When you guys pick an area apart, do you generally start by power fishing to get the active fish to bite, then pick off the more finicky fish after, or start finesse and then power thru, or neither?? Lol. I just like to have subtle and flashy baits just in case the fish prefer one over the other, but when is best to use either

I almost always start out 'power' fishing, the exception is when facing cold front conditions. I'll adjust the area of the water column and retrieve speed until I hit on a combination that produces. If that produces, I'll rarely switch to a finesse presentation. I'll change spots looking for similar ones and return to the original area after an hour or so.

The flip side gets the same treatment. If finesse is producing, I see no reason to switch to 'power' presentations.

Typically start by power fishing. Love throwing a buzz-bait, plopper or Jitterbug at first light. Then switch to spinner-bait, square-bill or crank. If the fish are not cooperating, then I move towards more finesse presentations.

If the area is large I will power fish. If it is small I'll use a finesse approach .

fast moving baits and if I’m getting bit on them in an area and it slows down I will switch to finesse to clean it up.

I almost always start with a more aggressive, power fishing technique of some kind. It’s how I prefer to fish and how I prefer to catch fish.

That being said, it doesn’t take me long to change my approach either. You can tell pretty quickly if they aren’t in that mood.

My favorite days on the water are when they are in that mood for hours on end. Nothing like chuckin and windin with aggressive wrist jerking strikes.

I start at the top of the water column and work my way down which involves power fishing then slowing down. As @papajoe222 notes, unless it’s cold when starting out.

*Top water buzzbait, plopper, prop-bait

*Underspin, small swimbait, spinnerbait

*Crankbait, lipless, larger weighted swimbait

*T-rig, wacky-rig, creature bait

*Ned-rig, Carolina-rig

When hitting on one that works, stay with it until it dies off or the conditions change (rain comes in, wind picks up)

On Topwater when ever I can , If that don’t work , Texas Rig

It's dependent upon conditions, nothing is set in stone.

I put more fish in the boat throwing finesse in our clear water but wind may force a heavier presentation.

A perfect scenario would be to start with a buzzbait, spinnerbait and fluke and as the sun rises, find them with a Flickshake, Ned and drop-shot.

Where I fish, that is heavily pressured, mostly clear water, fishing from the bank, I use 6,8 and 12lb mono using trick worms, lizards, yum dingers and other soft plastics baitcasting and spinning. The lake has little Florida like vegetation and cover. I'm finesse fishing all the way in a beautiful, scenic setting.

Good Fishing

Catt always said go quiet and sneaky first and then hit em with the loud stuff before you leave. I think there’s wisdom there.

I think you can really combine both power and finesse a variety of ways - I fish a lot of finesse power presentations like big worms and jigs and frogs and soft swimbaits etc

5 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Catt always said go quiet and sneaky first and then hit em with the loud stuff before you leave. I think there’s wisdom there.

I've been a huge proponent of this approach for a long time myself.

You might have seen the results here a few times.

In my own fishing there's a lot to it, and it is very spot- or area-dependent.

Either way, it's something I rarely waver from.

A-Jay

FYI, long post here just to stimulate some discussion on a word forum made for it.

Harold, I am going to show my age here. As I read your title while scanning for interesting threads to read I kept thinking about what you are asking by name. Does one start to fish power or finesse?

And that is where you lost me. I will have to take a pause to go elsewhere and search out what is meant by power fishing and finesse fishing because I am not sure if I do any of that really. These two words have no place in my fishing world. All new to me.

AI says power fishing is:

"Power fishing is an active, fast-paced angling technique designed to locate and catch aggressive fish quickly by covering large areas of water. It involves using noisy, fast-moving reaction baits—such as crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and topwaters—on heavy tackle, rather than waiting for fish to bite."

That is me all day long. However the topwater bite is not a start off the trip technique- unless first light- nor is it a search technique for me at all here in Florida. That is an end of the day hail Mary technique at last light or first light in specific areas of cover.

AI says finesse fishing is:

"Finesse fishing is an angling technique that uses light tackle, small lures, and subtle, slow, or precise presentations to catch finicky, lethargic, or highly pressured fish. It prioritizes a natural, delicate approach—using light lines (e.g., 4-8 lb test) and small soft plastics (drop shots, Ned rigs)—to coax bites when aggressive, standard fishing methods fail."

Um no. Heck no. I rarely drop down this low in load categories at all. No reason to. I'm not after 12" dinks all the time. Though those can be an indicator of what is going on under the water.

