Great Lakes Finesse - Baits For Chasing Trophy Smallmouth Bass

May 14, 2024

“Catch fish others can’t.” That’s the Great Lakes Finesse slogan, and when you make a cast with one of these baits you’ll see that it’s no joke. Great Lakes Finesse baits are designed to get the most mature, pressured, and difficult-to-catch smallmouth bass to bite. In this article, we’ll dive into how the Great Lakes Finesse brand came to be and look at all of these unique smallmouth slaying baits in detail.

Great Lakes Finesse: How It All Started

What Makes Great Lakes Finesse Baits Unique?

Great Lakes Finesse Plastics

Great Lakes Finesse Jig Heads

Conclusion

Great Lakes Finesse: How It All Started

Great Lakes smallmouth fishing has grown significantly in popularity over the years, meaning fishing pressure is at an all-time high. It takes smallmouth a long time to reach the incredible proportions they’re known for in the Great Lakes, so the giant ones are quite educated to common fishing tactics and baits.

The founders of Great Lakes Finesse are avid tournament anglers and noticed these giant bass becoming more and more difficult to catch. They began developing unique baits to get an edge on the competition. Incredible success was quickly had with their designs and they began to give some baits to fellow anglers. As more and more people raved about these baits, they started to sell some varieties, and Great Lakes Finesse was born.

What Makes Great Lakes Finesse Baits Unique?

The biggest smallmouth are smart and stubborn. They will scrutinize everything about a bait before biting it and if the slightest detail is off, rejection. The features described below do a good job of preventing said rejection.

Bite Size Smallmouth Snacks

For starters, Great Lakes Finesse baits are small. Even the most giant of smallmouth bass love to eat small meals. Bite-size crayfish, gobies, and emerald shiners litter the Great Lakes and are primary forage for giant smallmouth. Most Great Lakes Finesse baits are between 2 - 3”, except for the 4” Drop Worm which still maintains a thin profile.

Shine Free Finish

Dan Miguel, co-founder of Great Lakes Finesse, exclaimed that he used to rub his baits against the carpet of his boat to remove the shine of his soft plastics before every tournament. The shine of some baits caused them to look unnatural, meaning big smallmouth would shy away. This is why Great Lakes Finesse baits have a shine-free finish and are available in some matte colors. This causes baits to look as natural as possible in the water.

Subtle Action

“Less is more” is the theme of Great Lakes Finesse soft plastics. These baits don’t have unnecessary appendages that flail everywhere and cause the bait to look unnatural, instead, they have subtle, lifelike action that tricks the biggest smallies into firing. Just think, whenever you observe a goby, crayfish, or shiner moving along, it isn’t doing much as far as erratic movements go. The more subtle the action, the more realistic these baits look.

Great Lakes Finesse Plastics

There are currently six soft plastics in the Great Lakes Finesse lineup, each with its own unique fish-catching abilities. Keep reading to learn more about each one.

Great Lakes Finesse Drop Minnow

The Drop Minnow is one of the shining stars of the GLF lineup of soft plastics. It’s a 2.75” bait that’s incredibly versatile. The Drop Minnow is neutrally buoyant, meaning it will sit perfectly horizontal when fished on a drop shot or suspended on a Damiki rig jig head like the Great Lakes Finesse Hanging Head. This bait also works very well hopped along the bottom on a ned rig or swam on a jighead like the Great Lakes Finesse Sneaky Swimbait Head, Stealth Ball Head Jig, or Sneaky Underspin.

The Drop Minnow features a thin tail that is bulbous at the end. This gives the bait a very subtle, lifelike action even when the rod tip is held still. Ribs all the way down the bait provide a unique vibration in the water. These features combined with one of the ten proven smallmouth-catching colors make the Drop Minnow a must-have in any tackle box.

Great Lakes Finesse Snack Craw

The 2.1" Snack Craw epitomizes the saying “less is more” that Great Lakes Finesse swears by. This crayfish-style bait has no appendages other than two simple claws that float to a 45-degree defensive posture, adding extra realism to the bait. When pulled, the claws are pushed together and the bait glides away to mimic the action of a real crawfish.

A shine-free finish, tear-resistant plastic, and a realistic texture also contribute to the effectiveness of this bait. The Snack Craw is best fished on a ned head, Great Lakes Finesse Stealth Ball Head Jig, or a Football Head Jig.

Great Lakes Finesse Juvy Craw

It’s no secret that smallmouth love crayfish, but have you ever noticed that they tend to key in on the smaller, juvenile craws? They are significantly easier for a smallmouth to catch and leave less of a painful pinch. The GLF Juvy Craw measures just 2 ½”, and has no legs and very simple claws. These claws float, so when the bait is paused on the bottom they lift in a natural and slightly defensive posture that perfectly mimics the movements of an actual crawfish. The lack of appendages on this bait allows it to look much more natural and not spook finicky, pressured smallmouth.

