Been watching/listening to the FLW weigh in from Lake Travis.  Everytime they ask them what they caught them on they usually say dropshot, shakeyhead, or a varient of it.  Whats your take on this?  Is finesse fishing taking over as the go to technique?

I was thinkin the same thing, hundreds of fish just got picked out of Lake Travis on finesse techniques and it made me wonder how used the fish are to seeing a finesse worm or small jig.  I mean, this technique cant work forever I guess but they were catchin a lot of small fish.  It also seems that every fishing show I watch is about the shakey head, I talked to a guy on Kentucky Lake that said hes been catching fish like that for years and just now is everyone using it.  So I think it is taking over as a catch a lot or smaller fish technique, but many will probably only use it in "tough" conditions.

We old farts have been finessin ' them basses for quite a while. "Shakey head", "drop shot", "flippin", "pitchin" .... fancy new names for rigging and casting techniques I learned over 3 decades ago.  :

Definately tons of smaller fish that have been taken today out of Travis using finesse.  With one nice bass thrown in so far on a C-rig.

I love to power finnese fish. When I do that I'll swim a small jig or fish a shakey worm fast.

I think that finnesse fishing is becoming more popular because of the higher fishing pressure.  Also remember that lake travis is 30ft. lower, and is really cold right now.  Also, there were 400 anglers on it today.  Those conditions favor finness methods.

Finesse fishing is all in the news right now cause its the middle of the freakin winter. It starts heating up and you'll hear all you want about spinnerbaits and jigs...dont u fellers worry

We old farts have been finessin ' them basses for quite a while. "Shakey head", "drop shot", "flippin", "pitchin" .... fancy new names for rigging and casting techniques I learned over 3 decades ago. :

Where y'all been; Aint nothing new  

What RAUL & CATT said.

Kelley

I think one certain presentation is going to dominate a tournament be it finesse or power.Seasonal conditions and body of water the tournament is held on,helps dictate what type of pattern that dominates.Finesse has always been there.It is versatility that may be taking over.

My dad and I were drop shotting fifty years ago..........it just didn't have a fancy name.

Falcon

i heard travis is known for numbers of small bass no matter what they use.finess fishin in the dead of winter is not new.fish are deep and want smaller offerings.kvd caught a 12# on a shakey head last yr.,a friend of mine just caught a 12# out of 40'+ water on a d.s..finess techniques catch fish when all other tactics fail.

Clear water, cold water, high pressure, negative bite conditions, all favor finnesse techs. On lake travis you have all 4 going on right now, so it just stands to reason that finnesse is the way to go.

I am another one of the old guys who has been using these techniques for many years we just never had a name for them.

Blue Streak,

Welcome aboard!

We old farts have been finessin ' them basses for quite a while. "Shakey head", "drop shot", "flippin", "pitchin" .... fancy new names for rigging and casting techniques I learned over 3 decades ago. :

Where y'all been; Aint nothing new

Some of us arent even 3 decades old yet.  So all we know are these fancy names.  

Some of us (me) just don't give a crap.  

welcome Blue Streak

I think they do it for all the reaosns posted BUT also its a lot eaiser to catch 5 2lb bass then it is to catch 5  5 lb bass

I think finess fishing is a great way to get a quick limit.  If I fished tournaments, I'd start out with some type of finess fishing and get a quick limit of fish.  Then I'd slow down and fish "regular" baits such as jigs, cranks, spinnerbaits ect. ect.  I agree that finess is taking over, but I think the pro's or tournament anglers that fish finess style's will be more consistent throught a season.  Just my opinion.

tournament fishing is basically getting a limit and then culling.

Dinkathons is what many of them end of being.

I think the finesse bite is working on Lake Travis because of the drastic changes they had in weather the night before the tournament.  It made the fish negative and not wanting to chase baitfish.  Majority had to slow down and fish for 5 bites.

Gary Klein once said at a seminar "The reason the fisherman are catching all these fish on finesse baits is because that's what they were using when they caught the bass".

Basically saying that "You can't catch bass on a spinnerbait if your not throwing spinnerbait. :-?

slinging southpaw,

Welcome aboard!

I agree with avid, five fish is the key, everything else is icing on the cake.