I generally do not carry any rods under a medium here in Florida. And if finesse fishing is below that, then not me. I will do the same in a heavier load category. Sort of the idea that I don't go shark fishing with minnows. Shaw Grigsby is a master at finesse fishing. I can see that now that word has some meaning, Shaw gives it life on camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLO-8gJJ80Y

Maybe you can teach an old dog a new trick. I just learned some new words that are supposed to mean something to me, but for this old dinosaur they never will. And I'll be honest, I wish the term finesse had never been brought into fishing. I much prefer ultra-light and light tackle as more specific language I can relate to better. Just call me old school. Just don't call me late for dinner!

When getting down into light lines, I look at it more in terms of line physical size. So when I am putting line on my smaller spinning reels in 1000 and 2000 sizes, I look at what the manufacturer suggests in way of standard mono line, and then cross compare the physical size of that recommendation into braid line also of the same physical size, but with significantly more load capability than the mono. Ya follow me?

So my 12 pound braid is physically the same size as say 4 to 6 pound mono. So I am within manufacturer specifications even if my line has more load ability than what was known at the time my reel was made- 20 to 25 years ago- that did not include braid specifics on the spool which has changed over time anyways rendering such information as suspect at best, but a guide none the less.

I do like light fishing, but here in Florida like one guy from Minnesota likes to tell me here "the Florida argument is IRRELEVANT" as he puts me in my place in relation to other states who do not experience the level of issues we do here in Florida from the much bigger fish to the overwhelming salt content and heat. Don't forget the heat! However that heat can drive some of the best bass fishing you jhave ever seen! I'm just not telling where or when or the why and how this type of turn on happens here.

I lived in area where this next video was shot. This young man stumbled onto one of my secret bass locations and at the right time too. I lived out there for 12 years and would like to retire out there to do this type of bass fishing all to myself for the rest of my life.

Details on the "when" are shown clearly in the video. I could experience bass fishing like this almost every day on St. johns river all through summer June, July, August, and first few weeks of September and as it cools off so to does this type of bass fishing disappear at this level of activity.

I could start off fishing out here any way I want to and it does not matter. The bass slam anything that moves out there. This guy admits he threw the kitchen sink at them and they slammed every lure he had and broke solid steel spinners like they were nothing. The bass wore him out. And they did me too.

On hot summer afternoons fishing by myself up and down the St. Johns river chasing those schoolies and targeting the bigger bass to the sides, this is what I wind up looking like trying to take photos in between bass wearing me out.

And something all of you should be thinking about concerning bass fishing like this is that lake bass are lazy bass. Big ones roll over and come up to the surface and often get dragged in like a sled on top of the water. Not much fun.

But the St. Johns river bass are where this species of fish earned the nickname "the brawler." The bass on St. Johns that wore me out and wore out this young man who stumbled onto this awesome Florida fishing secret learn real fast that river fish in the current will fight like crazy as compared to lazy lake in lakes near this river but not connected to it. Huge difference in fish behavior when caught on rod and reel. If you want the bass fight of your life, then the St. Johns river is the place. And your timing has to be right. And you have to know where and what to look for and once you get those details down pat, bass fishing heaven on earth does exist!

And I'd say out there is no place for lightweight tackle- if you want to keep your fish that is. You will need power fishing tackle and nothing else. Going ultra light would be a novelty for fishing flavor only out there. gee, let me see if I can reel in a 4 pound brawler in this current on 8 pound line. Why? Nope. starting at 4000 size spinning, 7'6" rod, maybe even an 8' MH fast action rod, 25 to 30 pound braid, and bring the kitchen sink and hang on. The water will boil and then you know what time it is.

This year 2026 will be the first year I get to take my 12 year old son back out on the river at this location and during this time period so hopefully he can get to experience this Florida magic. But if any of you come to Florida and want in on this type of fishing contact me privately for details. I don't put them online. Us Florida guys like to keep the good spots to ourselves. Just how it goes I suppose.

And its kind of funny why this is. When I lived out there in small one traffic light towns if you can call them that, I was at the boat ramp one day with locals only when the town's oldest patriarch in hunting and fishing- he was the guy you took your deer to for butchering- but he decided that was the time to chew out my fishing buddy because he had run off from the ranch lands to the east coast and joined one of those uppity, rich guy saltwater fishing clubs mostly populated by rich northerners who move here and seek the big ones of the coast, and what did my buddy start doing? He began bringing those east coast saltwater flats boats to our local river and ticked off the locals with his rich buddies now on the river being rude to locals. So the patriarch chewed him out for doing that. Keep your northern buddies off our river and out of here! And he meant it too. But all the yelling was not stopping or even slowing them down, but our sandbars sure were! Another story.

