Power fishing vs Finesse fishing

[gim]

I've never been a big fan of slower soft plastic finesse presentations (drop shot, ned rig, wacky rig, Texas rig, etc).  I know how to use all of them and I've had success with all of them, but my preference is to generally fish a faster-moving lure and catch fish that way, more so in the category of power fishing.  Its been so hot and dry and humid here this season that most of the time the fish seem very lethargic and I have to target them with a very slow finesse tactic.

 

My question is, are there fish in the system that are always willing to bite a moving lure?

[DitchPanda]

In my experience no. Certain times of the year...super cold water and super hot water..there are times when its very hard to get a bite on moving baits. That's where a jig, shaky head or Ned rig really shine. That said those windows are very short...I catch  fish on moving baits starting around 45ish water temp in spring up until low 80s in summer then back until mid 40s again in fall. So there is usually about 7-8months of open water here and about 2 months the moving bait bite is bad.

[HaydenS]

Yes, I consider a jerkbait a power fishing lure and it gets bit year round.  Hank Cherry caught fish on a jerkbait when the heat index was 110, during the 2021 bassmaster classic.  The year before it was cold outside and he also caught fish on a jerkbait, during the 2020 bassmaster classic.  A buzzbait or a frog gets bit in the hot, hot summer months too.  Fish bite a crankbait year round as well.  Alabama rigs are a deadly cold water tactic.

We recently floated a river(90+ degrees outside) in Missouri, and we couldn't get bit on the slower finesse presentations, such as a ned rig.  I caught my fish on a red square bill, it forced them to react. 

For me, yes there is always fish that will eat a power fishing technique. 

[ironbjorn]

There will always be fish willing to bite moving baits in any water temps. It becomes about how you're fishing them, and in extreme conditions that becomes slow and finessey. Take lipless crankbaits for example. In spring and fall I burn them and they get crushed. In summer I yo-yo them on a medium retrieve. In winter or otherwise cold water conditions (so long as the water is open) I yo-yo or basically hop them very slowly and keep them close to the bottom, almost like fishing a spoon. Similar methods with chatterbaits (or even the abominable [to me] spinnerbaits) are effective the same way. So in short, yes, a moving bait can always be fished and get bit, but perhaps not the way you would like.

 

By the way, power finesse is also a tactic, which is my style of fishing and what I'm best at.

[WRB]

Everyone would prefer a good topwater bite or faster moving lures over a slow finesse precision presentation. 

I break this down in my Cosmic Clock and Bass Behavior Calendar also a In-Fisherman foundation principle.

Think of bass as individual fish however to generalize behavior we group them into a category.

With this in mind individual bass are active chasing faster moving prey about 10% of the time each 24 hour period. The opposite is the same bass is inactive about the same amount time. The balance of the time the bass is transitioning from very active, active, neutral, inactive and very inactive.

Active bass are easier to catch on a wider verity of lures whereas inactive are not catchable. Finesse fishing targets a wider time period along with precision lure presentations like punching, pitching/flipping putting the lure close within a strike window.

Tom

 

[Jig Man]

I start nearly every trip power fishing.  I give it several places with several baits.  After about an hour I pull out the jig, shaky and Ned.  I’m there to catch fish by what ever method it takes.

 

Lately Ned is all that I can get them to bite.

[MassBass]

Finesse is consistent, power fishing wins tournaments.

[Kenny Yi]

i used to love moving baits the most, but now i appreciate working a bottom bait and big hooksets

 

Jigs of all kinds, Texas rigs, and Tokyo rigs (new favorite) are my go-to lures, low and slow

 

next are crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and chatterbaits, basically all moving baits

 

then, jerkbaits hard and soft, swimbaits, and topwater 

 

finesse will always be last on my preferences, but I can't deny it's fish-catching ability; dropshot, neko, wacky stickbaits are the best for me, these will only come out if I need a bite or the situation calls for it, I always bring at least one spinning rod

[ironbjorn]

16 minutes ago, MassBass said:

Finesse is consistent, power fishing wins tournaments.

I think it was Fish the Moment who presented data showing finesse won a little more than half of the professional tournaments the last several years. 

[gim]

1 hour ago, DitchPanda said:

Certain times of the year...super cold water and super hot water..there are times when its very hard to get a bite on moving baits. That's where a jig, shaky head or Ned rig really shine.

This has been my experience too. Unfortunately it’s been so freaking hot here since early June that is how I’ve mostly been forced how to fish. In most other seasons it’s not nearly this warm all the time.

 

39 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

I start nearly every trip power fishing.  I give it several places with several baits.  After about an hour I pull out the jig, shaky and Ned.  I’m there to catch fish by what ever method it takes.

This is very similar how I approach almost every outing too.

[Tatsu Dave]

1 hour ago, ironbjorn said:

By the way, power finesse is also a tactic, which is my style of fishing and what I'm best at.

I consider finesse to be how I fish, I think a % of bass will always hit moving baits but where I fish they are subjected to very little pressure and don't see the constant array of lures to become wary of. I fish with lighter gear and lighter line than many but in our waters it really works. 

[WRB]

When did the “bass jig” & Texas Rig become “finesse”?

You want to know Finesse read Don Iovino’s book Finesse bass fishing and the sonar connection. Don is in the Fishing Hall of Fame as the Father of Finesse Fishing.

Aarom Martens did Ok finesse fishing in Elite and MLF tournaments.

