WTF?!? : Tips on Finesse from Martens, Fukae, & Siemental

Introduction: Spro, Big Bite Baits, Gamakatsu, Sunline and Gill got together to throw their second annual writers camp at Lake Lanier Georgia highlighting both new and existing products. We attended the event and in the spirit of our year dedicated to finesse fishing, were able to gather some first hand tips on techniques and tackle from several big name pros. Here's what a few of them had to say when asked to give their insights into finesse tactics.

Spro, Gamakatsu, Big Bite Baits, Sunline, and Gill invite us out to beautiful Lake Lanier, Georgia, for a sneak peak at what they have in store for ICAST 2011. We take the opportunity to gain some insights into what their pros have to say about finesse fishing for bass.

Aaron Martens: Few other professional bass fishermen come to mind before this big name Bassmasters Elite Series Pro when the topic of finesse fishing is at hand. Aaron Martens has five first place finishes to his name, three top three finishes, and forty six finishes in the top ten. Finesse fishing is his deal, and here are his tips when it comes to rigging and fishing a drop shot.

Martens starts his Drop Shot 101 class with us by going over his choice in hooks and how he tweaks them

Drop it, shake it, or cast it or all of the above? Martens tells us how he fishes the drop shot

Which rod is Marten's weapon of choice for the drop shot? He tells us right here.

Bill Siementel: At a time when the term "finesse tactics" in bass fishing invokes the thought of drop shotting, shakey heads, and split shots, leave it to Bill Seimentel to think outside the box and offer up yet another method of coaxing stubborn, pressured fish into biting.

Bill Sieimentel discusses the Spro Phat Fly and the often overlooked tactic of float and fly fishing

Shin Fukae: Shin Fukae was in between tournaments on the FLW circuit and took the time to share with us, two new terminal tackle options by Gamakatsu, both developed largely based on his design and recommendations. He gave us a sneak peak as the products are expected to be released at ICAST 2011.

Fukae shows us his new Saiko Series Wacky Jighead manufactured by Gamakatsu

Fukae shares with us, his solution to line twist in a drop shot rig with his brand new Saiko Series Swivel Shot by Gamakatsu

Russ Lane: There are pros who rely on finesse, and then there are pros like Russ Lane whose idea of going finesse is turning the trolling motor down from 90 to 70. Just the same, Lane shared with us a relatively new soft plastic bait he designed for Big Bite Baits. It's not finesse, but it's certainly worth an introduction.

Russ Lane shares with us the ins and outs of his new bait, the YoDaddys by Big Bite Baits

Naturally what we look forward to the most, when attending events such as this, are the insights manufacturers and their prostaff give us to products that are in the pipeline. The vast majority of the time, this information is shared with us on a strictly confidential basis. We have a couple of such news items in the works from this event, but right as this article was going live, we received permission to release this little teaser on a yet to be named crankbait designed by Russ Lane and in development over at SPRO. We expect to hear more at ICAST 2011, but for now, here's what Russ Lane had to share with us.

Introducing Russ Lane's new, yet to be named, signature crank by Spro

Dean Rojas: Fresh off his win at Toledo Bend, Dean Rojas was very excited to share with us his new War Mouth bait by Big Bite Baits as well as a new braided line he helped develop with Sunline.

The War Mouth by Big Bite Baits was Rojas's go to bait at Toledo Bend. He gives us a closer look at this new bait as well as shares some rigging tips

Renowned for fishing the frog, Rojas was excited to tell us about the new braided line he developed with Sunline, the FX2