The Juvy Craw is hollow, and an opening on the front of the bait allows a Pro Mini Tube Jig Head or ned head to be inserted. It also features a slit between the eyes and antennae for the hook to sit between. The Juvy Craw works well slowly drug along the bottom, hopped, cracked, or even swum.

Great Lakes Finesse Flat Cat

The Flat Cat is a unique-looking bait. As the name suggests, it’s a relatively flat bait with a wide body that narrows down to a thin tail to provide maximum action. Coming in at just 2.1” long, the Flat Cat represents a goby or catfish fry, two fish smallmouth love to prey on. This bait’s action is also slow and subtle, mimicking the movements of these particular prey items and not spooking finicky smallmouth.

Being as small as it is, the Flat Cat is best fished nose hooked on a dropshot or on a Great Lakes Finesse Stealth Ball Head Jig, as this jighead features a small hook that won’t ruin the plastic’s action. The bait can be fished Damiki style or drug/hopped along the bottom on this jighead.

Great Lakes Finesse Drop Worm

True neutral buoyancy is what makes this drop shot bait so deadly. The 4” Dropworm sits perfectly horizontal when deadsticked, allowing it to look very natural while hanging in the strike zone. Compare the Dropworm to other finesse worm-style dropshot baits on the market and you’ll find the Dropworm to have arguably the best action.

Great Lakes Finesse Jig Heads

Sharp and strong hooks, quality bait keepers, and a natural look are all extremely important characteristics to consider when choosing the right jig head for smallmouth fishing. The crew at Great Lakes Finesse knows this better than anyone, and has developed the following jig heads to be trustworthy with the smallmouth of a lifetime on the line.

Great Lakes Finesse Stealth Ball Head Jig

Built around a Gamakatsu 604 Jig Hook, the Great Lakes Finesse Stealth Ball Head Jig has matte color patterns for extra stealthiness and the perfect balance of strength, sharpness, and fine wire to ensure a good hookset with light line and a soft rod.

This ball head jig is available in a 1/16, ⅛, or 3/16oz with either a size one or 1/0 hook. This Ball Head Jig pairs perfectly with any of Great Lakes Finesse's soft plastics or other small plastics where a small hook is preferred.

Great Lakes Finesse Sneaky Swimbait Head

The Sneaky Swimbait Head was designed to pair up perfectly with finesse swimbaits such as the 3” Megabass Spark Shad, 2.8” Keitech Fat Swing Impact, or 3” 6th Sense Whale. The small hook on this swimbait head doesn’t ruin the subtle action of these tiny baits, and the head design allows it to seamlessly glide through the water. It’s also a very fine wire hook, meaning it penetrates easily allowing it to be used with a light rod and light line.

This jighead has lifelike 3D eyes that help seal the deal on finicky smallies investigating the bait. A forward-line tie placement helps reduce snags and navigate through sparse vegetation. It’s also available in colors that match up well with popular finesse swimbait varieties. Everything was thought of when the GLF crew designed the Sneaky Swimbait Head!

Great Lakes Finesse Sneaky Swimbait Head

The Sneaky Swimbait Head features a realistic set of eyes, wire bait keeper, and forward line tie placement

Great Lakes Finesse Sneaky Underspin

The Sneaky Underspin is one of the most popular items from Great Lakes Finesse for good reason. It’s similar to the Sneaky Swimbait Head with lifelike eyes, forward line-tie placement, and a sticky sharp 1/0 hook, but with the addition of a willow leaf blade for added flash and vibration. This blade is designed to spin at even the slowest of retrieval speeds.

The Great Lakes Finesse Drop Minnow pairs up very well with this underspin, but any of your favorite finesse swimbaits or straight-tail plastics will work.

Great Lakes Finesse Hanging Head

Forward facing sonar has allowed Damiki rigging to become one of the most popular ways to fish, and Great Lakes Finesse has responded with the Hanging Head. This jighead features a 1/0 fine wire hook and realistic eyes like the Sneaky Swimbait Head and Underspin, but has a line tie on top of the jig head rather than facing forward. This allows your bait to hang perfectly horizontal when suspended, the most important factor for getting bites when Damiki or hover rigging.

Note the line tie placement on the top of the Hanging Head rather than the front

Great Lakes Finesse Pro Mini Tube Jig Head

The Pro Mini Tube Jig Head measures just 1.4”, making it the perfect match for 1.75” - 2.75” tube jigs. The head is wide to maintain a goby-like profile and a short distance between the tube head and 1/0 Mustad UltraPoint hook point helps to keep big ones pinned.

The Pro Mini Tube Jig Head is available in sizes from ⅛ - 1/2oz, so you’re able to easily fish your favorite finesse tube at just about any depth.

Conclusion

Great Lakes Finesse products are made for the most hardcore of smallmouth anglers. The people behind this brand developed these products based on their own experiences over years of smallmouth fishing on the Great Lakes, and it shows in the excruciating detail of each item.

If you like to fish for big smallmouth, pick up some Great Lakes Finesse products from FishUSA.com and try them out on your home lake!

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