I just got into BFS last year and was really excited to hear that Jenko was prototyping a rod just for crappie fishing. Turns out it has become one of my favorite new ways to catch crappie. I’m mostly a casting guy, so having a new rod designed from the ground up specifically to throw light crappie jigs really appealed to me.
The Jenko Double Down BFS Rod exceed my expectations by a lot. I am a big fan of the grip and handle on this rod. They chose the exact right guides, and I’ll explain why in a minute. And the taper and action of the rod is dead on for throwing light little crappie jigs. I talked a lot about bait finesse system for crappie previously, and I have caught a bunch of fish on 1/32 and 1/16-ounce crappie jigs on the BFS since I got mine in May.
So I helped and suggested a design for the handle on a swimbait rod Jenko designed for me called the Savant for crankdown swimbaits. The Double Down has a similar handle built off that same styling. I love a full grip. And on this rod, that grip is perfect. It makes this smaller rod very comfortable to fish with small or large hands alike.
The grip works great in cold weather when crappie fishing is a little tougher. No slipping and adds a great overall balance to this rod. You’ll see what I mean if you ever pick one up and try to cast a little bitty jig with a baitcaster.
The Jenko Double Down BFS rod comes in at 6 feet, 6 inches and is rated medium light for a power. The rod loads well with smaller jigs thanks to a Paratek blended carbon blank, and the casting is eye opening with the smooth ALPS guides.
The rod and handle fit well under your arm as you slowly creep jigs into the strike zone of unsuspecting crappie and bass.
The biggest thing Jenko got right in my opinion is the taper and guide selection. The rod has the perfect taper for throwing little jigs and the guides are not micro and therefore alleviate all the issues with casting and retrieving jigs with micro guides on BFS rods.
Other rods I’ve tested for crappie fishing use a small micro guide for the first stripper or feeder guide and it creates a lot of tension and angle that when you hang a jig in cover often causes the line to break at the first guide. Jenko alleviated that by using larger guides to allow for more flexibility under load and in casting with light braided lines.
Braided line performance is better with BFS in my opinion but braid is very unforgiving on sharp edges at sharper angles.
I have had a ball learning to fish jigs on BFS tackle for crappie. I have always been a guy that stays back off of cover and lures the crappie out at a distance. I am catching suspended fish by staying back and casting 60 and 70 feet to them and floating a very light jig down to their face. It’s been working all year for me and really excels this time of year when the crappie are more sluggish and not willing to chase.
I have a lot of control of my jig with the Double Down rod. I have learned you can maintain a slow steady pace and you can pause and slightly lift up on the rod and cause a jig to pause for several seconds before penduluming back to you. That longer pause is a big deal some days. I feel like the added control of BFS could be a big deal in the future.
If you’re new to BFS or have just always wanted to try to fish crappie tackle on baitcasting gear, you’d be doing yourself a favor to start with this rod and a good BFS reel. I’ve used Shimano SLX BFS, Shimano Curado BFS and Tsurinoya Dark Wolf Ultra reels with this rod and all work great.
You’ll spend a little more but I think there are enough advantages to warrant it. I just picked up my second Double Down this week.
Check out more at Jenkofishing.com.
