I went from power fishing to just about 100% finessee

[Pogues2300]

I’ve pretty much done the opposite. I don’t like the idea of so much technology which is partially what I think drives the more finesse end of it. I think in the next ten years or so we will start seeing an impact on people using this tech and on certain fish people harvest for food… this will undoubtedly impact our beloved bass. I hope I’m wrong. I personally like power fishing to hopefully find some fish then may slow it down a bit. Maybe I got off on a tangent didn’t mean to derail thread

[KP Duty]

Finesse was A-Marts main game, and he did pretty well.

[RHuff]

1 hour ago, KP Duty said:

Finesse was A-Marts main game, and he did pretty well.

 

 I’ve never caught a fish on a drop shot.. i suck at it..

[gim]

35 minutes ago, RHuff said:

 

 I’ve never caught a fish on a drop shot.. i suck at it..

I’d rather stay home and wait for better fishing conditions than sit there with a drop shot.

[padon]

53 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I’d rather stay home and wait for better fishing conditions than sit there with a drop shot.

ok. you do you but when i can pull up on a rock pile make a cast with a drop shot and have a fish on less than ten seconds after it hits bottom i dont think its so bad. whats the difference  between that and a jig.

alot of the water i fish is deep and clear. that lends itself to smaller baits so called finesse fishing so thats what i do alot of. but then those same fish will gobble a ten inch worm on a deep ledge so i keep them honest and try a variety.

[CrashVector]

95% of my bass fishing is finesse fishing.

 

I'll throw the occasional spinnerbait or chatterbait, but other than that, finesse is where it's at.

[WRB]

I target big bass when they are catchable under ideal conditions for active bass feeding. Learned a long time ago you can’t make inactive bite bass anything.

I only finesse fish to catch neutral active bass looking for numbers not big bass. Sometimes you stumble onto a big bass using light tackle, not ideal but it works.

To summarize; catch big bass when you can and that is usually under low light conditions. The balance of the day go fishing for numbers using finesse presentations. 

Where I fish you adopt finesse presentations or get get blanked most of the time.

Tom

[Captain Phil]

6 hours ago, WRB said:

I target big bass when they are catchable under ideal conditions for active bass feeding. Learned a long time ago you can’t make inactive bite bass anything.

 

This is when I pull out my flipping stick.  You could say all shallow bass are active.  They aren't until you put a bait on their nose. ?

[MN Fisher]

27 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

They aren't until you bounce a bait off their nose. ?

Fixed it for you, Phil.

[Mike L]

I target big bass with everything I got every time I go out, because that’s the goal every time I go out. 
If dinks is all I get then so be it, I got something and grateful for it. 

 

But to specifically use light line, light weight and light equipment all day does nothing for me. 
 

 

Mike

[scaleface]

I define finesse as little lures and light line on a spinning reel . Most of the places I fish , those setups will fail . I will use them in open water , rip rap...

[gim]

10 hours ago, padon said:

you do you but when i can pull up on a rock pile make a cast with a drop shot and have a fish on less than ten seconds after it hits bottom i dont think its so bad.

I didn't say it wasn't effective.  I only said I'd rather sit at home and wait for a better opportunity than fish with a drop shot.

[Catt]

32 minutes ago, Mike L said:

I target big bass with everything I got every time I go out, because that’s the goal every time I go out. 

 

By whatever means necessary!

 

My #1 most productive lure this year has been a 1/4 oz Bettle Spin. Wanna guess what I'll be throwing next time out?

[Swamp Girl]

I honestly didn't even know what finesse fishing vs. power fishing is just a few months back. I heard you guys use the terms and had one of my many, many "Huh?" moments at BR. And I still don't have finesse vs. power sorted out. For example, I still throw my big 130 Whopper Plopper on a spinning reel. I like the distance I get with my spinning reel and I've caught so many bass at the very ends of my long casts. I wouldn't have reached those distances with a baitcasting outfit. I know this isn't the way most fishers do it, but it works for me. 

[gim]

Its not necessarily a BC versus a spinning setup, although they often do correspond.  Its more about how the lure is being fished or presented.  I generally fish hard baits on a BC and I fish them faster.  Whereas I fish plastics slower, more often on a spinning setup.  Casting a whopper plopper for largemouth with a spinning setup might be unorthodox, but its still a power presentation in my book.

[optimator]

43 minutes ago, Mike L said:

I target big bass with everything I got every time I go out, because that’s the goal every time I go out. 
If dinks is all I get then so be it, I got something and grateful for it. 

 

But to specifically use light line, light weight and light equipment all day does nothing for me. 
 

 

Mike

Same here. I’ve always got a finesse setup with me but I exhaust all other options first. Unless I’m fishing for smallies.

[TOXIC]

Every one of these fish and a bunch more were all caught on a dropshot in Michigan about 3 weeks ago now.  Could I have caught them on something more “power” based? Maybe but why would I if dropshotting was kicking out this quality and size of fish? 

[Mike L]

17 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

By whatever means necessary!

