Cgolf

I wouldn't fish the traditional Ned rig that deep, I would likely go to a heavier head. If they did need the slower fall of the lighter head, it would be like walleye fishing, patience and a lot of cider;) Seriously though if going with a lighter weight you would need a line you could see easily and I would fish it vertically. What I have done fishing Ned weighted jigs for walleye is mark the line, bobber stop works when have enough line out to be on bottom. When dropping the bait keep an eye on the line and if it stops dropping or starts moving in an unnatural manner and you don't see your on bottom mark reel up and set the hook. It can be very tough fishing, but if you get on good fish it is worth it.

I have had good luck with the swing oil J tube. A bigger tube but very durable. Before that I really liked the old Trigger X tubes, wish I could find more. Realistically I haven't bought a brand of tubes that doesn't catch fish. I generally choose my tubes by color not the brand when in store. If ordering from TW I would probably go with the Strike king coffee tubes like others above. I fish up north, but will add that the tube is a very versatile lure. You can bounce it on bottom to imitate a craw, or lightly weight it and fish it up in the water column to imitate a dying fish. I only texas rig them on slider heads, but hear that spiral drop with the insert heads can be killer, just never got around to trying it over the years.

I have had bass make it stupid complicated in fairly clear water where I can see a white RES in 12-15 fow. I have had them ignore a water red tube on flat sunny conditions and jump all over a smoke red or smoke purple tube. Get a chop on the water or add overcast skies and water red becomes king and they won't touch smoke red or purple. So light penetration plays a big role on some waters too. Only thing I can figure is after catching some bluegills, they look shiny and silverish in the sun (smoke colors) and greenish (water red) when the sky is overcast. Murky water is so much easier to fish.

A medium light would work, but a medium gives you more control over the fish. The stretch of river I fish is very rocky and this keeps the line in one piece most of the time. I can also tangle with 20+ lb carp or big pike. To be honest river fish just fight harder than lake fish. I did use a medium light St Croix premier for awhile but it just didn't seem to be enough. Did it catch fish, yeh but a medium just seemed better suited. I also throw both cranks and plastics on this rod and the medium works a lot better for cranks than a medium light. I guess I don't see a medium rod as stiff at all, in fact it usually is rated for the lure weight range I like to throw often. I did try a light action uncle bucks crappie rod for a while during a time period when smallies come unglued easily and while it would throw and retrieve a bandit 100 without issue it was severely over matched bringing in a smallie.

For river smallies, I wouldn't go below a medium stick. That said I generally use an ugly stick 6'6" medium spinning rod so it does have a slower tip. I go with the ugly because it is bullet proof and the rod stays in my truck at work in the sun during the summer and hasn't failed yet. The river I fish averages 11-14" smallies, but I tangle with 16 to 20 inch fish often enough to be glad I have the medium stick. I go with 10 lb fireline and and 10 lb red label leader.

I know in Ike's finnese book and video he talks about doing this with a french fry worm. It's been a while since I watched the video, but he may have given credit in the video to the flying lure. That dude keeps a lot of older tackle he has used through the years, would be cool to see what he has. Honestly, I think some of these for TV lures are actually good ideas, this being one of them. Even the banjo minnow, basically a fluke with the tail oriented a different way is a decent bait. I just think the label of as seen on TV makes serious bass folks dismiss them instantly.

I definitely think the head design is more crucial than the brand of plastic. I think Zman has done a good job of both making people think that Elaztech is the only Ned bait, and also with some of their latest offerings, Big TRD, jigs with giant hooks, further confusing people about what the true Ned rig is. I know the half head and morels have a size #1 hook, not true ned heads, but man finding a size #2 or smaller is difficult in a mushroom head at a good price with a trustworthy hook. 10 years ago I might have started pouring my own, but at this point it isn't an investment I want to make. Saying that about the head design, I have had some luck with a 1/16 northland fireball head. The short shanked wide gap hook really allows the bait to move a lot more and still get a good solid hookset. This was initially done out of need because at the time I was out of gopher heads and hadn't discovered the half heads and morels yet.

Bandit 100 and yum 2.5” crawbug. Individually each of those have caught me more river smallies than all other lures I have used combined. Awesome baits!

I can’t narrow it down to one, but 4. Forever favorites are a 5” Kalins single tail grub and a tube, brand doesn’t really matter as many different brands catch them for me. These two baits are the most versatile and I feel I could get it done anywhere in the world that has bass with them. Two newer are the Arsenal Assault bug and the Rage menace. A bait I wish would play well with other plastics the Z man Zinkerz would make the list if I fished it anymore. Just use too many normal plastic baits to want to carry baits that don’t play well with others.

Berkley half head jigs work well for me even though to the purists the hooks are too big. Of the reasonable over the counter options these seemed to have the smallest hook. I did get some mini morels which have the proper sized hook, but the last time I looked @Siebert Outdoors was no longer offering them. I still have a decent stash of them that should last me a bit. I think the problem is the general Fishing public wants bigger hooks and the much smaller number of Ned purists want the smaller hooks. I straddle the line and take what I can get. A #1 is the biggest hook I will buy.

