Finesse Lures

[Jake P]

One of my goals this year is to work hard on finesse fishing. I SUCK at fishing slow. I have fished the shake2 before but not what you would call "finesse". I used the 1/2 oz and fished it hard with a big worm.

 

I picked up some in 1/8 oz and 3/16 oz along with a few other things from TW.

 

What are yalls favorite finesse baits or favorite baits to rig on a shakey head?

 

 

[BobP]

Any 5" finesse worm, but I prefer hand-poured for action.  Zoom Ultravibe Speed Craws.  I'm checking out the Z-man craws this year because they float and so sit in a claws-up attitude.

[Teal]

3/16 or 1/4 finesse jig. Green pump/purple or Green pump/red.

Sometimes with a small grub trailer or a robo worm as a trailer.

[WRB]

I think you should define what finesse fishing is for you.

Fishing slowly isn't how I would define finesse fishing. To me finesse is Precission presentation of your lure to the bass. This means Knowing exactly where the bass are located and putting lures in their face, instead of presenting light weight lures on light line and hoping the bass will find it.

Light weight lures and tackle help because the lure tends fall slower through the water column and are easier to control it's action. The easiest presentation to learn is drop shot, Split shot or slip shot (finesse C-rig) allows you to make longer cast and retrieve to cover more area faster, then the drop shot rig.

Finesse jig fishing with small light weight jigs with small trailers or shaky heds with worms is Los targeting small areas and starting the spot thoroughly and takes time to pick apart the structure or over precisely.

If you don't know if bass re on the spot, finesse is hrd to tick with, unless you get results.

Tom

[mc6524]

I like to define finesse fishing as:

 

A slow more natural presentation targeting the more finicky bass in a found area to fish it out when the bite stops or to entice a hunger bite in colder water. Generally as stated above using 10 lb line or less, with spinning reel or baitcaster. There are quite a few 'finesse" baitcasters hitting the market so more anglers seem to be using them.

 

In this instance as outlined smaller bait, light weight, and slower presentation would be in order.  The key is to get finicky bass to bite as opposed to active feeding bass to bite.

 

So drop shot, shakey head, etc., finesse worms, and senkos are my favorite.

[WRB]

It maybe of interest to know Don Iovino, considered by the fresh water fishing hall of fame to be the Father of Finesse fishing didn't fish with spinning tackle, he used tuned 2500C bait casting reels and Phenix rods with 6 lb Maxima mono line. Don made Doddling or shaking "brass 'n glass" hand poured small worms. This is the forerunner of shaky head jigs, same presentation with flat face round head jig and worm. About the same time period, esrly 80's, Don competitor was Dick Trask, who won more tournaments then Don by split shotting and dart hed 4 to 5" curl tail worms. Trask used spinning tackle; Daiwa TD reels and Phenix rods, also with Maxima 6lb mono. Don and Trask used the same rod blanks and between them dominated western bass tournaments. Iovino and Trask knew how to power fish, but 5, 3 lb bass = 15 lb limit and gets a pay check in most tournaments fishing high traffic small lake on weekends.

Not all finesse presentations are light tackle, stitching a split shot rigged 12" hand poured worm with 15lb line is also considered "finesse" presentation that trophy bass anglers used like Bill Murphy.

Iovino's PB 18. Lb bass was caught shaking a 5" Smitty worm, not all finesse bass are 3 lbs!

I recommend Don's book Finesse fishing and the sonar connection to anyone interest in finesse bass fishing.

Tom

PS; Aaron Martens credits Dick Trask for teaching him, as a young teen, how to tournament and finesse fish. Unfortunately Dick passed away before publishing any articles.

[Jake P]

The spots I plan on fishing are spots that I usually hit with jigs and T rigged worms. Last year I fished a couple spots to death with those 2. I know the fish are there, I want to be able to go after them with a much more subtle finesse presentation this year if they are finicky or used to seeing the same things. I already the equipment, 6' m/f spinning setup with 6 lbs line.

to me, finesse is fishing slow lightweight lures on light gear.

I'm more interested in what works for everyone when fishing finesse style.

[Bankbeater]

1/8 ounce jigs, and 4" plastic worms.  I will do everything from dragging along the bottom to dead sticking them depending on what the bass want.

[thehooligan]

It maybe of interest to know Don Iovino, considered by the fresh water fishing hall of fame to be the Father of Finesse fishing didn't fish with spinning tackle, he used tuned 2500C bait casting reels and Phenix rods with 6 lb Maxima mono line. Don made Doddling or shaking "brass 'n glass" hand poured small worms. This is the forerunner of shaky head jigs, same presentation with flat face round head jig and worm. About the same time period, esrly 80's, Don competitor was Dick Trask, who won more tournaments then Don by split shotting and dart hed 4 to 5" curl tail worms. Trask used spinning tackle; Daiwa TD reels and Phenix rods, also with Maxima 6lb mono. Don and Trask used the same rod blanks and between them dominated western bass tournaments. Iovino and Trask knew how to power fish, but 5, 3 lb bass = 15 lb limit and gets a pay check in most tournaments fishing high traffic small lake on weekends.

Not all finesse presentations are light tackle, stitching a split shot rigged 12" hand poured worm with 15lb line is also considered "finesse" presentation that trophy bass anglers used like Bill Murphy.

Iovino's PB 18. Lb bass was caught shaking a 5" Smitty worm, not all finesse bass are 3 lbs!

I recommend Don's book Finesse fishing and the sonar connection to anyone interest in finesse bass fishing.

Tom

PS; Aaron Martens credits Dick Trask for teaching him, as a young teen, how to tournament and finesse fish. Unfortunately Dick passed away before publishing any articles.

 

I just got that book on amazon for $5, cant wait to read it.

[Jay Ell Gee]

I like the Big Bite Baits Squirrel tail on a shaky head, as well as the strike king finesse worms.

 

However, I would really invest some time in learning how to split shot. Get yourself some 4.5 inch roboworm curly tails, zoom dead ringers (amazing worm, especially in the 4.5 inch for finesse), some small flukes, etc and rig them on a light wire hook (size appropriate to the bait, 1/0-2/0), peg them with a bobber stop/carolina keeper with a small tungsten weight and a bead (or just use split shot!) and start dragging that bad boy across fishy looking spots.

 

It has saved a LOT of days for me.