power fishing vs finesse

[Mr. Aquarium]

im a finesse guy! i love fishing slow moving bait , big or small. i love dissecting cover structure or an area.

do you guys think im missin fish cuz im not fishing fast baits like cranks and spinners? 

[lectricbassman]

Following this thread

[Molay1292]

I am in the camp that does not see it as one style of fishing or technique has to be in direct contrast to the other.  Instead I choose to see them as options that compliment one another.     When you become so adamant about one style of fishing you effectively eliminate a lot of options available to you.     With the finicky nature of bass in general and their preference for one bait on one day and another the next, I don't understand why it would be effective to eliminate options.

 

  

[Catt]

Finesse: skill and cleverness that is shown in the way someone deals with a situation, problem, etc.

[Mr. Aquarium]

3 minutes ago, Molay1292 said:

I am in the camp that does not see it as one style of fishing or technique has to be in direct contrast to the other.  Instead I choose to see them as options that compliment one another.     When you become so adamant about one style of fishing you effectively eliminate a lot of options available to you.     With the finicky nature of bass in general and their preference for one bait on one day and another the next, I don't understand why it would be effective to eliminate options.

 

  

the problem is i have a TON of pickerel in my ponds and im usually fishing very weedy,shallow ponds, but i have started fishing ponds clear and deep where weeds and pickerel arent a problem 

[mbtharp1]

I would say yes, there are probably days you're missing out on a lot of fish. If the fish are agressive, covering more water with a fast moving lure is probably going to get you more bites. There's a time and a place for everything.

[Scarborough817]

i read an article last week that really made me think about this. it had a couple interviews with pros and all 3 said the same thing.

1) when you first get to a spot you should be throwing moving baits to see if the fish are active. first using a search bait like a spinnerbait, bladed jig, lipless crank something along those lines, then once you determine if the fish are active or not you can slow down if you know they are there with more finesse techniques like drop shots, ned rigs, senkos or anything like that.

2) if you are fishing grass or pad beds work a frog across the top first then move to flipping a jig or a t-rigged plastic into obvious spots if you don't get any blow-ups on the frog.

3) i think this is the most important point. do not assume fish are doing the same thing all over the lake. basically meaning repeat this process all over the lake if you are not finding fish. 

[Molay1292]

23 minutes ago, Mike Dixon said:

the problem is i have a TON of pickerel in my ponds and im usually fishing very weedy,shallow ponds, but i have started fishing ponds clear and deep where weeds and pickerel arent a problem 

Like with most things fishing, experience, and time on your particular body of water will teach you what the fish are doing, and help you select baits for the time of year, water color and condition, and seasonal pattern.      Try lots of things, and you will have the benefit of experience when selecting baits to use.   Keep in mind, just because a bait does not work one day, or even just at a particular time of day, does not make it an ineffective bait, continue to use and try different baits in different conditions until you have confidence in a group of baits, and then continue to fine tune those skills and baits.   

Best of luck

[herruberraschen]

http://www.bassmaster.com/mark-zona/ike-chesapeake-and-stubbornness

I know I'm guilty

[Mr. Aquarium]

i used to fish cranks and spinners back in the day! i need to fish them more in my deeper lakes. but tubes and soft plastics work so well for me haha! 

[Ktho]

It really just depends on the lake. Most of the time "finesse" fishing is the way to go for me. Cranks/spinners work well but need the right time/situation for them to be great. When the shad start going, power fishing works well. When the water rises and fish move into new cover, good time to power fish as well. For the most part though the default mood of the bass near me prefer slower moving stuff like a slow rolled underspin, texas rig, weightless senko, or a drop shot. I've learned a lot from online sources but almost always have to adjust and apply it to what I'm fishing.

[Mr. Aquarium]

i dont have shad in my lakes! i have perch and shiners in most of them! some lakes have herring but not all year 

[Darren.]

2 hours ago, Mike Dixon said:

im a finesse guy! i love fishing slow moving bait , big or small. i love dissecting cover structure or an area.

do you guys think im missin fish cuz im not fishing fast baits like cranks and spinners? 

I'm in the minority, but no, I don't think you're
missing out if it works best where you fish.

I tried cranks, and other hard lures, and will still
give them a try. I've had low success on them,
and simply prefer to fish soft plastics wacky, or
drop shot, etc.

Never fished, and not interested in tourneys, or
such things. I fish because I love the sport and 
simply enjoy what I have found works best for 
me. Might be missing some fish, but I'm catching
some they're missing, too.  

[scaleface]

When I'm fishing deeper like on a point my two most used lures are a Texas rig on 17 lb test and crankbaits on 12 lb test . . So is speed fishing "powerfishing"  and slow fishing "finnese"  fishing ?  To me they are just meaningless labels .

[contium]

I always start out power fishing. But I include things like Texas rigged worms and jigs in that. Finesse to me is down sized baits on light line fished sloooowwwww. If power fishing isn't producing I may go to finesse fishing. I never understood guys that start out drop shotting in 30' of water at 5:30 am. That's a last resort for me. For the last couple of years, if there is a lot of pressure on the lake that day, I have been upsizing baits when things are tough. I figure I would rather catch one 5 pounder than ten one pounders and it has worked pretty good for me. Most of the lakes around here (Southern California) are small and the fish are seeing baits all day long on weekends.

