The BFS fishing reels on the market now are already incredible, and there's sure to be more in the future. Don't forget to pair your reel with a BFS Rod.

If you're looking to learn more about BFS, check out our article "BFS Fishing - A Complete Guide to Bait Finesse System". We hope you were able to learn from this article and put some giants in the net using BFS in the near future!