Finesse vs Power Fishing

[Mojo Bass]

Power fishing for me…….

 

my version of finesse is throwing a lightly weighted/weightless plastic or light jig and calling it finesse 

 

power fishing is just the most fun 

 

 

 

 

[padon]

15 hours ago, KSanford33 said:

You hit on something interesting for me. This is what I usually do, however I almost never catch anything on the power presentation and anything I do catch is on the finesse presentation. That got me wondering if I should just start out with the finesse. But like everyone else, I want to be versatile and able to adapt, so I still bang away with cranks, chatterbaits, etc.

that used to be me also, but you need to remember that part of power fishing is a numbers game. if you make 500 casts with a crankbait etc you may only make 200 with finesse baits. you will cover way more water and put your bait in front of more biting fish.what i mean is if you fish one area with a power technique and then slow down and finesse it you will probably catch more on the slower bait.if you commit to the power bait and cover more water for a few hours you may  get more bites that way. you just have to kind of develop a feel as to what you think may work best that day. also remember fish feed only a small percentage of the time. if your betting on a finesse approach and fish feeding on your slow moving offering you may be better of trying to MAKE  those fish bite a fast moving bait that that is in their face or looks like its trying to get away. 

[Tennessee Boy]

This tread implies that Finesse fishing and Power fishing are at opposite ends of the same spectrum.  I've never viewed it that way at all.  To me they are two totally different spectrums. 

[Mobasser]

I think both these types of fishing have a time and place. If bass won't react to larger power type baits, you can often catch them by slowing down, and downsizing your baits. These days, guys fish finesse on casting and spinning rigs. I wonder if we should still call it finesse fishing anymore.

[KSanford33]

40 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

This tread implies that Finesse fishing and Power fishing are at opposite ends of the same spectrum.  I've never viewed it that way at all.  To me they are two totally different spectrums. 

That's an interesting thought. Can you explain what you mean?

[Choporoz]

I have no clue any more what the difference is....or where the line should be drawn, anyway.  Is a vertical dropshot with a 4" worm finesse?  What about drop shotting a Pit Boss into a brushpile with 40# braid?  Finesse?  Power?  I see spinnerbait mentioned as power.....what if I'm using micro spinnerbait?  Or slow rolling regular spinnerbait?  Is 3 in paddletail finesse?  3.5?  5"?  If I swim the 3", but slow-drag the 5", is the former power and the latter finesse?

  The other day I was nearly dead sticking a 4in creature.....10 seconds between hops....finesse?  Power?

    I used to consider shakey head finesse.  But I've thrown 8" worms on 5/8 oz shakey heads using  HF rod.....finesse?

    Is it defined by speed or weight or size, or whether I'm using a spinning rod?  To me, the words are pretty meaningless without more context about the presentation. 

[KSanford33]

18 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

I have no clue any more what the difference is....or where the line should be drawn, anyway.  Is a vertical dropshot with a 4" worm finesse?  What about drop shotting a Pit Boss into a brushpile with 40# braid?  Finesse?  Power?  I see spinnerbait mentioned as power.....what if I'm using micro spinnerbait?  Or slow rolling regular spinnerbait?  Is 3 in paddletail finesse?  3.5?  5"?  If I swim the 3", but slow-drag the 5", is the former power and the latter finesse?

  The other day I was nearly dead sticking a 4in creature.....10 seconds between hops....finesse?  Power?

    I used to consider shakey head finesse.  But I've thrown 8" worms on 5/8 oz shakey heads using  HF rod.....finesse?

    Is it defined by speed or weight or size, or whether I'm using a spinning rod?  To me, the words are pretty meaningless without more context about the presentation. 

I completely agree. I don't think there's any definitive line there. I've always thought of it by what kind of bite you're going after. If you're going after a reaction bite, that's power fishing. If you're trying to coax the fish into biting, that's finesse.

 

But like my wife likes to constantly remind me, I could be wrong.

[Choporoz]

2 minutes ago, KSanford33 said:

 If you're going after a reaction bite, that's power fishing. If you're trying to coax the fish into biting, that's finesse.

