Go “Ultra Finesse” to Get ‘em in the Boat
By Tom Leogrande

Just a few months ago I was out on the boat filming with Jarrett Edwards of Jarrett Edwards Outdoors and he put a whipping on me. That in itself isn't a shocker as Jarrett is a proven angler and former BASS Elite series pro as well as a fantastic TV show host these days. The fact that I was throwing big baits and landing fish and he was throwing a small 3” plastic Yamamoto Shad Shaped Worm and putting twice as many fish in the boat was again not that shocking. What was shocking is that he caught the two biggest fish on his 3” bait while my 7 and 9 inch baits only put 3 and 4 pound fish in the boat.

This has had me thinking for the past few months that maybe just maybe the big bait craze isn't the only way to put biggies in the boat. After all, George Perry, Mike Long, Jed Dickerson and many others have landed 20+ pounders since 1932 and they weren't using 7 to 13 inch baits! Don't get me wrong, I love throwing swimbait and the feeling of knowing that I could land a “blimp” on any cast, but maybe with all the big bait anglers out there going “ultra finesse” might be just as effective!

With the term “ultra finesse” I am referring to baits 3 inch in length and smaller. We've all heard of finesse fishing such as a 6 inch worm on a shakey head or drop shot rig but, let's think smaller and “ultra finesse” for a few minutes.

Why? A Big Bass' Meal Plan
We've all heard the term “matching the hatch” for as long as we've been fishing. Is the “hatch” always a 7 to 13 inch fish? That's like saying all we eat as humans are t-bone steaks, filet mignons and porterhouse cuts! Which for most of us isn't the case, we eat what is most accessible to us at the time. For bass, the big girls eat whatever they want whenever they get the chance.

Included in big bass' meal plan would be fish as big as 15” trout (maybe bigger) and as small as a 1/2 inch silver side bait fish. It's been said that the big girls prefer one simple meal instead of 20-30 smaller meals but, let's face it they don't always have a 7 to 13 inch meal swim by, so they have to take what they can get. Smaller baitfish like shad, silver sides, small bait fish of all sorts and even fry of other game fish can be abundant and easy for the taking for a “blimp” sized bass.

Of course, big bass eat crawdads, worms, snakes, birds, rats, mice, ducks and anything else that moves, I've even met a few dogs I wouldn't let near the shoreline of Clear lake or the Delta for fear they'd make for a great meal! Once again, any of these creatures aren't always available in most of our waterways. Which, again leaves them to feed on smaller baitfish a lot of the time.

How? The Gear
Now that we know what we're trying to match, a very small school sized baitfish, so what do we use? There are literally hundreds of different bait options to do this. A few of the one's I mix into my arsenal are the aforementioned 3” shad shaped worm from Yamamoto drop-shotted with a size 1 mosquito hook. A small one-eighth to one-quarter ounce road runner head with a bass one and a half inch to three inch trailer by Bass Assassin or a Lunker City Fin-S shad in the same sizes can match the hatch and provide the ability to still cover some water. Another great technique for matching this smaller hatch is just a small lead head with a single tail grub on the back of it which was recently employed by Cody Meyer who used this set up to match a mayfly hatch in Pittsburgh at the FLW Championship.

Yamamoto Shad Shaped 3" Worm

I have heard many reports of guys catching quality fish on small crappie jigs fished behind a small bobber and worked through the bait balls. If you do locate a ball of bait, fishing a small one and a half inch long ice jig vertically through the bait balls can also be an effective technique. Can't find an ice jig, try a small ACME kastmaster (generally a trout bait) fished the same way.

The Road Runner Spinner Head with Fin-S Shad Trailer

When?
As with all fishing decisions are the difference between winning and losing, make the right decision and you can have the best day fishing ever, make the wrong decision and you could be in for a long day of water watching. With that in mind making the decision to go “ultra finesse” is like any other decision something only you will know when to decide to make the switch.

For me making the switch to “ultra finesse” happens when the fishing gets tough or when I see schools of baitfish in the water or on my depth finder. This works for all three species of black bass, largies, smallies and spots. Another time, I would consider making the switch is if I catch a bass and see it cough up a small bait fish.

Wrap up
The spotted bass anglers have been using these techniques and techniques similar to this for quite some time, and it stands to reason it can be effective for largies and smallies as well. Many of the Southern California anglers have been mixing in sub 3 inch baits into their arsenals for years as well as the clear water, high pressured waters and abundance of bait fish make for a perfect combo for these baits.

You won't need to tell me that catching a giant Lunker Punker fish, a Rago swimbait fish or even a frog fish is more fun, I know that already and I agree! However, catching fish is the name of the game and sometimes going “ultra finesse” can make the difference between putting fish in the boat and not. So, whether your in the dead of winter, or the dog days of summer or on a highly pressured lake, when the fishing gets tough take the time to go “ultra finesse” and you never know it just could save the day!