Majorcraft Volkey 692ML/BFS - Thoughts / Mini Review.

[Slazmo]

Well since the first thoughts of going light filled my head with silly string and using 2lb on my main gear being a Patriarch 1-3 XTR and a mildly tarted up Shimano Stradic 1000FJ and having unimaginable amounts of fun with that set up. It comes to blows 'whats next', well since having a few bait casters in the range of the Curado, Caenan which I wouldnt use for light luring, that left me with the dated Callisto (which has since left me for better pastures), and doing some work on that it really shined with light weight casting however not in the real realm of finesse fishing with the rod it was bolted to.

It seems that most Australian retailers are shy of accommodating finesse fishing styles outside of spinning gear and that was my case; short of going to custom rod builders and handing over 3 weeks pay it was near impossible to find anything suitable off the racks - even in these boutique stores.
So after doing a well earned swap to get the Calcutta 50B and doing some needed work on that and then getting the Alderbaran MG off Mountainman it really became apparent that finesse bait casting is a true sport and this is what I really want to experience! So after weighing up the options between the Calcutta and the Alderbaran I came to the conclusion that the Calcutta would be more suited even without the light weight spool and the Air ceramic bearings and other tid bits added (costs are too high for little personal gain). But from what I did I managed to get the best out of the Calcutta using OEM internals and bearings...

I went about looking for "the rod" to suit and after finding that a lot of rods were obsolete online through the various online rod retailers (around the world) and the BFS game becoming more of a elitist segment with the ultra high end manufacturers putting out suitable rods that became true that these were out of my financial reach / financial care as they sported many of the same components and perceivable build quality.

However there still were a few rods lingering in the discounted bin and the Majorcraft Volkey 692ML/BFS 2pc was a little heavier than what I wanted however the price was right and the specs were within my needs and the rod was bought after a little thought and supportive comments from the good people of BM in my previous thread.

Just took some pictures of the rod to show people some comparisons of the set-up's in comparison to another rod, which I bought locally a Wilson Blue Steel Bass Medium ($99) which also comes highly decorated with Fuji Silicone Carbide Low Rider guides and SIC K Guides up top, fuji ACS reel seat and a nice crisp blank - yes $99 at B.C.F. That which the Alderbaran which shall be mounted upon and running 8lb Vanish FC (updated type) and a medium setup for freshwater ‘bass in mind’...

The rod - First Impressions

Apart from being nigh impossible to remove from the shipping tube and being laughed at by my colleague, struggling with the sticky tape that Plat uses and near breaking out the mechanical tools to extract the rod from within the Jap PVC pipe (which is as now a dedicated rod tube for this rod). We both commented on the rod in its broken down form as being well built and finished off impeccably for its price range. I did hint a slight amount of jealousy from my colleague, but thats ok its always good to aspire to others isnt it?
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The cork I'll touch on as being marketed as AAA Cork however I will say that its the same quality as that which comes on the Pflueger Trion's (which I own multiple of) not sure what AAA to AAA+ difference is however there is a fair amount of cork fill and irregularities in the cork itself, nothing which detracts from its function or use however its not absolute top shelf. I have already washed it down and begum the sealing process with Bondall Multi Surface Waterproofer to seal the cork against dirt and oil ingress - which I'll show a little later on in the post. This is something I do to all my cork grips from day dot to keep them nice and neat.
DSCF2630 AAA Cork Grips.jpg

To be cont...

[Slazmo]

The Fuji ACS reel seat is the newer ergonomic type and is soft touch rubber coated and feels absolutely insane in the hand! The difference between the non coated which is on the Wilson Blue Steel and that of the Volkey BFS is like a rubber steering wheel in a car and that of a MOMO flock lined competition wheel. May not seem much to some but I notice the difference and thats from me "Mr Bare Basics" - happy with lesser than more...
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You can see the difference between the upper Wilson seat Fuji Graphite seat and the lower Volkey Fuji Graphite rubber textured seat.

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The seat closer up - where that carbon inlay is on the fore grip thats the balance point with the reel installed. So its very close to the hand and a light easily palmed combo.

Cont...

[Slazmo]

The guides are Fuji Sic's one low rider and the rest are K Sic's up top, where as the Wilson Blue Steel runs two Low Riders and then the rest are K Sic's and a low rider tip - the tip on the VKY BFS is what seems to be a K series and is not as swoopy as the Wilson's. The guides are all straight and bound excellently with ample epoxy - something which I always am keen to look at prior to purchase due to most rod builders skimping / quality control along the line and having some exposed threads (epoxy sinking into the gudebrod) like the Edge rod I recently laid eyes upon (dont care what people thing about that - poor form!)... This particular rod in question has one Low Rider as the stripper guide and 8 K Guides and one tip all Fuji Silicon Carbide in the polished Stainless Steel - would have been neater to have them in a matt stainless steel or electro plated black finish - personal choices I guess.
DSCF2600 Fuji Low Roder Comparisons.jpg

DSCF2601 Fuji Low Rider Sic Guide Comparison.jpg

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This picture is a comparison of the Wilson Blue Steel Sic K micro guide top and lower is the Volkey BFS Sic K micro guide... Picture is crap however paints a picture on size difference between the two.

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Cont...