Lol...please don't use the word 'reaction bite' to try to shore up any definitions....we had that conversation not too long ago

[Tennessee Boy]

1 hour ago, KSanford33 said:

That's an interesting thought. Can you explain what you mean?

We debate the definition of terms here all the time.  Definitions are important in discussions but they don't catch fish.  What I'm referring to is two concepts that are in my mind separate.

 

The first concept has finesse on one end and anti finesse on the other end of the spectrum.  The best name I have come up with for "anti finesse" is obnoxious.  We move along this spectrum to address the fishes level of skittishness.  It means a subtle presentation on one end verses a more forthright presentation on the other end of the spectrum.  Subtle means presentations that tend to be small, quite, no flash, and minimal action.  The other end of the spectrum are presentations that tend to be big, loud, flashy,  and with attention grabbing action.   

 

The second spectrum to me has to do with covering water with a specific retrieve rate.  We move along this spectrum to address the fishes activity level and willingness to chase down a lure. KVD style Power fishing involves fast action casting and retrieving.  The opposite end of that spectrum would be Stitching a worm Bill Murphy style. 

 

Some would say the two spectrums are related in that a skittish bass tends to be inactive and unwilling to swim 20 feet to hit a lure.  That might be true most of the time.  However,  we've all seen bass follow our lure all the way to the boat without hitting it.  When I see this happen,  I always move to a more subtle finesse presentation but I usually don't slow down.

[KSanford33]

@Choporoz @Tennessee Boy You both make excellent points, and I think with nebulous definitions we can never really nail anything down. Other than the two ends of the spectrum -dead sticking a ned rig and maybe burning a spinnerbait just under the surface- everything else falls into that, ehhh... maybe, maybe not area. 

[Johnbt]

"I see spinnerbait mentioned as power.....what if I'm using micro spinnerbait? "

 

My idea of finesse fishing is not using a 3-, 4-, 5- or 6-inch trailer on my 3/8 oz spinnerbait.

[Bankc]

In my experience, once the water gets dirty enough, finesse fishing stops working (unless you can hit them square on the nose with your bait).  So there are definitely situations where power fishing will produce and finesse fishing will not.  But the opposite is also true.  

[gim]

There was a thread about this not long ago.

 

The style of fishing is more dependent on how you're fishing a specific lure or bait, not the gear you're using.  I could be using a spinning setup and ripping a tube pretty quickly.  I would consider that to be more of a power strategy.

 

A lot of anglers are using bait casters with a slower, soft plastic lure nowadays.  A bait caster is more of a power tool for me, but the way you're using it with a slower approach is now a finesse tactic.

 

Muskie fishing is generally about raw power to me.  But in the fall, anglers use big plastics like medussas and bulldawgs during the cisco spawn.  They vertically lift them through the water column pretty slow.  Even though muskies fishing is generally a power style of fishing, this specific tactic is more of a finesse approach.

[Catt]

Finesse: : skillful handling of a situation : adroit maneuvering.

 

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

 

To my little pea brain power fishing is running & gunning. 

 

All strikes are reaction strikes! 

 

Bass sees lure, bass reacts!

[WRB]

Flipping is finesse presentation using a powerful rod and heavy line therefore it’s power fishing.

Split shot vs Bubba shot, one is finesse the other isn’t.

Ned rig is finesse, A-rig isn’t.

My hair jig presentation is finesse by definition but not by bass angling terms. 1/8 oz dart head jig w/4” curl tail worm is finesse jig fishing....3/8 jig pithed with precision isn’t.

Tom

[T-Billy]

On 3/23/2022 at 10:23 AM, TnRiver46 said:

Maybe one day! I’m approaching the old dog that can’t learn new tricks status 

Well... When your old trick puts lots of big brownies in the boat, and you enjoy fishing that way......

[TnRiver46]

58 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

Well... When your old trick puts lots of big brownies in the boat, and you enjoy fishing that way......

I’ll let ya know if that ever happens! Haha

[Deleted account]

On 3/22/2022 at 7:20 PM, KSanford33 said:

Correct, I shouldn’t have said all the time. But I’m wondering if there’s a time when finesse fishing wouldn’t work and power fishing would. 

