# Bait finesse



## tincanary (Jul 23, 2018)

What is bait finesse exactly, you may ask? To make it simple, it’s using baitcast gear to cast ultralight lures to wary fish. Bait finesse initially was conceived as a bass fishing technique. In Japan, many people get their dose of fishing by visiting highly pressured public fishing ponds where ultralight tackle may be needed to catch the overly finicky fish that inhabit them. Most of the baits used are under 3/16 ounce, with some even as small as 1/64 ounce. These baits are thrown on specially designed baitcast reels that feature extremely light shallow spools that enable them to throw such small baits, even lighter than what most spinning reels are capable of in some models.


Early on, the Japanese modified small Abu Ambassadeur reels, such as the 1500C and 2500C to cast such tiny baits. Those modifications typically included a lightweight shallow spool, magnetic braking system, and adding bearings in certain areas to free up the spool. Fast forward a decade, and Daiwa releases the Presso and Pixy line of reels, the very first to bring finesse reels to the market. 15 years later, here we are, with near limitless models of bait finesse reels made by Abu, Daiwa, and Shimano plus many other lesser known brands to us such as KastKing, Tsurinoya, and Fishband. There’s only one inherent problem, the US markets reels from a ‘one size fits most’ point of view, whereas the Japanese are far more species and technique specific. These reels and the rods that go with them often need to be purchased from Japanese retailers since they don’t exist in America.


So what does this have to do with trout? The trout fishermen quickly discovered these small reels and rods would be at home in the mountain streams of Japan, fishing Iwana and Yamame trout, which are very close relatives of the brook trout we Michigan anglers know and love. Why would one ever want to get into bait finesse for trout? Easy, a baitcast reel is far more accurate than a spinner and the mechanics of casting such a reel enable you to land your lure in the water with the tiniest splash. You will spook fish much less often than you would landing your bait with a spinner. This makes it easier to sight fish and get your offering right under their noses.


Another positive attribute, bait finesse gear is very light in the hand. Just as an example, let’s take your average American trout spinning setup. A good friend of mine uses a 4’10” St Croix Trout with a Penn Battle II 1000. This combo tips the scale at 10 ounces. Not too heavy, but it isn’t that much lighter than something you’d use for bass fishing. My most used combo, an Abu Revo ALC-BF7 and Major Craft Troutino, comes in at 7.3 ounces, lighter than the Battle II all by itself. At times it feels like I have a toy in my hand even though the reel uses a lightweight aluminum frame. As somebody that does a lot of hike-in fishing trips, it’s nice to shed a little weight when you’re loaded down with gear.


I’ve had a great year with my plunge into bait finesse. It has been a fun and new way to fish and I can say that I will most likely use it for all of my ultralight fishing from here on out. Spinning reels haven’t been part of my arsenal all year long, and I feel they may never be again since I’ve found something that will do more for myself and the way I fish. Below, you’ll find a couple of videos of bait finesse trout fishing. The first one is a homegrown fellow that lives in the UP, and the other a Japanese fellow that was nice enough to subtitle his video in English. Great stuff! Maybe some here will become interested in bait finesse. There’s more than one way to catch a trout.


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## tincanary (Jul 23, 2018)

Here we go. The Abu reel and Major Craft rod I talked about in the first post. It's currently spooled with 35yd of 0.17mm (4lb) Ultragreen. The action of the rod is very nice, sold as a fast action. On the flip side, my friend's St Croix Trout rod is sold as fast action but behaves every bit like a moderate action. It's pretty interesting fishing side by side seeing both techniques in action and how the Japanese style of fishing contrasts with the American style.


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## 6667supersport (Oct 10, 2012)

Would be fun catching walleye on one of them in the river. Have caught quite a few on my 4'6" ultralight and 20 series spinning reel.


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## tincanary (Jul 23, 2018)

6667supersport said:


> Would be fun catching walleye on one of them in the river. Have caught quite a few on my 4'6" ultralight and 20 series spinning reel.


Heck yeah. I can imagine a walleye putting a nice bend in that 4'6" of yours.


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## Scott K (Aug 26, 2008)

You've got me intrigued. How far could you actually cast a 1/64 oz bait? How far for a 1/8?


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## tincanary (Jul 23, 2018)

Scott K said:


> You've got me intrigued. How far could you actually cast a 1/64 oz bait? How far for a 1/8?


I can rip a 1/16 and a 1/8, but when you get into the 1/32 and 1/64 territory, you're not going to get much distance either way. There are many factors at play, but wind is the devil when working with such tiny baits. Thinner diameter line helps the most, think 2lb mono or 8lb braid. Realistically, you're looking inside of 10yd with those super light baits but it won't be often you'll find yourself using baits under 1/16. Most of what I use is in the 1/16 to 3/16 range and those cast very, very well.


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## 6667supersport (Oct 10, 2012)

I can cast an 1/8oz jighead with a crappie sized piece of plastic about 50 feet using 7' ML rod, 25 series spinning reel and 5lb power pro. Have caught walleye as big as 25" using the small baits. Many times most of the minnows I see in the river are only about an inch and a half long, so walleye are used to eating smaller things. Once walked to one of the spots I cast and on first cast a fish bit the tail of the small grub. I forgot to bring my bag of spares with me, so casted it out there and got a fish on next cast using a 1" body with no tail. I made about 25 casts there and caught my limit of 6 fish on the small piece of plastic.


