My first Fairy Wand. BC or Spin?

[SouthArkFishin]

As much as I hate the thought of it at the moment I fish gin clear water the vast majority of the time and I reckon I'm gonna hafta bite the bullet and get a finesse rig. It would be for shakey heads, drop shots, weightless flukes, ect. I know opinions vary, but I'd love to hear from some of y'all on why you chose one over the other or why you use both. I don't currently fish any spinning gear, but I used it a lot growing up so I don't have anything against it. I'd love some input on a reel for both styles and some opinions on the best all around rod power for finesse tactics. Something I can do a bit of all of it on without getting super dialed in for just one bait style. All my casting rods are MB and that's what I like, but I'm open to other JDM rods. I have been wanting to try a 13 Fishing rod tho so if anybody's using one for finesse let me hear from ya.

[uljersey]

Not picking at you, but why the ingrained hate for light tackle/spinning gear ? Seriously, the mindset of some guys puzzles me - you can nail 5 lb + fish in virtually any situation with L to MH spinning gear all day long. If you go into the "finesse" game with a bad attitude, you're doomed from the start. Fishing is mostly mental to begin with, but you knew that You have to dump the broomstick and 65 lb braid mind set. Finesse/light line tactics will open up a whole other world of fishing to you if you let it. Learn it and you'll be miles ahead of the competition. This chunk was taken on ultralight - 2" crankbait, 10 lb braid with a 4 lb mono leader.


I would stay between 6'6" - 7" on rod length. BC or spin is your call, I prefer spin for the lighter stuff. Depending on manufacturer, you can go anywhere from M up to MH. Omen makes a nice stick, I have a 6' 10" ML XF Omen Black spin that feels and fishes more like a M in my opinion. It's a very versatile stick, I use it for many of the techniques you mentioned. I fish out of a kayak and don't have the luxury of carrying a lot of rods, so I like rods that can handle multiple baits and techniques well - the Omen does this nicely. And at $100, you can't go wrong. Falcons are another favorite of mine.

As for reels, I'm in the minority here on this site among all of these enthusiasts , but I absolutely love the Daiwa SS Tournament 1300. Do a search on it, you'll see what all the fuss is about, I'm not going to get all into that here. One thing I will elaborate on is the drag - it's second to none, which is crucial when dealing with lighter line.

The sky is the limit as far as how much you want to spend, but the gear is only part of the equation. Do yourself a favor and study as much as you can about light line/small bait fishing.

[angry john]

rods-1. dobyns DX 743. This rod is very versatile and i use it for shakey head, tubes and even crank baits from my yak
2. I like my Fenwick Elite Tech Bass Spinning Rod 6'10" Med Lt for drop shot small spinners and weightless 4" wacky worms.
I fish both rods with either a daiwa advantage or certate 2000 and 6 lb sunline sniper.

[njbasscat]

I'm not sure why you call them fairy wands or why you hate the thought of finesse fishing. It's one of my favorite ways to fish and puts more fish in the boat than any other technique, at least for me. I use both casting and spinning gear. For spinning gear, I'm using a couple Dobyns DX702 SF rods and Daiwa 2500 Certate reels. I have 6 lb fluoro on both and mainly use them for drop shots and small tubes. I plan on getting a MB X7 Powerhouse this winter to replace one of the Dobyns rods. For casting gear, I'm using a MB X7 Super Eiger and a MB FX68 reel with 8 lb fluoro. I use this rod for small senkos, light Texas rigs, etc. Your choices with Finesse gear will depend on how much you want to spend. My suggestion would be an inexpensive spinning setup to start with since your not crazy about using lighter powered gear.

[SouthArkFishin]

Sorry guys, I was just trying to make a joke with the fairy wand thing. As far as me hating the thought of it that may be just a bit of a hyperbole. I'm all for anything that helps me catch more fish. I just have trouble exercising my patience sometimes and making myself slow down. I've just gotta get started and stick it out til I catch a couple of fish with a finesse technique. Once it puts a fish or two in the boat I'll be good. I'm kinda leaning towards spin gear at the moment because I always loved fighting fish on a spinning rod and I also like the idea of being able to skip a bait better cos that's not something I do very well with a baitcaster at the moment. I appreciate y'all's input and I'd love to hear more.

[uljersey]

Meet Charlie Brewer, the grand daddy of "Do Nothing" finesse fishing. Back then they ate most of what they caught. From cleaning and gutting countless fish, he observed that the vast majority of what was in a bass's stomach were minnows/baitfish in the 2"-3" range. Yeah, they can eat stuff much larger than that, but the majority of it was the small stuff. That was his inspiration to go on and develop his Slider Fishing baits and technique. He observed that natural prey didn't have wildly flapping tails or exaggerated movements, they pretty much gracefully sliced their way along the bottom or through the water column. Bass have no trouble at all keying in on a little baitfish or worms quietly going about their business - no need for bells and whistles.

You don't have to necessarily use his baits, the "do nothing" part of it is what's important and can be applied to many baits. I do pretty much what he shows here with a 4" Zoom finesse worm, a 2/0 offset fine wire worm hook and a rubber band pegged 1/16 oz tungsten bullet weight. One piece of advice I will give you is leave the eye crossing hook set behind when fishing this way, it's not necessary and will cost you fish.