[blckshirt98]

I think there are most definitely days when you miss out on fish if you only finesse.  I started out just going finesse on spinning gear - first wacky/t-rig/c-rig then I started dropshotting and that took over 90% of my fishing time.  There were days a dropshot wouldn't get a bite so I decided to branch out and started using power techniques and now I ALWAYS bring some kind of reaction bait with me when I fish.  My best shore day ever in terms of size/quality of fish was when I did nothing but throw chatterbaits and the fish were inhaling that thing all morning long.  I've had crankbait sessions where I'd find a "spot" where I'd throw the crank and the fish would be schooled up and something would eat the crankbait every 3 casts.  I still dropshot tons but there have definitely been days where I wouldn't have had as productive of days if I didn't use a reaction bait.  Plus, it's a lot more fun/interactive to fish with a reaction bait.

[crypt]

my dad always said  "go with what you know"     so you fish however you want to fish and experiment when you want.not because someone else tells you what to do.

[Hog Basser]

I fish a little bit of everything.  I like to fish topwaters like frogs and spooks early and on cloudy days, but I switch it up for fun to see what else they'll bite as the day goes on.  I've had days where I catch on cranks, topwaters, frogs, swimbaits (keitech swing impacts), T-Rigged worms, spinners, and trailered jigs.  I stick longer with the ones that produce, but sometimes conditions change or locations on the lake change, which necessitates a change in baits for me.  I just try my best not to be too stubborn and use the same bait all the time.  

[Mr. Aquarium]

19 hours ago, scaleface said:

When I'm fishing deeper like on a point my two most used lures are a Texas rig on 17 lb test and crankbaits on 12 lb test . . So is speed fishing "powerfishing"  and slow fishing "finnese"  fishing ?  To me they are just meaningless labels .

yea it was for the lack of better terms. i meant finesse as in anything from wacky rig and drop shot to flipin and pitchin 

19 hours ago, contium said:

I always start out power fishing. But I include things like Texas rigged worms and jigs in that. Finesse to me is down sized baits on light line fished sloooowwwww. If power fishing isn't producing I may go to finesse fishing. I never understood guys that start out drop shotting in 30' of water at 5:30 am. That's a last resort for me. For the last couple of years, if there is a lot of pressure on the lake that day, I have been upsizing baits when things are tough. I figure I would rather catch one 5 pounder than ten one pounders and it has worked pretty good for me. Most of the lakes around here (Southern California) are small and the fish are seeing baits all day long on weekends.

yea i gotcha! i meant finesse as in slow fishing. and power like fishing fast baits! 
530 am dropshotting? C'Mon thats topwater time!  ive been stepping up my topwater game! like spooks and whopper ploppers! i love watching smallies destroy a topwater.  i havent fished the super light finesse stuff this year! been using A TON of texas rig tubes and topwaters. also swimbaits

[WRB]

Bass fishing terminology and Websters dictionary definitions rarely coincide and the term finesse fishing has been redefined to the point it's nearly meaningless, same for swimbaits.

My introduction to finesse fishing was by George Kramer who defined Dick Trask as a "finesse" fisherman back in the early 80's. George also gave the crown to Don Iovino as the father of finesse fishing when Don was introduced into the Fishing Hall of Fame.

Both Dick and Don define finesse fishing as precise lure presentations using light tackle.

The opposite is power fishing and flipping is a precise lure presentation but nothing is finesse with 65 lb line ripping bass through the cover and bounced into the boat....that be power!

Tom

[Catt]

@WRB George Kramer! That's a blast from the past!

I never understood why the use of smaller tackle come to mean finesse fishing. Finesse doesn't mean small!

I believe like you it's localisms

[contium]

23 minutes ago, Catt said:

I never understood why the use of smaller tackle come to mean finesse fishing. Finesse doesn't mean small!

I believe like you it's localisms

Delicate comes to mind (and most definitions) with the word finesse. That would certainly imply light tackle in my mind.

[Catt]

13 hours ago, contium said:

Delicate comes to mind (and most definitions) with the word finesse. That would certainly imply light tackle in my mind.

Yea I don't think delicate would go over to well in the mocho world of bass fishing!

[blckshirt98]

Power fishing to me has always been anything where you're trying to get the bass to bite from it's predatory instincts with a reaction bite, even if it's not hungry.  So a lion that just ate a huge meal might not be hungry but if you slap his face with a steak a few times he's gonna be ticked off and eat that steak.  So fishing a tiny crankbait on 4lb line can be power fishing if you're cranking that thing through water trying to get that reaction bite.  Finesse fishing to me is any presentation where you're trying to present an easy meal to a fish.  So like a dropshot worm that imitates a clueless baitfish sitting still in the open water, or Texas-rigged crawfish just kind of scooting along the bottom, anything food-sized that seems like it's unaware a predator is nearby.  So a Texas-rigged creature bait being slowly dragged along the bottom with 50lb braid, is still finesse to me.

[Mr. Aquarium]

1 hour ago, blckshirt98 said:

Power fishing to me has always been anything where you're trying to get the bass to bite from it's predatory instincts with a reaction bite, even if it's not hungry.  So a lion that just ate a huge meal might not be hungry but if you slap his face with a steak a few times he's gonna be ticked off and eat that steak.  So fishing a tiny crankbait on 4lb line can be power fishing if you're cranking that thing through water trying to get that reaction bite.  Finesse fishing to me is any presentation where you're trying to present an easy meal to a fish.  So like a dropshot worm that imitates a clueless baitfish sitting still in the open water, or Texas-rigged crawfish just kind of scooting along the bottom, anything food-sized that seems like it's unaware a predator is nearby.  So a Texas-rigged creature bait being slowly dragged along the bottom with 50lb braid, is still finesse to me.

YES THATS THE WHY I THINK OF IT  AS!! slow baits finesse. fast baits power fishing!