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## tincanary (Jul 23, 2018)

6667supersport said:


> I can cast an 1/8oz jighead with a crappie sized piece of plastic about 50 feet using 7' ML rod, 25 series spinning reel and 5lb power pro. Have caught walleye as big as 25" using the small baits. Many times most of the minnows I see in the river are only about an inch and a half long, so walleye are used to eating smaller things. Once walked to one of the spots I cast and on first cast a fish bit the tail of the small grub. I forgot to bring my bag of spares with me, so casted it out there and got a fish on next cast using a 1" body with no tail. I made about 25 casts there and caught my limit of 6 fish on the small piece of plastic.


My most used bait this year was the 1.5" Slider Grub on a 1/16 head, total weight was 2.8g as measured on my scale. Caught a lot of perch and trout on those.


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## tincanary (Jul 23, 2018)

Going to spool this guy up with some 8lb J-braid tonight. Hopefully it works well, handled slightly thicker 4lb mono really well.


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## tincanary (Jul 23, 2018)

Awww shheeeeiiiit, line came.










A little heads up to those who may want to venture down this rabbit hole. If you're intending to use braid, you will not want to use backing line. These spools don't hold a ton, so straight braid, mono, or fluorocarbon it is, pick your poison. With that said, if you do plan on running braid, you want to run a uni-knot instead of an arbor like you would with monofilament.

As you can see here, I use a piece of tape to hold the line to the spool, then wrap the line around 4 or 5 times. This prevents slippage and the knot holds wonderfully if you happen to get spooled. This is the best knot I've found for this type of fishing. There are others, but this is an easy one and very strong.










After the line is wrapped, pull the tape, tie the knot (5 wraps is good) and then cinch her down.










Now we can get to filling it up. I typically like to run about 30 to 50yd worth on these reels. Since the spool is so shallow, it's pretty safe to assume the inches per turn is close to what it's rated at a full spool as printed on the reel box. I did 70 turns of the handle, giving me somewhere around 40yd worth of line, a very good amount for this type of fishing. Lastly, I tied on a 6lb Seaguar Invizx leader so I can take it fishing this weekend.










This is my first experience with J-braid, and I will say it feels like some damn good line. It has the feel and texture of something like Sufix 832, but not as stiff. I can't complain about the price either, I paid $20 for a 330yd spool. I'll fish it the next couple of weeks and see how I like it on the water. If I do, I'll probably change over the rest of my reels.

EDIT: When using fine braid such as this, be very careful if you get caught up in a good snag. Be careful handling the line because braid this thin can give deep cuts. It'll slice right through your hand or fingers like a piece of cheese, so please be careful.


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## mbirdsley (Jan 12, 2012)

I think those little bait casters would work very well for trout. I just feel like I can cast and control a bait caster better than spinning reel 


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## mbirdsley (Jan 12, 2012)

I think those little bait casters would work very well for trout. I just feel like I can cast and control a bait caster better than spinning reel 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## tincanary (Jul 23, 2018)

mbirdsley said:


> I think those little bait casters would work very well for trout. I just feel like I can cast and control a bait caster better than spinning reel
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


They're a lot of fun for trout. Somebody seasoned in baitcaster usage will be able to translate that skill to a stream or creek quite easily. Casting into undercut banks and dropping your bait next to cover is far easier with casting gear. Most casting done on the smaller streams is very close range. It isn't often I find myself swinging for the fences in that sort of environment. For the most part, I'm throwing within 10 yd.


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## tincanary (Jul 23, 2018)

The reel that started it all, the Abu 2500C. These were on the US market in the mid 70s to early 80s but haven't been back since. They are still made in limited runs for the Japanese market once every decade or so. They're pretty expensive to begin with, a nicer one will run $200+, and once you outfit it for finesse fishing (spool, level wind, mag brake, bearing idler gear, line guide), that cost could easily grow to over $400. Some models even come with instant anti-reverse instead of the old school ratchet system.


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

I'd take a spinning reel over a level-wind reel for slingshot casts, all day. And I've used slinghshot casts for hard-to-reach trout casts a lot over the years. I can appreciate the features of level-wind reels a LOT, but they have drawbacks, too. Spinning reels are incredibly simple to use. Level wind reels take a lot more practice. They can (and do) backlash, losing valuable fishing time, and line. I mostly use level-wind reels for trolling. I have been thinking about getting some for running floats, but I already have a couple centerpins that do the job well for me.


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## tincanary (Jul 23, 2018)

Fishndude said:


> They can (and do) backlash, losing valuable fishing time, and line.


The beauty of these reels is with the low line capacity, backlashes aren't that big of a deal like a deeper spool reel. They take seconds to fix. I've never had to cut my line fishing a finesse baitcast setup. Besides, the way the braking system behaves also makes them less prone since they apply more braking so the spool doesn't overrun as easy.


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