And BTW, my fishing buddy just made the list of grandmaster fisherman here in Florida in his rich northerner club. Only 49 grandmasters going all the way back to I think 1974. This is a link to the old list, but shows my fishing buddy on it who has now reached grandmaster rank! Only 49 men have accomplished this in Florida in more than 50 years. So congratulations to him for sticking with it and getting grandmaster rank he will carry with him for life. Who wants to go fishing with a grandmaster? You know he's gonna rub it in. And deservedly so.

If my Florida argument is relevant to this discussion, then power fishing all the way and finesse fishing does not exist and no reason to. Got no time for that. I want kitchen sink fishing like this. Other states simply cannot compare to what is shown in this video.

What is shown here is why Scott Martin says on camera the St. Johns river is today Florida's number one bass fishery. And he's right of course.

But the interesting thing is it is not the entire river! Specific locations for specific reasons deliver something special for those who know. And believe it or not, when I moved out there, I also stumbled onto it. No one told me what I was about to find out there. I just found it and held onto it all by myself for 12 years. I talk about it now, but only to open the door to it.

How would you like to bass fish for real brawlers where every cast in a split second is another fish on the line? And how would like it that it did not matter what you threw out there or what color it was or what size it was that the bass would be slamming all of it instantly on just about every single cast? And let the fish wear you out until you could not cast any more and your arms are about to fall off? Its that good! Here is video proof it does exist!

If you had 20 arms and 20 rods and reels to cast at same time most of those would all have a fish on them too. Its that good. No great! I've never seen bass fishing anywhere that rivals this. You go out here it is power fishing all the way. You can play around if you want to, but if you want the bass fight, you will find it on this river. The brawlers are there. Be prepared for them because they are prepared for you! Florida power fishing at its finest!

2 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

Catt always said go quiet and sneaky first and then hit em with the loud stuff before you leave. I think there’s wisdom there.

I think you can really combine both power and finesse a variety of ways - I fish a lot of finesse power presentations like big worms and jigs and frogs and soft swimbaits etc

I was kind of to this thinking myself, that starting with loud presentations would spook the already finicky fish, but others say by not starting out power fishing that youre missing out on already active fish, and could trigger non active fish into biting. I suppose it is situation dependent, I was reading an article about KVD's 6 season/all season guide for fishing a lake, and he said his system is why he was able to catch bass, even on bodies of water he had never fished on. And that's something else to speak on, is which lures would be considered in between or a combo of power and finesse. Largemouth's favorite foods are fish and crawdads, so that's what I plan on throwing mostly this year, I got the 3.75 Rage swimmers and 4" Rage craws, and backing those up with a Cut r worm

I prefer to start with a reaction bait and cover water in the prespawn. The lures will be dictated by the cover, depth, water color and wind level. I start out from the bank and work my way in. If I’m confident fish are present but not active or aggressive, I’ll slow down and power finesse. If I’m fishing for Smallie’s the slow down will be more traditional finesse techniques . Once again, it’s a process.

On 3/8/2026 at 12:02 AM, Harold H said:

When you guys pick an area apart, do you generally start by power fishing to get the active fish to bite, then pick off the more finicky fish after, or start finesse and then power thru

Generally, like @Pat Brown mentioned, the Catt rule. Quiet, then loud. However, there are exceptions and that has to do with when. The "when" is mid to late pre-spawn and early post spawn where I'm likely to start very loud, like bigger swimbaits hitting the water like dinner plates.

These two periods seem to have one thing in common and that's bass are often grouped up into cohorts to one degree or another. If they're loners, especially during post spawn, they seem to have the same idea. The splashes seem to signal to these competitive feeders that something is aggressively feeding nearby, and grouped or like-minded bass like to play take-away.

If you've ever witnessed bass feeding on bedding bluegill in very shallow water very close to the shoreline, especially at night, the bass often slap their tails on the way back out during the process. I call this sound a kill-shot, and it sounds similar to a larger, hard bodied swimbait aggressively hitting the water.

If you catch the right window at night, after the first kill-shot occurs, you're likely to hear many more. It's like the area lights up. Occasionally, it really lights up across an entire much larger area. This is then the time to throw an aggressive bait like a vibrating jig, hard thumping soft-bodied swim bait, or a loud hard-bodied swimbait. Throw in any less-subtle bait that you wish, like a 7" senko wacky rigged. Same idea. Hits the water hard and vibrates hard on the pull.

These two periods I mentioned earlier are not a hard-fast rule. It's just that during these times bass seem to be far more reckless and less finicky compared to different times during the season, especially at night. Plenty of swim-baiters like @Swimbaitstud are likely to nab bass with a big bait when ice is still left on a lake in places.

I don’t/won’t “finesse” anything. I can’t stand droppin, neding, shakin or wackin!

Throwing small, skinny baits slow and deliberate on light line with a med to light spinning rod to catch a 1# fish makes me crazy.

