There's Always Time To Fish

 Power Finesse

Hurricane Falls on Lake Glenville, NC

Power Finesse is simply finesse fishing on steroids. I find that in clear mountain lakes I struggle fishing full-size jigs and plastic worms. Jigs are very good, and I catch a lot of fish on them, just not the bigger ones. Plastic worms catch their share of fish, but I catch a lot more on smaller offerings.

Strike King Bitsy Bug

True Finesse fishing is not really necessary because our lakes do have some color to the water, even though they are clear. I know it sounds funny, but compare the water clarity at Bear Lake to some of the lakes up north or out west and you’ll see what I mean. We don’t need 4-pound line and 1/32-ounce jigs, but we do need finesse tactics.

Power Finesse for me is simply finesse baits and rigs that are upsized a little bit, and




reaction baits that are down-sized a little bit. Drop-shots fished on 8-pound line with 3/16 to ¼-once weights and 6-inch worms, 3/16 to 5/16 ounce jigs, and smaller plastic worms are power finesse to me. Don’t think it’s only the weight of baits, but the size and profile as well. A 6-inch Robo worm is a lot smaller than a 6-inch Power Worm. A ¼-ounce Strike King Bitsy Bug is smaller than a standard ¼-ounce jig by about 30 percent.

The thing about these tactics is they allow you to finesse fish, but still cover water quickly and thoroughly. You can flip and pitch these small jigs and plastics just like their big brothers. You can cover more water with a 1/4-ounce drop shot, but still keep it in one place when you need to. You can also fish a little heavier cover than traditional finesse fishing.





Finesse darter



Robo Worm FX series

 I use a simple selection of plastics, and they have served me well. Zoom Swamp Crawler, G-Tail, C-Tail and Trick worms. Robo Worms and Berkley also make great worms for this style of fishing. For jigs I use Bitsy Bugs and the Jewel Eakins jig. I use rattle bands if I want to add weight to either jig. As for trailers, use what your normally use for jigs, just downsize them to match the jig. I really like Zoom and Netbait trailers.

The gold standard in trailers remains the Uncle Josh Pork Frog. This trailer is especially in the winter.

Nice fish on a Robo worm

Zoom Super Chunk

One drawback I’ve found is you have to cull through smaller fish than normal. Power Finesse tends to be a numbers game, but don’t think you can’t catch some big fish this way. May largest bass in 2012 was on a 1/8-ounce Charlie Brewer Slider Head with a Zoom G-Tail worm fished on 8-pound fluorocarbon. It was a little shy of 9 pounds and capped off a day with a 5-fish limit of 26 pounds. My largest Smallmouth ever came on a H2O Xpress CRULD crankbait and was 5 pounds 11 ounces.

H2O Xpress CRULD Finesse Special



The CRULD leads the field in “finesse” crankbaits. This little dandy is a true Power Finesse crankbait that dives about 5-feet and runs true out the package. H2O CRUL and the KVD 1.0 square bills are another example of extremely good crankbaits. Both run true, handle being banged into cover and hook and keep fish hooked very well.

Shad Rap

Of course you can always rely on the Shad Rap from Rapala.  The Shad Rap excels in cooler water, but works in great in the heat of summer becuase it works very well ast slow speed. It tends to roll more in warmer water, and you can use it as a jerk bait.  Other great hardbaits that work in Power Finesse situations are the Rapala X-Rap #6, and RC Stick Jr, the Rebel Pop-R and Heddon Zara Puppy.

Rocket Shad

Spinnerbaits that excel in this technique are a little tougher to find. Most tend to be light weight, but the blades are wrong and that causes the bait to roll. A rolling spinnerbait is no good and you'll stay hung and not catch fish. You want a small sized bait, its the profile thats important. The blades must also match the small profile. If the your using regular sized blades you might as well throw a full sized bait. Several good models are available such as the War Eagle ¼ finesse Mike McClelland series or Strike King Lil’ Money and Rocket Shad spinnerbaits.



Halo Starlite

Rods and reels are personal choices, but I tend to stick with what I use regularly. For the drop shot I use a 7’ medium, fast action rod with 8-pound fluorocarbon and a 2500 size spinning reel. I fish the jigs and small plastic on a 7’ medium fast, Halo Starlight rod 

with a Daiwa Exceler reel.

I use Shimano Sellus 6’ 8” and 7' Crankbait rods with Daiwa Exceler reels for the Crankbaits and a H2O Express Tournament Choice 7’ medium rod with a Daiwa Exceler reel for jerk baits and spinnerbaits.

Fluorocarbon line is essential to Power Finesse fishing, and Braid certainly has its place. If you plan on using braided line remember to use a or monofilament to aid with shock absorption and visibility.

If want to fish and need some advice or a guide then contact my good buddy Austin Neary. He is a serious stick on Glenville Lake and all WNC Mountain lakes. Austin fishes the BASS College Series, and after a third place finish at the Eastern Regional at Watts Bar, Tennessee he competed in the National Championship Tournament on Lake Chatuge. Reach him at Dream Catcher Guides



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