Finesse Baits for Bass: When, Where, and How to Use Them Like A Pro

In practically every bass fishing article, you’re going to hear about something called “finesse fishing”. It’s extremely popular, and it does get big bass on your line, even in hard conditions. Especially when you use high-quality finesse baits designed for this style of fishing. 

However, it’s not a concept that is defined very well. Because of that, the baits are often misused, and when they’re not pulling in bass cast after cast, people get burned out on them. 

Today, we’re going to clear up the confusion and go over finesse baits in detail to get more bass on your line.

Let’s get started!

What is a Finesse Bait? 

A finesse bait is a fairly specific type of bait if we go by definition. However, a lot of anglers seem to label anything small and soft-plastic “finesse” if they twitch the rod tip subtly enough. That’s simply not the case. 

In general, a finesse bait is a type of swimbait that you’re probably already used to, but it’s scaled down. The entire bait can be scaled down to almost panfishing sizes, or it can simply be a profile design that slims down the profile for a more sleek and minimalist presentation. 

Also, you have to consider that, in the fishing world, definitions get outdated as soon as they’re coined. As bait companies constantly evolve their products to match trends, you get plenty of weird options that don’t technically match that definition.

It’s not entirely necessary to understand all that, though. As finesse fishing has exploded in popularity, bait brands have become more than happy to label their baits accordingly. It’s great marketing for the company, and you instantly know what to expect from it.

When Do You Use Finesse Baits? 

So, you just got your order in from Tackle Warehouse or Bass Pro Shop and you have a ton of finesse baits you want to try. When should you get them tied on and in the water? 

Well, while a lot of staple baits are amazing choices year-round, such as crankbaits, finesse baits are typically going to be best for two seasons.

You want to bust them out in spring and early summer when the spawn has passed and the water is starting to warm up dramatically. 

That’s because finesse baits aren’t baits that you want to use in peak conditions when the water is perfect, the bass are looking for big meals quickly, and just about anybody can nab back-to-back catches.

These are for when the time for those has passed, and you’re trying to switch things up to get the most stubborn bass possible. 

When the bass are a bit more lethargic, and they’re not really in the middle of a feeding frenzy, a finesse bait can be perfect. 

However, there are two other times when it can help dramatically, too. 

When the lake is heavily pressured, it’s usually during the peak season when all the weekend warriors hit the lake. Well, they’re also typically using the staple lures that everyone knows about and has in their tackle boxes.

Throwing a finesse bait out there when the bite gets slow and presenting it properly can usually catch those stubborn bass that are getting a little more cautious on the busiest days. 

Then, there’s the colder season. If you’re dragging your rear out to the lake in the middle of winter, you’re probably the type who wants to catch a trophy bass, and you’re probably throwing big baits.

Well, if you’re willing to stray from the status quo for a bit, the smaller profile of a finesse bait can often work wonders. Not all of the bass are going to be giants, but you’re a lot more likely to catch something.

This has more to do with size than a special type of lure. Smaller lures are often effective in the colder months, and we’ve caught plenty of winter bass on the smallest crappie jigs and u-tail grubs with a slower presentation.

Where Do You Use Finesse Baits? 

Finesse baits can be used at practically every depth and in any part of the lake, but they excel in a very specific spot.

When you bust these out, you almost always want to toss them around the shallows, and you want to look for excessive structures such as rocky banks, boat docks, lots of downed brush from the previous windy season, and similar areas.

These aren’t lures that you want to throw straight out into the deepest, most open part of the lake and just twitch them around in the middle of nothing. 

Finesse baits are good at pulling bass out of hiding and ambush spots. They’re less obvious than most of your staple lures, and those stubborn bass come right out of the rocks and hiding holes to snatch up an easy meal. 

Of course, you have to take into account that finesse baits are also more effective in tougher conditions.

Not only do those tougher conditions typically drive bass toward these high-cover types of locations, but they also change up what type of cover the bass are looking for.

If it’s cold out, the bass will still be around cover, but you also want to consider if there’s a spot where warmth is available. Likewise, in the hotter seasons, you might want to find areas that are food-rich and cooler thanks to shade. 

Knowing where to cast your finesse lures largely depends on understanding where bass retreat during tough conditions. Experience plays a key role, but you can also gain valuable insights with the bass fishing app.

How Do You Use Finesse Baits for Bass?

Finesse baits aren’t too complicated to use, but they certainly require a lot more engagement than chucking a whopper plopper out and buzzing it back in.

There’s a lot to this. So, we’re going to break it down into sections for the gear you need, a couple of our top suggestions, and the general strategies you’re going to use to bring it all together and get some big bass.

