Finesse Fishing
By Roger Lee Brown
“The Bass Coach”
Finesse fishing is pretty much nothing more than "Down Sizing" a
particular type of bait or lure. When it comes to winter fishing, or times
throughout the year that are considered to be in-active, most anglers will find
more success at catching bass by "Down Sizing" or "Finesse" fishing. Finesse
fishing patterns are usually fished at a much slower rate as far as "pattern" or
"technique" goes due mostly to the inactive bass during these periods. The
biggest factor an angler should be aware of is that the bass's metabolism slows
way down in colder water temperatures thus making them very "in-active" or
"Lethargic," and a bass will not extend great amounts of energy during these
colder water temperature periods. By nature, it seems that a bass will always
extend the least amount of energy for the greatest amount of benefit, that's why
a bass is considered to be more of an ambush fish than a chaser. There are a few
tricks or as some would say a few "How-To's" when fishing a Finesse pattern, and
I will explain some of the techniques or patterns used for Finesse fishing that
may help you to become a better angler when it comes to these "cold water" or
"inactive" periods.
First....., lets talk about plastics.
4" Plastic baits such as "French Fries, also known as Centipedes," "Grubs,"
"Worms," "Crawls," "Tubes," or any other smaller types of plastic baits are a
good choice to use for Finesse fishing. The most successful techniques or
patterns by using these small plastics would be:
A. rig these baits like a "Texas Rig" using a thin wire hook and by using the
lightest weight possible (just light enough so that the plastic bait just barley
falls through the water.), let the bait completely fall to the bottom, and just
make a slow twitch, slowly reel the bait back in, then do it again.
B. If the water is more than 40' deep, try to find any structure within this
depth, a steep bank, rocks, or any irregular drops, positioning your boat in the
deeper water, cast over these areas and let your bait pendulum fall (swing)
itself back under the boat.
C. If you have underwater structure areas like tree-tops, old buildings, rocks,
and underwater vegetation, a technique known as "doodling" can be successful at
catching bass. When "doodling" a Finesse bait, let the bait go down to where it
suspends just over these structure areas and just lightly twitch the bait and
let it just hang. Repeat this over and over again leaving the bait in the water
just above the structure and hold on!
D. Carolina Rigging can also be used for finesse fishing!, just use lighter
hooks, weights, and baits.
E. One rig that has proven to be deadly is the "Double Rig." Sometimes when
you're not sure what type of baits to use, this "double rig" allows an angler to
use two baits at once. First, tie a Jig&Pig on your line, then tie a 2' to 4';
leader off of the Jig&Pig, then tie a hook on the end of the leader (making sure
that you use no weight) and rig a plastic bait on the hook. Work this pattern
just as you would a Carolina Rig. Now, you have two choices for the bass to zero
in on.
F. When fishing a Crankbait Pattern during these cold or in-active periods, and
you can see by looking at your graph that the bass are in the 20' to 40' depth,
and the shad or bait fish are only small in size how would you get a small
crankbait to dive down to these depths? Easy!, tie a small crankbait on a
Carolina Rig!
There are more techniques and patterns to use for finesse fishing, but these are
a start for you to try! I teach several different patterns and techniques to my
Bass School Students as well as use them when fishing with my Bass Guide
Clients. Finesse Fishing can be fished "Year Round" and will bring success to
you when nothing else seems to work. Try these methods and see!
If you have any questions regarding this article please feel free to Email me
at: rlbrown@capital.net or if you wish to enroll in my
3-day bass fishing school at your home lake or mine, or just wish to charter a
day of bass fishing you can call me at 518-597-4240 or visit my website at
www.capital.net/~rlbrown.
Until next time, take care and God bless you always!
“The Bass Coach” – Roger Lee Brown