The pace of the video is kind of slow, but there is a lot of good information there that holds true today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTxY7mColgI

[mhood]

You don't have to necessarily use his baits, the "do nothing" part of it is what's important and can be applied to many baits. I do pretty much what he shows here with a 4" Zoom finesse worm, a 2/0 offset fine wire worm hook and a rubber band pegged 1/16 oz tungsten bullet weight. One piece of advice I will give you is leave the eye crossing hook set behind when fishing this way, it's not necessary and will cost you fish.

Posts like this make me wish we had a "like" button.

[btune]

I started fishing finesse gear back in the 70,s after attending one of Charlie Brewer's seminars. Here in Tennessee we have everything from shallow muddy water to clear as air I deep lakes. Although I do fish bait casting gear I find myself fishing spinning gear more as I get older. I actually suggest two spinning outfits. One a medium light power for drop shot and other small baits using 5-6 pound line. And a medium power for shaky heads and small jigs on 7-8 pound line. Any good 2500 sized reel should do and your choice of braid with leader, mono or fluorocarbon. MB has several rods with Aaron Martins name on them, which are excellent. I build my own on StCroix blanks, which are also excellent! If you like look at some of the articles by Aaron and the Finesse News Network both are full of information. My best fish last year was a nice 6.5 largemouth which I caught on my ML drop shot rod so yes you can catch some nice ones too! And best way to learn is just take the spinning rods for a trip or two.

[zodiak311]

Don Iovino is a finesse fishing master out here in California. I try a lot of his techniques and it keeps putting fish in the boat for me. I like spinning gear for the lightest stuff. A good spinning reel with a smooth drag is the most important, you'll need it with lite line.

I have a feeling that once you get a big fish waving your fairy wand, your going to want to find one that is lighter and more dainty, then we might have to start calling you Tinkerbell.

[SouthArkFishin]

Meet Charlie Brewer, the grand daddy of "Do Nothing" finesse fishing. Back then they ate most of what they caught. From cleaning and gutting countless fish, he observed that the vast majority of what was in a bass's stomach were minnows/baitfish in the 2"-3" range. Yeah, they can eat stuff much larger than that, but the majority of it was the small stuff. That was his inspiration to go on and develop his Slider Fishing baits and technique. He observed that natural prey didn't have wildly flapping tails or exaggerated movements, they pretty much gracefully sliced their way along the bottom or through the water column. Bass have no trouble at all keying in on a little baitfish or worms quietly going about their business - no need for bells and whistles.

You don't have to necessarily use his baits, the "do nothing" part of it is what's important and can be applied to many baits. I do pretty much what he shows here with a 4" Zoom finesse worm, a 2/0 offset fine wire worm hook and a rubber band pegged 1/16 oz tungsten bullet weight. One piece of advice I will give you is leave the eye crossing hook set behind when fishing this way, it's not necessary and will cost you fish.

The pace of the video is kind of slow, but there is a lot of good information there that holds true today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTxY7mColgI

Thanks for the video. I enjoyed it. Makes it look more interesting than I would've given it credit for. My buddy has a couple of light spinning rods he never uses. I'll hafta put some fresh line on em and give it a shot next time we go out. I've got some Damiki finesse worms I ordered and haven't used yet. I think the lightest jig heads we've got are 1/8oz. I may hafta go with them cos I'm not sure we have any small worm hooks or 1/16 or 1/8oz bullet weights. I've also got a Custom Lures Unlimited Zero Gravity jig I bought, but it was too light for any of my bc rigs. It'll give me a chance to throw it too. I fish a lot of standing timber, stumps, and lay downs. Should I use 8lb or 6lb?

[Fishinfanatic115]

Around cover, I'm hesitant to use 6lb. That being said, I've dragged 4lb largemouths out from under docks with it. And watch out, it does get addictive fast! I started with a 6'6" Compre medium/Ancient decrepit Stradic 2000 combo, And my most recent combo (this winter) is a custom MHX SJ781 (virtually the same as the old loomis IMX Spin Jig 781) paired with a Sustain 1000FG. You'll definitely get more bites doing it! I've got that combo spooled up with 10lb Power Pro with a 6lb AbrazX leader, and am itching for ice out to use it!

[dragon1]

First "Fairy Wand"...my vote is spinning.

[Megabassjohn]

My take on fineness ...... True finesse ..... After thousand and thousands ....lll spinning will get u there ! Quote from me though u need high end spinning IE Stella is the low end!

[SouthArkFishin]

My take on fineness ...... True finesse ..... After thousand and thousands ....lll spinning will get u there ! Quote from me though u need high end spinning IE Stella is the low end!

Now trust me when I say I'm a fan of high end gear, but what's your reasoning behind the quote? Does the cheaper spinning gear just not perform up to snuff or not hold up?

[uljersey]

My take on fineness ...... True finesse ..... After thousand and thousands ....lll spinning will get u there ! Quote from me though u need high end spinning IE Stella is the low end!

Now trust me when I say I'm a fan of high end gear, but what's your reasoning behind the quote? Does the cheaper spinning gear just not perform up to snuff or not hold up?

Thousands and thousands of what ? ... casts ? ... beers ?