[Slazmo]

The blank of the rod is my words tight and light, balances with the Calcutta 50B at the for grip lock EVA piece & the carbon inlay and does so very well. Its extremely sensitive up top and rated super fast and 4 to 14lb and clearly more than what I wanted as I really was looking at the lighter model however non available due to being obsolete now. The actual blank of the rod is finished in that carbon inlay down the bottom and up top its that unfinished feel where you can feel the outer wraps of the carbon material itself. Its a rough feel in comparison to other rods which are usually finished in a painted scheme or varnished over to feel smooth...
As I loaded the rod up nowhere near full, I did notice that the line does touch the blank along multiple points up top where most of the flex occurs - while running FC I have no issues with that however those running braid or other braid types may get some line burn on the blank with blistering runs??? I am sure that this rod will hold its own as I have seen some pictures with this particular rod bending from near the for grip and a huge parabolic bend throughout the blank - thats not my style of fishing to overload the rod so certain that I wont tip it doing as such.

The sealing of the cork grips.

This is a couple of pictures to show the before and afters. The grips at this stage are at its first coat of the waterproofing agent. I do three coats around 30 minutes or so between coats and thats that for a year or more use dependant. The cork grips were quiet white looking and I scrubbed down with a we chux cloth and then allowed to dry and then applied the Bondall solution with a brush. Its in a little jar as a little stretches too far and the 1 litre bottle is too difficult to dip into and transport - so a little is decanted and used as such.

If anyone is wondering this product doesn't dry as a topical layer like paint or varnish - this could be said to be like 3M Scotchguard for timber, masonry and fibres like canopies and shoes etc etc. It soaks into the medium and protects it from that point. Just doesn't allow water or other gunk to ingress into the cork and I have found it to be valuable in its use keeping cork bright and stopping it degrading and going black - in which most find cleaning troubling to do...

But here are some pictures of that process... The Bondall solution is still wet at the point of pictures being taken - so the solution is still shiny at this point. When it dries its only as shiny as the cork is naturally. And you can see all the cork filler - AAA cork??
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Once the Bondall goes on you can instantly see the cork filler... This would come out with use anyhow once that cork white starts to wear out with use.

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And after 3 coats of Bondall Multi Surface water proofer applied to the cork grips - this is the end colour / result.

Within regards to use I haven’t been out with it as yet – got to get a few homely things done as I am on my weekend, however I feel that I should be right with casting 1/16th or less heads (wind pending - its overcast but very still today) with the supplied Hooked On Plastics grubs running FC straight through without the need for a leader as such who knows with the distances I'll get however I will pace it out on the grass. Counting on that this all goes well this afternoon I will update further findings to this thread.

Thanks all to listening to my gibber jabber,

Andrew

P.s. This is a credit where credit due post – nothing supplied other than the HOP's to test out for myself...

[FTP]

Fantastic detail as always!

[Slazmo]

Originally Posted by FTP

Fantastic detail as always!

Thanks Richard, wasn't sure what kind of responses I would get - if any lol...

Anyhow went out for that elusive test cast session and had a epic fail first cast... Forgot to set any mechanical brake blocks other than the friction cast knob - first cast and "POOF" birds nest through the first 30 odd layers of FC... So a 20 minute session of careful picking through the mess saw me get through that and back into the casting.

Casting with two lures this afternoon 1) being a small Squidgy Wild Prawn and a Berkley Jungle Hook 1/16th and the other 2) being a Hooked on Plastics grub with a TT's Hidden Weight 1/16oz head - I had a few casts to get the rough feel for the spool as this little spool spins like crazy! So with 4 brake blocks out I test casted both into the water and onto the grass beside me. A few of the walkers thought I was a little weird - dont blame them to be honest.

The picture below show's the distance I was comfortable with on this first session and with the Wild prawn and Jungle hook - from the butt of the rod to the red cloth beside the tree in the distance. I paced out the distance and found that some of my casts were worst of 15 paces and my furthest today was 25 paces (one pace being one outstretched step). The pacing thing must have really weirded out people with what I was doing!
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Anyhow really enjoyable casting with this little set up, makes you question why we all fish a little heavier than going light and finesse. Wish I did this years ago.

Thanks all...

[dannydownunder]

you've a good eye for fishing rods Slazmo.

[pipnosis]

Yep you are a bit weird.

Thats why I read every post !

[Slazmo]

Originally Posted by pipnosis

Yep you are a bit weird.

Thats why I read every post !

Ha ha gold... Did you read the secret message in all I wrote. If you find all the misspelled words there is a message in there

[Partizan Fk]

well done mate i dont pace out all i do is find out the line retrieve on the reel and count that out per turn its rough but i dont look like im the blind guy from the great escape looking for the coin.heheh
BFS has aot to do with the rod and loading it up looks like you have found the right balance once you work out the reel youll be laughing

[Slazmo]

Originally Posted by Partizan Fk

looks like you have found the right balance once you work out the reel youll be laughing

Yeh its the hard part to find out the right balance with the reel especially on the first session in late afternoon conditions, at the moment all the brake blocks are out (all 6) and the friction knob screwed down more than I'd like. Yet still getting a decent cast - wonder how Green Hornet will go with his 50B and the Avail shallow spool and ceramic bearing configuration he got (that when it arrives and he installs it)?

Eagerly awaiting the news / results of that.

[FTP]

Too many people over-tune their reels only to cast with full magnets/centrifuge weights/friction knob. Most people can't use their thumb properly but assume a spool or bearing change will help poor technique. The rod and line and spool and bearings are vital but the thumb rules all..

[bassrat]

There a nice rod .Im running a 04 pixy using it for flicking plastics for bass weedless hook 00 sinkers no problem