The Why and When of Finesse Fishing

There are times in during the year where fast action and aggressive retrieves do not trigger fish to strike.  This typically occurs early in the season when the water is cold and when the water is hot in the summer.   At these temperature extremes, fish tend to travel less and feed less overall.  It is best to use slower, finesse methods and rigs to trigger fish to strike during these times.

There are many types of finesse fishing including swimbaits, drop shot, ned rig, stupid rig, dead sticking, wacky worming, among others.  They all fall into the category of slow, purposeful actions that cover relatively small amounts of water.  Finesse fishing methods also catch a wide variety of fish including Bass, Trout, Pickerel and Panfish.

Finesse Fishing Methods

Drop Shot Rig

The drop shot rig is one of the most effective and time tested finesse fishing techniques.  While the drop shot rig can be fished at various speeds, it is an excellent finesse tactic when it is fished slowly and deliberately.   

With the drop shot rig, the size of the bait, hook and weight are all minimized.  The bait provides attractive action with little movement as the bait itself is not weighted.  The length of the leader is typically 6” to 12” long depending upon the silt and bottom composition.  The leader should be long enough to present the bait above any bottom obstructions.  The bait can be threaded as above, or nose hooked for the most action.  It is important that the hook is held perpendicular to the line path for the best result.

A Video on how to properly tie a drop shot rig

Ned Rig

The Ned rig is a finesse technique that was developed in 1980s by Ned Kehde.  There is an urban legend that Ned typically used this rig to catch over 100 Bass per day when he went fishing.  It is an extremely basic finesse presentation with a light jig head and a small floating worm bait.  The jig head is typically very light at 1/8 ounce or lighter and the worm is 2 inches or less.  The worm is usually a floating worm vs. a sinking worm.  This gives the Ned rig a gentle movement when touching the lake bottom and often triggers finesse strikes.

OntheWater has a great article on the Ned rig and various retrieves that are effective.

Summary

I hope that you have found this information useful about the highly successful tactics of finesse fishing.  There are times that finesse fishing is the only way you can catch fish and it can yield trophy sized fish from small baits.

Please send pictures of your fishing success.  I will look to publish user submissions in a future article.  You can contact me by email [email protected].

Tight lines …  Captain P.