Finesse vs power

[jmcarriere]

So this weekend in my second ever club event i noticed all of my fish come from finesse technique and more specifically the Ned Rig. I did not catch my limit i only got 4 for a total of 7 lbs yesterday bit 3 werr on the ned rig 2 2 1/2 lb smallies in 30 ft of water and the fourth was on a weightless t rig senko. Everyone else in the club was having success on chatterbait and top water i just can not seem to ever get a bite on anything other then finesse.

[WRB]

There is a time and place to fish finesse rigs and that time is when bass are less active, the place you need to determine, can't do that for you without knowing something about the lake.

It's easy to go to presentations you have confidence in catching bass, we all do it!

Eveyone else was fishing for shallower active feeding bass if they caught bass chasing down chatter baits or hitting surface lures.

Smallmouth sounds like you should use a suspending jerk bait in perch or emerald shiner colors, should work for both the agrresive top water and chatter bait bass.

Tom

[scaleface]

A  lot of pros have made a lot of money by specializing  . Maybe finesse is your thing . 

[tkunk]

It's always best to fish fast, assuming it works. Often, the hard part is predicting when it's going to work. Luckily, this is easy to do for smallies.

 

In the summer, smallies get fired up when it's windy and wavy. Power techniques like burning big, heavy spinnerbaits and working jerkbaits aggressively catch tons of fish.

 

On calm days, I've always had much better luck with tubes, drop shots, and swimbaits.

 

But it's important to understand that "finesse" doesn't mean "slow". While in search mode, you can cruise around at 1 MPH fishing a finesse bait.

[jmcarriere]

2 hours ago, portiabrat said:

It's always best to fish fast, assuming it works. Often, the hard part is predicting when it's going to work. Luckily, this is easy to do for smallies.

 

In the summer, smallies get fired up when it's windy and wavy. Power techniques like burning big, heavy spinnerbaits and working jerkbaits aggressively catch tons of fish.

 

On calm days, I've always had much better luck with tubes, drop shots, and swimbaits.

 

But it's important to understand that "finesse" doesn't mean "slow". While in search mode, you can cruise around at 1 MPH fishing a finesse bait.

The lake was really calm bluebird day and was extremely clear water

[Catt]

If it aint broke why ya trying to fix it?

 

You caught 4 out of what I assume was a 5 bass limit!

 

When to switch from "power" to "finesse" or shallow to deep is always the question everyday.

 

One suggestion 

[NHBull]

I believe I am a patient man, but can't bring myself to slow down to the point of throwing a ned rig.  The benefit is that it forced me to use other techniques that I had less confidence in.

 

One way to get use to a new technique is make it the only one you use for the day.

That is how my dad taught helped me improve my golf game........Play 18 hole with a 9 iron and a putter and your short game improves dramatically 

 

[NYWayfarer]

2 hours ago, NHBull said:

One way to get use to a new technique is make it the only one you use for the day.

 

 Great advice. Not easy to do but still great advice.

[UPSmallie]

Like others have said, both have their time and place.  Typically what works best for me in a bass fishing scenario, is either power-fishing jerkbaits or finesse fishing swimbaits.  I love power-fishing since it gives me the opportunity to cover lots of water from a casting standpoint.  If the fish are more sparsely scattered, then trolling Keitechs is my go-to

[papajoe222]

Based on your evaluation of the conditions, starting with a finesse presentation was very logical.  What you need to remember is that you based your approach solely on those conditions. In a tournament situation you need to constantly evaluate as many factors as you can.  One thing that will tip you off that a faster presentation may be more effective is to evaluate how aggressively the fish you caught took the bait.  A deeply hooked fish, or a hard thump vs. a tel tale pick-up are good indications that a faster presentation is in order. 

Don't beat yourself up because you didn't power fish when that may have been the route to take.  Finesse tactics will work the majority of the time regardless of the conditions. In tournament fishing the mindset is to get a limit as fast as possible. If finesse is how you feel you can do that best, don't fix it if it ain't broke. But keep your mind open for the other option when it presents itself.

[jmcarriere]

On 8/14/2017 at 11:40 PM, papajoe222 said:

Based on your evaluation of the conditions, starting with a finesse presentation was very logical.  What you need to remember is that you based your approach solely on those conditions. In a tournament situation you need to constantly evaluate as many factors as you can.  One thing that will tip you off that a faster presentation may be more effective is to evaluate how aggressively the fish you caught took the bait.  A deeply hooked fish, or a hard thump vs. a tel tale pick-up are good indications that a faster presentation is in order. 

Don't beat yourself up because you didn't power fish when that may have been the route to take.  Finesse tactics will work the majority of the time regardless of the conditions. In tournament fishing the mindset is to get a limit as fast as possible. If finesse is how you feel you can do that best, don't fix it if it ain't broke. But keep your mind open for the other option when it presents itself.

I actually didny start out finesse i started with top water amd chatterbaitamd didnt get anything even though my boayet got his limit with in 2 hrs on a chatter bait. I went to the ned rig because i wasnt getting any bites