I have seen people put that cushiony material for kitchen cupboards on the lids of boxes to keep what you are describing from happening, this includes on Bass Mafia boxes. From what you are describing, there aren't enough of those little bins in the edge box to do what you need. Would guess you would need more and smaller boxes. I actually use one of these to hold my snaps and split rings. It is in a bag that doesn't get tossed around, but they seem to hold stuff pretty darn well. https://www.farmandfleet.com/products/634154-plano-green-micro-stowaway-organizer.html

I got an ugly stick 6' 6" GX2 medium spinning combo on sale for like 20 bucks and it is a decent all around rod. Not great at anything, but good enough. Before that I had the same rod in the plain ugly stick. They should have baitcast rods that would meet your needs. both are 2 piece rods. I would suggest to buy them in person to make sure you get the action you are looking for. The reason I say go with an ugly stick is they are cheap, bulletproof (other rods in this price range have broken on me), if fished with braid are sensitive enough to catch a pile of fish. I have kept one in my truck for years because I have a spot I can stop at on the way to work to fish and the WI summer heat hasn't seemed to bother it when it sat out in the sun while I was at work.

Instead of dropping a lot of money on a box to potentially solve the issue, perhaps you could try these little medicine bags instead to hold the smaller items. A 50 or 100 pack, don’t remember which, is under 4 bucks at Walmart and Walgreens. Bag is next to a quarter to give you an idea of the size. while boxes like Bass Mafia and the Edge series are cool, these bags could let you spend the extra cash on tackle instead of a 50$ box;)

That works too, and I can relate to being thrifty. I just didn't like the hybrid as mainline, not enough sensitivity. I think the braid on some of my reels is 6 years old, and I just flipped it around this year so it looks like new. My funds our limited by our better half. We are on somewhat of a fixed income, we always invest any raises for retirement, so have essentially been making the same for the last 10 years give or take.

This is why I love Braid with a Fluoro leader. Braid lasts for a very long time, no line conditioner needed, backlashes are usually easy to pick out, etc. I know braid isn't for everyone, but it has to be one of the most economical line choices out there. The money I saved helped me not feel bad about upgrading to sniper as a leader over red label.

This post just ticks me off. I have lived both sides of this. I started working summers delivering beer for my dad’s business when I was in the 10-11 range till my early 20s. Before you say owners son had it easy, no I busted my a$$ to prove I belonged and now in my mid 40s probably paying for it. Also worked fast food in high school and factory work 2nd and 3rd shift for a year or so during college. That work while physically challenging was easy to go home after. I will give props to my dad and grandpa, they thought me what an honest days work was! Fast forward to now where I test the code you are talking about, and I work harder now than back then, and there is 50 times more stress. It is just a different kind of work. This work also travels so extra work time at home too. The only difference I see is one job I came home from physically exhausted and the other I come home from mentally exhausted. We love cruising and I figure we will do it while young. I am hoping to retire on a lake, so then my cruising will be slightly different, it will involve a fishing pole and hopefully a slightly larger Alumacraft than the one we currently own. As far as my fishing gear goes it has taken me twenty years, but I am comfortable with all the gear I have. If get extra cash may upgrade a few things, but that is a luxury at this point. Still probably lower quality than many, but perfect for what I need.

That is my plan. If you caught my popular lure no longer used thread, in my first post I listed all my Zman baits, I am stocked up for life lol. Luckily I have a ton of Zinkerz so am set there. Always wanted the Zinkerz in bublegum, or creamsicle, which I created by mixing a bubblegum TRD with other colors by accident. The smallies crushed the creamsicle and I unfortunately can't make it happen again.

Up until this year, I would have thought the same about spinnerbaits. But when cranks and plastics stopped working and pretty much only thing they would hit was a spinnerbait, it taught me a good lesson this year, that it can be a post frontal bait too. Now I have to get my wife to throw one, she always refused because she thought it made fishing too easy lol.

For me it’s more of a storage issue. In boat I use Rubbermaid shoe boxes for slider rigged plastics, and on shore I use a small 3500 bag with one plastic box and one crank box. In both cases carrying both types of plastics is a pain. Caught lots of fish on Zman, just sick of dealing with plastics that don’t play well together in one small bag.

If not for vacation this year spinnerbaits would have been on my list. But after multiple cold fronts, some with storms, spinnerbaits were about all they would hit with any consistency. Plastics, cranks, and jerkbait bite had all but disappeared. Before this I probably hadn't fished one in 5 or 6 years.

I have 4 Zman baits for me, mostly because of storage issues and the finesse TRDs and TRD tubes were big a disappointment to me. That leaves me with, individual baits in various colors, 145 1/2 Zinkerz (some already cut in half), 101 finesse TRDs, 15 Big TRDs, 27 TRD tubez, 60 split tails, and 38 other Zman baits. I was obviously a huge fan at one point. Rage Menace this year, I have hardly fished it at all compared to years in the past. I hope this is temporary because this has been my favorite bait. Strike King square bills, are still drawing a blank for me. Chatterbaits of any brand still also a big zero for me, just can't figure out that bite, so it must be the WI bass lol.

It has worked really well on a Ned head for me as well. Would struggle to rig it on a head with a big keeper though.

I have some older Shakespeare excursion and Cattera spinning reels that I love and have talked about on here from time to time. They are old, but assume that the newer Excursions would last a season or two. Baitcasters, like others above the best low cost one I have is a Daiwa Laguna. The only other one I have is a Lews Mark Rose that I got on clearance for under 25. It isn't horrible, but backlashes very easily so not a good reel for a beginner. Not sure if they count but Daiwa Regals, minus bail spring issues, and the presidents are good lower cost spinning reels.

The increased sensitivity does it for me.

In the baits doesn't bother me as much as on the baits. I have actually soaked baits in water to rinse all the salt off before I boxed them up. Same goes for companies that dump like a cup of oil in the bag. After rigging up some of those baits you worry that the fishing pole will slip out of your hand on the hookset. I wish companies would just provide baits that are dry to the touch and minus the salt shake on the outside of the bait too.