Fishing now a days can often be tough due to the amount of fishing pressure that the fish have to endure. This is especially true in bass lakes around the US with tournaments and weekend anglers throwing everything under the sun at the bass, which makes them extremely shy to take lures. In these over fished lakes is where finesse fishing can be very effective.
Finesse fishing is generally nothing more than using lighter tackle and smaller baits and tantalizing fish into biting. This method is especially productive when chasing bass in heavily fished lakes and rivers and at times when fish are turned off due to cold fronts or other environmental elements.
One of my favorite finesse fishing styles is to use a finesse worm texas rigged with a 1/16 oz bullet head. This makes for a very slow fall, which will trigger a strike when nothing else will. If you target areas that you know are holding fish such as a point, brush pile, submerged timber or other structure fishing a finesse worm you will often pick up fish that others have zipped by.
Remember finesse fishing is the art of tantalizing a fish into biting. These methods are not only productive for smallmouth and largemouth bass they are also productive with saltwater species such as flats fish like redfish and sea trout. Often they to are spooked and need to be finessed into biting. Some good things to try is using much lighter line, smaller hooks, smaller baits and you will catch more when others are not.
Popular Finesse Baits
- Finesse Worm - Rigged texes style with a 1/16 oz bullet sinker or rigged with a single circle hook through the middle of the worm which is wacky rigged with a Carolina rig. Remember when using a circle hook don't set the hook just lift and reel the hook will set it's self in the corner of the fishes mouth.
- Split Shot Rig - Combing a texas rigged 4-inch twister with a straight hook (Aberdeen) texas rigged. Then attaching a single split shot 18 to 24 inches up the line then just reel it in bumping the bottom. Always keep the bait moving which makes the twister dart when the sinker bumps into a stump or rock. If the water is deeper than 35 feet you will need to replace the single split shot with an egg sinker (Carolina Rig) to be effective.
- Wacky Rig on Top - Rig a centipede (French Fry) worm with a single hook with no weight and twitch the bait on top of the water or just below the top of the water. A popular color with the wacky rig is bubblegum or white.
The next time you’re out fishing and the bite is tough switch your lures to a finesse style bait and you will put more fish in your boat.