Tom

 

[DitchPanda]

18 minutes ago, gimruis said:

This has been my experience too. Unfortunately it’s been so freaking hot here since early June that is how I’ve mostly been forced how to fish. In most other seasons it’s not nearly this warm all the time.

 

This is very similar how I approach almost every outing too.

Well apparently our experience is only ours and its wrong. Every person since I said no has said yes you can catch them on moving baits no matter what. As @ironbjorn said yes technically you can basically worm/jig fish a lipless or chatterbait but at that point its not a moving bait...its a bottom bait in my opinion.

[gim]

6 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

Well apparently our experience is only ours and its wrong. Every person since I said no has said yes you can catch them on moving baits no matter what.

Our experience is just our own experience. I am interested in what others think and experience, including yours @DitchPanda. You aren’t that far from me geographically so any of your insight may be more beneficial than advice from someone fishing in Florida too.

 

Keep em coming

[DitchPanda]

What's always been crazy to me is how comparable bodies of water that are close to each other can be fishing completely different because of  a small difference in water temp. Today I really struggled..fished about 4 hours with 5 different techniques to get 4 fish. Moving baits have not been getting a sniff for me. My buddy fished a pond about 25 miles from me this morning and said the bass were chasing gills along shore. Said in a few hours he caught 12-14 bass on a swim jig...also missed several and lost several more. 2 ponds 25 miles apart...one guy gets 6 bites in 4 hours other guy gets 20 bites in 2 hrs. Ponds are both run by the same county conservation board and have similar numbers of bass to my knowledge.

[Kenny Yi]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

When did the “bass jig” & Texas Rig become “finesse”?

You want to know Finesse read Don Iovino’s book Finesse bass fishing and the sonar connection. Don is in the Fishing Hall of Fame as the Father of Finesse Fishing.

Aarom Martens did Ok finesse fishing in Elite and MLF tournaments.

Tom

 

i was gonna say... i thought power fishing meant big baits, big line, and big action, while finesse meant the opposite, i would agree that just cuz the bait is slow, doesn't mean it's finesse

[jimmyjoe]

4 hours ago, gimruis said:

My question is, are there fish in the system that are always willing to bite a moving lure?

 

   If there are, there are some days when I sure can't find them!   ?          jj

[HaydenS]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

Aaron Martens did Ok finesse fishing in Elite and MLF tournaments.

Talk about a finesse fishing stud.

He also liked to flip ounce+ jigs into cattails to mimic baby black birds, the Furious Hog Snatcher!

[Bluebasser86]

Heat indexes were over 100 and water temps were in the low 90's this past weekend. My best bait was a bladed jig in less than 5' of water. 2 weeks ago in similar conditions, we won a weeknight tournament primarily on a bladed jig, buzzbait, and popper also in less than 5' of water. 

 

You can always find some willing to bite, just a matter of how hard to you want to work for them.

[WRB]

Dee Thomas in the Hall of dishing fame as the Father of power flipping....”shallow bass are biting fish”...take your pick,

Tom

[Bankbeater]

I've been catching bass on 4" plastic worms, and on 1/2 ounce lipless crankbaits.  Because of the heat I have been working them slow.  Doesn't matter what the bait is if I speed up the retrieve I don't get any bites. 

[Biglittle8]

5 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Heat indexes were over 100 and water temps were in the low 90's this past weekend. My best bait was a bladed jig in less than 5' of water. 2 weeks ago in similar conditions, we won a weeknight tournament primarily on a bladed jig, buzzbait, and popper also in less than 5' of water. 

 

You can always find some willing to bite, just a matter of how hard to you want to work for them.

☝️This has been my experience also. I will throw a chatterbait just short of the weedline, if I get hit it will be as soon as it hits the water or a crank or two after. You have to be willing to toss a bunch of casts sometimes. That being said, if I'm in danger of getting skunked, I break out the Wacky rig.

[Mobasser]

On one of my smaller lakes, I usually start with some type of faster moving bait. It always seems to work better in the spring or fall. In the heat of summer, most days I've got to fish the bottom very slowly to get any strikes from bass. And sometimes drop down in line size and bait size to get any fish interested.

[Catt]

Finesse: refinement of workmanship; skillful handling of a situation: adroit maneuvering

 

Adroit: having or showing skill, cleverness, or resourcefulness in handling situations.

 

Finesse fishing doesn't necessarily mean small or slow, it's about picking an area apart.

I finesse fish power baits ?

[jlb6]

Sounds like there are slight variations in what we consider to be finesse vs power fishing which could be geographical or based on our preferred style of fishing.  If I’m unsure of the bite I’d much prefer to start w a moving bait to cover water and hit actively feeding fish. But I’m with DitchPanda on water temps all but making what I personally consider power fishing to be a pointless exercise though at certain times of year.  At least square pegging a round hole. 
 

Midwest early prespawn I’ll find some occasionally burning a trap but more times than not I end up soaking a trd to get bit. I don’t enjoy it but it’s my best chance of getting bit. The shallow strip pits i fish in the  mid summer get so warm that the majority of fish just won’t chase in the dog days of summer. They want a free easy meal to hit them on their heads. But I’m also convinced that if you’re in tune with the water it’ll tell you when you can speed up (fish actively feeding, how the fish bite actually bite, whether they follow/chase, etc.). I like the term power-finesse and haven’t heard it but that’s how I would describe the happy medium of how I end up fishing a decent percentage of the year.