1: What You Need for Finesse Baits

You don’t need to change up your rig a lot, but in general, you’re going to want to stick with a rod on the lighter side when using finesse baits. They’re smaller most of the time. Some are even the size of small bluegill baits. You can’t expect to use your heavy flipping rod with these.

Instead, take a look at the weight of the lures you’re using and, if applicable, the weight of the jig or sinker you’ll be using with them. Chances are, you’re going to want a light to medium rod with a lighter line than you’re used to.

If you’re in a pinch, you probably have a medium rod in your collection, and there are things you can do to get casting distance even with the smaller lures on them.

Jigheads are also going to be necessary. Size these to the baits. You’ll likely need smaller jigheads compared to what you use with your standard soft plastics. If they’re too heavy, they’ll drag that little lure right to the bottom, and you’ll lose all the “finesse” part of the name.

Finally, invest in some smaller worm hooks. Many of these lures are less than 3 inches long, and the hooks you use with big trick worms, craws, and flukes likely aren’t going to fit on these.

Get a selection of sizes to ensure you can match just about anything.

2: The Best Finesse Baits to Try

We won’t go over too many of the lures on the market. There are tons of them now. However, there are 3 of them that we think will be the perfect baits to start with, and you can find them all on Tackle Warehouse’s website.

The Great Lakes Finesse Juicy Hellgrammite is one of our go-to bottom lures for finesse bait fishing. Its legs have a tremendous amount of action, and they’re super small at only 2.5 inches.

This isn’t small enough to get into the ultralight category, but it’s light enough to warrant a light to medium-light rod if you can help it.

The Great Lakes Finesse Drop Minnow is a bit more flexible than the Hellgrammite lure we mentioned. It works a lot like a paddletail, but the tail is more of a ball that vibrates rapidly, and the body is ribbed to allow for lots of small fluctuations and vibrations as it moves through the water.

You can fish with this like any other swimbait to replicate a swimming fish.

Finally, try the Great Lakes Finesse Drop Worm, which is similar to the Drop Minnow, but it’s exceptionally good for drop-shotting and other presentations that let the lure slowly descend straight down the column rather than swimming around. 

All three of these come in 8-packs and are around $6 each. So, they’re pretty cost-effective and proven to work.

3: Fishing with a Finesse Bait

All of these tips are going to revolve around the rocky areas and other bits of structure in the shallows that we talked about earlier. The difference will be in how you present each one and where it goes in the column. 

First, we’ll cover the general tips, and then we’ll cover each of the three lures we recommend. 

In general, you’re going to be very patient and methodical with finesse lures. The point is to create a natural presentation that isn’t too disruptive and makes fish comfortable going in for an easy meal. 

This means that you’ll typically be making very light twitches of the rod tip, giving plenty of time for the lure to naturally flow through the water and positioning it perfectly to draw bass out of their ambush points. 

With a bottom lure like the hellgrammite, you’ll fish it much like you would a normal craw. You can rig it on a very small Texas rig or football jig, or you can even toss it weightless for extremely slow action.

With any of these, you’ll want to very lightly twitch it over rocks and other structures to mimic the bug it’s modeled after. 

The Drop Worm and Drop Minnow both excel at being tossed weightless or on a small jighead, and then you just let the water do the work. As it falls, the ribs carved into the side will wobble gently, and the tail will glide back and forth.

After a pause, give it a little shake for some quick action and reel up the slack.

With the Drop Minnow and other finesse baits like it, you have a little more flexibility and can work it faster. To keep it closer to the top and off the bottom, you can twitch it with shorter pauses and make sure to work a shake in occasionally.

By twitching it faster, you’ll stop its descent before it gets too low in the column, and the little shake gives it an energetic appearance that entices the bass.

You can also throw finesse baits like these weightless on a small wormhook to slow them down and make an even more subtle presentation.

The main issue with any of the weightless rigs we mentioned is that unless you’re using very light equipment, you’re not going to get much casting distance.

Even with weights, they can be difficult if you downsize your equipment, and accuracy can suffer. A good way to handle this until you dial in your setup is to focus on close-up casts.

Try Finesse Baits to Catch Those Stubborn Bass

Finesse baits aren’t baits you want to use all the time.

They’re usually better off when the bass are stubborn, and your usual crankbaits, jerks, and jigs aren’t cutting it. With that being said, they’re often the difference between getting a few nice bass and going home disappointed.

Grab some finesse baits today, and know you have an ace up your sleeve for those hard days on the lake!

If you want to level up your bass fishing skills and increase your chances of landing a trophy catch, explore the Bass Fishing Blog on BassForecast.