Yes, fish sometimes key on a particular bait size and action, and sometimes that is bigger and louder. That being said, most times both (I think that is an arbitrary designation anyway) will work. 

10 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

This tread implies that Finesse fishing and Power fishing are at opposite ends of the same spectrum.  I've never viewed it that way at all.  To me they are two totally different spectrums. 

I see it differently, you fish fast, you fish slow, you fish big baits, you fish small baits, You fish with heavy gear, you fish with light gear, you fish with spinning, you fish with BC, etc, etc, the goal is the same, present a lure to a fish so that it strikes it, method be darned, but then I always start with the goal being catch a fish. Crushed with a DIY mini-max bluegill(ish)  chatter today. 

[schplurg]

In my mind "finesse" is a verb, in other words how you fish. Most may not agree but that's how I look at it.

 

I have two styles - slow and fast, and stuff in between I'm sure. Nothing to do with "power". The term "Power fishing" makes no sense to me.

 

I think that I can finesse any bait. Again, in my mind, finesse has to do with the action of the bait. If I'm reeling in a wacky rig at 50 mph with a light rod it is not finesse fishing to me.

 

As for the OP, I would think it more likely that a bass willing to strike a fast moving bait would be more willing to bite a slow one rather than the opposite.

 

Lazy fish: I'm only eating stuff I can get to easily.

 

Active fish: I'll eat anything.

 

Just a guess though.

[Munkin]

Everyone on here needs to read the RichZ article on this.  

 

Allen 

[KSanford33]

10 hours ago, Munkin said:

Everyone on here needs to read the RichZ article on this.  

 

Allen 

Can you point us in that direction?

[roadwarrior]

6 minutes ago, KSanford33 said:

Can you point us in that direction?

http://www.richz.com/fishing/articles/finesse_87_in-fish.pdf

[Munkin]

7 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

http://www.richz.com/fishing/articles/finesse_87_in-fish.pdf

 

I knew someone would have a link.

 

Allen 

[Team9nine]

That article, which appeared in In’Fisherman magazine, is still considered by many to be THE best piece of work on the subject of finesse fishing. The content and information in those old I-F issues was just incredible. 
 

As for definitions or categories, to me, it’s a bell curve with the two categories being the ‘outliers’ if you will on that spectrum. Finesse on the far left, power on the far right, and everything else just occupying the middle of the curve and not falling into either bucket - the rest is ‘just fishing’ - none of this, “If I fish some 10” bait slow and subtle on 10 lb line, is that still finesse?” type stuff - lol. I also fall back on the historical definitions in this regard as to what is “finesse” and what is “power,” right or wrong. Not everything fits into one of those two buckets…in fact, most presentations don’t fit either.

 

Finally, to the OP’s original question, there are definitely times, especially in spring it seems like, where you will absolutely catch more and bigger fish on bigger, more aggressive baits while hardly getting bit on finesse. We never pinned down the exact circumstances, but it was a topic of good debate and experiences many years back among Ned’s early Midwest Finesse discussion group.

[DinkDreams]

37 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

That article, which appeared in In’Fisherman magazine, is still considered by many to be THE best piece of work on the subject of finesse fishing. The content and information in those old I-F issues was just incredible. 
 

As for definitions or categories, to me, it’s a bell curve with the two categories being the ‘outliers’ if you will on that spectrum. Finesse on the far left, power on the far right, and everything else just occupying the middle of the curve and not falling into either bucket - the rest is ‘just fishing’ - none of this, “If I fish some 10” bait slow and subtle on 10 lb line, is that still finesse?” type stuff - lol. I also fall back on the historical definitions in this regard as to what is “finesse” and what is “power,” right or wrong. Not everything fits into one of those two buckets…in fact, most presentations don’t fit either.

 

Finally, to the OP’s original question, there are definitely times, especially in spring it seems like, where you will absolutely catch more and bigger fish on bigger, more aggressive baits while hardly getting bit on finesse. We never pinned down the exact circumstances, but it was a topic of good debate and experiences many years back among Ned’s early Midwest Finesse discussion group.

Funny enough, I had the experience today that you described in your last paragraph. Killed them on jerkbaits and cranks, couldn’t buy a bite on a Ned rig or shakey head.