KastKing Kestrel Fishing Rod - IM8 Graphite Blanks, 8 Different Light & Ultralight Casting & Spinning Fishing Rods, 2 & 3 Piece Rods, American Tackle Guides and Custom EVA Handle

Got this to pair with Kestrel bfs reel. Great quality rod especially at this price.

After the first one that came and broke out of the box. I thought I should try a second. 2nd one broke in THE EXACT SAME SPOT as the first one first time I took it out fishing. Fished for probably an hour then snap. Idk if it's a defective batch of rods or what. But I'll be looking elsewhere for a BFS rod. UPDATE 2/9/26: KastKing has sent a 3RD REPLACEMENT. They seem to really care about customer service. Contacted me and made everything right. Kudos to them

For the price I thought it was an awesome rod. Caught a ton of fish with it and felt perfect. Balance was there and the weight was almost nothing. If you’re looking for a cheaper BFS rod this is it

I caught a 3.05 lb & 2.6 lb Bass in a little over an hour in heavy cover using the 3 piece rod. I had this bad idea to make a BFS setup and then use it for Finesse Frogging setup with 8 pound KastKing braid. This Rod let me cast it a long ways, but also accurately. It has a great amount of back bone and sensitivity. It was able to horse both fish out of heavy cover and flip them up and over brush. That’s pretty demanding for a light rated 3 piece which speaks to its durability. I have zero complaints about its action and it has proven extremely versatile. It is also very light so I felt zero fatigue after an hour. I’ve bought a lot of rods over the years and a fair number of BFS rods recently and this is probably my favorite so far.

Perfect finesse rod

Nice rods. Very sensitive, feels good in the hands. Works well with the kestrel bait caster.

Love the entire kestrel line. I own 3 of these now. One spinning with the kestrel sfs and the other paired with a valiant eagle 2 and the kestrel elite. On the elite reel (fantastic bfs reel) the brakes did take a while to break in but now the reel cast better than my shimano. This rod can easily handle larger fish despite what some reviews suggest. You just can’t boat flip a largemouth. Next I’ll be getting the light 3 piece rod to really get that distance in wanting but love it for trout and smallmouth bass

2nd one I own after the first one broke on a hook set. This one just broke today after two months. I think I’m done with this rod. Edit: I did get a refund from kk. Good customer service, bumping to 3 stars