"finesse" Fishing Stained Water

[MIbassin]

Hey guys!

 

As the title says, i had a few questions about finesse fishing in Stained water:

 

Is it possible?

I always hear that in stained water you need flash or lots of vibration..is it true?

 

and also, would techniques like drop shot and "spy baiting" work in stained water??

 

Any other tips/comments are welcome!

 

P.S- I mostly fish stained water and i was wondering if it would be worth it to invest in an UL rod and reel combo…what do you think?

 

[Felix77]

To me finesse fishing stained water is more about the color lure you present than anything else.  I steer towards the black, black/blue and junebugs when presenting finesse lures in stained water.

 

A few examples is a T-Rig Senko, a black finesse worm on a shakey head, black/blue jig and baby rage trailer or a beaver style bait.

 

Seems to do well for me in those situations.

 

One fun technique that I have tried a little bit with some success is an MJ rig with a small gold colorado blade.  It worked decently when I fun fished a few times.  I didn't have the confidence to try it during tournaments yet.  If you give this one a shot let me know how it worked out.

 

[Brian6428]

Great advice here by Felix, especially the part on the color black. It is subtle yet has a great outline, even on a 5" finesse worm.

[BrianinMD]

I am mainly a finesse fisherman, Felix put up some good advice. One thing I will add is stained water is where I general add a little color, I am a co-angler so I carry spike-it marker pens. A little scent never hurts either which the pens add to.

[backwater4]

Like Felix said, black is a great finesse color. My go to finesse bait in stained water is a 4" berkley ring worm, black chart tail.

[5dollarsplash]

If your fishing the same body of water most of the time, might as well try it right?  Maybe you'll find a pattern that others miss or show them something they haven't seen. 

 

On the topic of the UL, I use a light action spinning rod and thats as close as I'll get.  The UL doesn't give me any real advantage and they tend to run short(under 6').  Remember the power of the rod is moreso for the technique and the cover your fishing than the size of the fish.  UL in stained weedy water, you may find yourself wishing for that little bit more backbone a L would give you.

[Felix77]

I am mainly a finesse fisherman, Felix put up some good advice. One thing I will add is stained water is where I general add a little color, I am a co-angler so I carry spike-it marker pens. A little scent never hurts either which the pens add to.

 

I use JJ's.  I have a bag of finesse worms with the tips dipped in JJ's.  Keeps me from worrying about spilling JJ's everywhere.

[Mainebass1984]

I have had some pretty good luck in the past with a chartreuse crankbait in stained water

[Fishes in trees]

How stained?  What is your secchi disc reading?  How deep can you drop a white spinnerbait before you totally lose sight of it?  Stained means different things to different people.  At what point does "stained" become "dingy" or "muddy"?

 

Me, I keep a secchi disc in my boat and check water clarity several times per day, or when I move to different areas.  It helps me decide on color choices.  Might want to try it.

[ariess]

Vibration is key too, sometimes a little extra helps the fish find your lure. Try exchanging you plastic worm for a lizard, craw-worm, or small swimbait. 

[will83]

I recently have had great success with white, particularly something with a silver or gold flake.  The areas I am fishing have a lot of shad; a white senko has been killer, as well as small swim bait on an 1/8 jig head, fished very slowly on the bottom.

[Bluebasser86]

Pretty much all the water I fish is what I considered stained (less than 3' of visibility). I do very well finesse fishing at times. One of the most stained lake that I fish a lot I do really well with a Zoom Magnum Finesse worm in redbug color on a 1/8oz shakyhead.