 

My #1 most productive lure this year has been a 1/4 oz Bettle Spin. Wanna guess what I'll throwing next time out?

Whatever it takes!

 

Sometimes ya gotta go small and light to get anything 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Swamp Girl]

3 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I generally fish hard baits on a BC and I fish them faster.  Whereas I fish plastics slower, more often on a spinning setup.

 

That helps me differentiate. Thank you.

 

3 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Casting a whopper plopper for largemouth with a spinning setup might be unorthodox, but its still a power presentation in my book.

 

I kid you not: I think about you sometimes when I'm using ^this^ setup and feel guilty, for a while back, you told me that most fishers don't do it this way. I tried the baitcasting outfit, but I couldn't begin to equal the distances I get with my 17 lb. mono on my 7'+ rod (I don't know it's exactly length, but it's a pain in the car and in the woods.) and big Shimano spinning reel (I think it's a 4000.). I can CHUCK with that Whopper Plopper with this rig. I caught yesterday's two 21"+ bass on this very setup and they both hit within a second or two of it landing. I wouldn't have reached them with my baitcasting outfit.

 

I also love how I then have to reel a long time to get the lure back to the canoe, as that's more time the lure is in the water, but I catch 80% of my on-the-surface bass within the first three feet of the retrieve and I don't know why. I think casting to cover partly explains it, but I often cast (at least 50% of the time) in the middle of nowhere with considerable success. Maybe they are drawn to the KERSPLOOSH of it landing. Maybe it lands on their heads and they reflexively hit it. I wish I knew. 

 

I do admit that it's an unforgiving outfit when it comes to hooksetting at that distance, but I upgraded my hooks and both times yesterday, the Whopper Plooper's hooks were barb-buried in their thick mouths. 

[gim]

10 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I tried the baitcasting outfit, but I couldn't begin to equal the distances I get with my 17 lb. mono on my 7'+ rod (I don't know it's exactly length, but it's a pain in the car and in the woods.) and big Shimano spinning reel (I think it's a 4000.). I can CHUCK with that Whopper Plopper with this rig.

You should be able to get the same distance with a good BC setup and braided line.  The 130 WP is a massive, heavy lure.  If you were tossing something lighter, then a spinning setup might be the way to go.  I'd also vote for straight braid on it instead of mono.  Mono has a stretch to it and the longer you cast, the more stretch there is.  Its just simple physics.  Plus braided line floats too.  That's why the preferred line of choice for frogging is heavy braid on a bait casting setup.  You need wenching power and line that gets an immediate hookset.

 

Obviously you've proven that you can make it work.  No one is going to argue that.  If it aint broke, don't fix it.

 

The only time I'm tossing lures of that size nowadays is when I'm muskie fishing and I am always using a BC for that since the lures are at least that big.

[Swamp Girl]

@gimruis, thank you for your time. I do listen to you guys and have switched to braid on six of my outfits because of what you guys say about braid. My froggin' outfit has 50 lb. braid on a broomstick rod. I do love the hooksetting power of braid on my six outfits. Whenever I look down and see braid, I smile because it gives me confidence.

 

Maybe I need a long baitcasting rod to increase my distance with my Whopper Plopper. The rod I used to cast the Whopper Plopper is my shortest rod. Do you think a longer rod would help and if so, what kind of action should I buy? 

[gim]

6 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

Do you think a longer rod would help and if so, what kind of action should I buy? 

Yes.  Generally more length will equal more distance.

 

I am not very specialized in that type of fishing anymore, so I really can't offer much rod/reel specific-type advice.  What you might consider doing is starting a new thread on the subject in the Rods/Reels/Line section.  You will get a lot of feed back from more knowledgeable individuals if you go that route.

[roadwarrior]

The perfect rod for you:  7'2" Rip-N-Chatter, Heavy, Moderate 

https://stcroixrods.com/products/legend-tournament-bass-2022-new-models

[WRB]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

I honestly didn't even know what finesse fishing vs. power fishing is just a few months back. I heard you guys use the terms and had one of my many, many "Huh?" moments at BR. And I still don't have finesse vs. power sorted out. For example, I still throw my big 130 Whopper Plopper on a spinning reel. I like the distance I get with my spinning reel and I've caught so many bass at the very ends of my long casts. I wouldn't have reached those distances with a baitcasting outfit. I know this isn't the way most fishers do it, but it works for me. 

Gary Yamamoto always used spinning tackle or his power and finesse fishing, use what works.

Don Iovino’s paper back book Finesse Fishing and the Sonar Connection is a go source for finesse fishing and basics using sonar. I realize you don’t use sonar ( fish finders) but good to know the basics anyway.

Don used what today is called Bait Finesse System* and later years added spinning outfits for drop shot.

Tom 

* Don is a expert bait casting reel technician converting reels for finesse fishing.  

[Catt]

1 hour ago, Mike L said:

Whatever it takes!

 

Sometimes ya gotta go small and light to get anything 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

Finesse: skillful handling of a situation : adroit maneuvering

 

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