I’ll rotate through t rig, top water, swim plastics and a few hard baits from time to time.

I’m in and out, back and forth, up and down looking for a pattern then stay with it.

Time, location and conditions will dictate what, where and how.

Mike

23 hours ago, Motoboss said:

I start at the top of the water column and work my way down which involves power fishing then slowing down. As @papajoe222 notes, unless it’s cold when starting out.

*Top water buzzbait, plopper, prop-bait

*Underspin, small swimbait, spinnerbait

*Crankbait, lipless, larger weighted swimbait

*T-rig, wacky-rig, creature bait

*Ned-rig, Carolina-rig

When hitting on one that works, stay with it until it dies off or the conditions change (rain comes in, wind picks up)

I'm almost exactly the same way, except my list generally goes:

*Plopper, walker

*Wake bait, shallow running crank bait

*Deeper crank bait, stick bait, jerk bait

*Plastics or get the fly rod out if I brought it with.

6-0 within a day of ice out

Depends on where I'm fishing. If I pull in to a small secluded shallow bay, with no wind, I'm not going to start with a rattletrap. The opposite is true, if I'm fishing a wind blown rocky point, I'm going to start with a crankbait. A 20 foot deep hump, will get a deep diving crankbait first, then I will slow down with a C Rig. If the crankbait fishing has been slow that day, I may start with the C Rig. I often fish large standing trees in deep water. Early in the morning my first cast to a big tree will be a topwater. Later in the day my first cast will be a T rig. I always cast a crankbait into the tree before I leave. The only reason I don't start with the crankbait is I don't want to snag and ruin the tree. It doesn't do much good to fish a worm in a tree after I use a plug knocker to get a crankbait off a snag.

I'm not sure I ever finesse fish. I do work a C rig with an Ole monster slow in deep water, and throw a 7 inch weightless Senko into trees, but I guess you would have to call that Mexican finesse.

Depends on what I'm fishing for and where I'm fishing.

Local river is spinnerbaits and some top waters this river has some good size Pike in it.

Otherwise it's a finesse game for me on the clear reservoirs and clear rivers.

Every new area that I do not know starts with some sort of mid size natural looking moving bait to find fish. Typically a spinner bait or a 4" - 6" soft swimbait.

Especially if I am by myself, and since nobody is paying me to catch fish, I am happy to fish in whatever way I feel like at any given time. I try to have four or five rods rigged when I head out, but I am prone not to even know for sure most days which way I'll turn as I head out from the ramp. Or, I might stick to the plan all day. More often than not, the plan is subject to and does change as the day goes on.

I do enjoy probing areas that others don't care to probe with their big beautiful bedazzled glitter sleds. Dragging a frog across a cheese mat that looks more like a superfund site than a bass lair. I like to find patterns that others are missing or aren't willing to commit to. When others are saying the "micro-shad" are too plentiful and they can't match the hatch, I like to throw tinier baits than others are willing or able to throw. Things like that meet my threshold of interesting and fun.

Power, finesse, BFS? These days I don't care much about how to label what I do or to have a consistent approach, just so it's fun, interesting, and if it's something others aren't messing with, that's my jam more often than not. At a lake of 2,200 acres, and the only real bass fishing option within an hour's drive of downtown Los Angeles, finding opportunities that others are ignoring or can't be bothered with might be more necessary than it might be for others in less pressured waters.

I'm honestly tired of banging my head on the wall with all the options to choose from nowadays, I mean, if we made a list of all available lures nowadays, no telling how many pages it would take up. So I think I'm just going to go with worms, I have Senko 5", Roboworm 6" fat and 7 " straight, I've got 12" Mann's jelly worms, 7", 10" and 12" Powerbait worms. I've got Zoom trick worms and U tails, Powerbait Nightcrawlers, and have some 6" SK cut r tails arriving tomorrow. I have 2/0-5/0 offset worm hooks and plenty of bullet and egg sinkers. Out of all these I SHOULD find something the bass want or are biting on. Clearly I bought all these worms, for some reason or reasons. SUPPOSEDLY the state record striped bass in NC was 66 lbs on a black trick worm, and the record spotted bass almost 7 lbs was caught on a Zoom finesse worm

Edit: my main target right now is a highly pressured pond, I was reading @Pat Brown recommended a Zoom super fluke jr, so I may get some of those to try, and I have some 4" Gulp minnows I rig with a 2/0 worm hook that have a wobble on the fall, that I'm going to mess with. And I can't get away from the Rage craw, weightless it can double as a topwater so has versatility. The state record LM in NC was caught from a pond

For me, it depends on the conditions. If it's windy, or cloudy I'm going with a moving bait first thing.

Bluebird skies and slick may as well start dragging something.