Finesse vs. Power techniques

[marinerfandave]

So interesting, just finished watching Tim Allen on Tactical Bassin' talking about December baits and near the end of the video he talks about how he reverts to the Ned Rig when nothing else will work and you "just need to get a bite". He also says that it never fails to get bites year round for him. And I've heard the same from most of the "pros" talk about how when you are just struggling, go to either the drop shot or ned rig. Well for me, I'm about catching fish just like everyone else, I'm not going out there to practice throwing hard baits, topwater, etc. I want to catch fish. So a couple years ago I started to use the ned rig and drop shot first thing in the morning or whenever I get out on the lake. And once I've caught some fish and feel like I've had a good day, it is at that point that I switch over to the other types of baits to see if I can succeed with those. But at least at that point I've already caught fish. And if it turns out that my ned rig or drop shot isn't working then I will switch over to crankbaits, swimbaits, topwater, etc. I totally GET that fishing a ned rig or drop shot is slow and boring, but again, we all want to catch fish and hopefully many of them. And if I can do that better with these finesse techniques then for me that's the ticket.

[Pat]

If you are catching fish using a Ned or dropshot, that's not boring to me. I use the Ned rig quite a bit and latlely I have been forcing myself to use other methods, just to see what will work. I like to fish reaction baits and love fishing a jig. I had found myself not using those because the Ned rig is so successful. I have started keeping a jig on the deck along with my Ned and dropshot and it feels good to get back to that good old "thunk" on the jig. But when things are slow, I pick up the ned again just to see if there are fish around that will bite. I fish with my wife a lot and she is new to fishing and started out with Ned rigs. She almost always catches fish and sometimes more and bigger than I do while I am using other methods. To me it's like the Senko was when it first came out, don't leave the dock without it!

[Kelly Ripa]

What do you do when they don't eat at first light? I think a lot of fisherman evolve their aspirations when it comes to fishing. Most start by wanting to catch a fish. That evolves into I want to catch a limit. Then maybe you become a tournament fisherman and if not maybe a trophy fisherman. I personally even when I was a tournament fisherman like a few big fish in my daily bag so rather than trying to get 5 attitude I've always tried to use whatever I can against the fish. The low light levels in the morning or windy conditions in the afternoon are when I spent my time fishing for my trophies during my day. If the fish aren't cooperating most of us have our confidence techniques to fall back on. As I fish SoCal I have never thought of drop shotting as a fallback technique for my power fishing it's just another club in my bag. Certain seasons are tougher than others when it comes to power fishing in my boat. In midsummer I have follow up baits to my power fishing and both the power fishing baits and the follow up baits are on my deck. Those baits both vary according to what I'm doing or seasonal changes. If I can't buy a bite with anything a worm in any form 12 months out of a year will get bit but it depends on presentation and a dropshot is only one way to fish that bait. I never fish a ned rig as it doesn't interest me and most people are shocked when I come in having drop shot an entire day as they know me well enough to figure I'm out doing anything but that. I too like to catch fish but I don't let the fish keep me from power fishing if that is today's plan unless I am just plain getting bit drop shotting when the reaction to power is adverse or none. Some day's I feel like I've had a good day just catching a few fish on power fishing as I am looking to get a one two punch and that can only be achieved some times by putting in time with an application....

My point is how do I KNOW I have exhausted my power fishing if I don't pick it apart and work on it? My point being taken on the following example...I fished a keiteck past a boulder just the other day that I have caught a few square bill fish on over the last few weeks. With no reaction I fished the same keiteck on that same boulder three other ways. I caught a fish on my fourth try on a different set up. Now I have been able to take that to other spots where I am having some success now where I was getting no reaction at all before.I guess I would rather not catch fish while working on the problem than just go back to what was having very limited success. I figure sometimes I eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you. Not getting bit is all part of my daily puzzle as heck I expected everything on all 14 rods to produce when I tied them up but at the end of the day I face the realities and try to gain my insight for the next trip and what needs to be tried or put away maybe until I go full circle back to that bait in another year/season. I have a buzz bait tied up to early in the year until it goes off but when it's gone...It's gone until I come back to it a year later. I guess a ned rig in the winter and very early spring makes sense but I would be hard pressed to consider it. I guess if I get some ned rig guru in the back of the boat who has a 30 fish day on it I'd reconsider but as I don't fish for money anymore I'm not tempted to just catch a fish. This is just me I'm talking about as Socal and NorCal might as well be two different planets fisheries wise.

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