Cgolf

I have used the 1/2 ounce model and it seems to very hit or miss. When the fish are on it, it is a very good bait, but the bite is not consistent. I can throw a Red eye shad and get a more consistent bite. I did try the ultra tiny ultralight rippin rap and caught a creek chub on it trout fishing. The interesting thing was it tracked pretty well in strong current and I have to say I was impressed. Even though tiny, I may try it for bass this summer.

Do I have to pick 1! Depending on the year, Bandit 100 will always get me bit! My favorite right now is the rage menace but it is tenuous. The reason I would ultimately say the Bandit, is because baits like the spicy beaver has been as effective as the menace for me. No crank has come close to touching the Bandit at sticking bass for me.

I know the #1 hook is a no go, but other than the VMC is there a right sized hook commercially available? I have some mini morels that fit the bill, but he only offers th3 standard morel now with the size #1 hook. My sub #1 hooked jigs are in short supply. I think the Z mans may fit it, but I don’t like the hook material. I like the more flexible like on a ball head jig. Ball head jigs are legit too right? Doesn’t have to be a mushroom head. Honestly the smaller hook would be better for the trout I am currently after. Only other options I have are 1/16 oz ball heads which definitely have smaller hooks and 1/16 oz fireball jig heads which have a wide gap but super short shank, not sure if these count as the shank is shorter than my gopher heads I have left. @Bluebasser86 What size hooks do you use on the heads you pour? Says #2 on this thread, but found older thread,2016, that said #1. I was doing a search for the Zman hook size I found that thread.

Some pro classic slider spider heads Beefier 3/0 hook Kalins 5” grub Ron’s craw water red generic tubes 3”ish Water red maybe smoke purple if clear water rage menace Moto red and hard candy all soft plastics would be rigged on slider heads snaps for cranks and plastics Bandit 100 RES 1/2 ounce Norman deep little N if fishing out of boat. Rapala DT series, size choices based on water they will fish rapala F9 silver black and brook trout Shad rap 5 firetiger double willow spinner bait sliver blades. maybe a buzz bait. would stay away from topwaters, jerkbaits and jigs because the learning curve is pretty steep. spinning combo Medium ugly stick Spinning rod and a moderately priced spinning reel. Ugly is a good learning rod and the action covers a lot of tactics.

So @Team9nine Would this qualify as Ned rig or is the plastic too short? Berk Ned head size 1 hook and a 1.25” piece of an anglers choice wart hawg. Unfortunately since gopher closed finding smaller than a size 1 hook is next to impossible. Did a trade with bluebasser a while back. Had I known gopher was closing should have traded for some of his Ned heads instead of lures.

To add to the confusion of what a Ned rig is companies like Zman, one most linked to Ned, and others offer jumbo baits and jigs with 1/0 hooks and larger and a 1/4 ounce or more and market them as Ned rigs. Pros also do the same. I would guess 90% of anglers think they are fishing the Ned rig when there not. I think many even on the board have given up arguing it.

I will probably use it again, but it is a pain fishing on the bank as a 3500 sized bag fisherman to keep cranks, regular plastics and Zman plastics seperated. I may just decide Zman day or regular plastic day. Add to that scent, lip gripper and pliers in the bag.

After catching some creek chubs on a minnowbait tonight I threw a ned plastic on a 1/4 gopher head with a bigger hook I bought for jig worming. I got some hits on the jig worm. So I decided tomorrow to give the Berkley 1/16 oz ned heads a go with 1.25" Ned micro plastic, cut my standard AC wart hawg in quarters. Shortened the plastic to help the trout and creek chubs find the hook. Being a small creek, the fish run much smaller. If it works I may give it a go for smallies too. I have caught a few smallies over the years with just a chunk of a worm on the hook shank only. Kind of a jumbo ice jig.

Shadow Raps This spring, the floating, jointed, and countdown minnows have been working for trout so I will give them a go again for bass. Rippin Raps

I can't really say that I set the hook on cranks initially, they tend to hook themselves. After they are initially on, I will give a fairly good tug just to ensure they are solidly hooked, but that is 2 to 3 seconds after fish on. The craziest hookup I have ever seen was a bass going all out directly at a speed trap I was burning in. Thankfully is was a smaller legal bass, because the hit was epic to see and feel. I would have been holding on to the rod for dear life with a larger bass.

I have definitely given it a go, but if the fish are on the slider menace or ugly otter combo that is what I will throw. Also when I lake fish I fish a lot of vertical cover in less than ideal conditions and the Ned baits get blown off target to much to be useful, I think you and I have debated this before. If I needed to attack the larger weed beds where the bait landing at the base of a specific reed or dock piling wasn't needed then I would be good to go. The wind on that lake the last few years has been really bad, even the early morning trips generally have been too windy in the reed beds. Hoping vaca this year will see some calm mornings to break out and try my Ned fly on the fly rod. Last year the baby menace and menace were my goto baits on the river. I think the baby menace on a Ned head would be considered ned rigging. It was a 50 50 split with the baby menace between a slider head and a Ned head. I have also found baits like the Keitech crazy flapper in the smallest size are good Ned baits. Honestly that bait holds up well to multiple fish, which after hearing about their other baits being fragile I was pleasantly surprised. That fits with the small crawbug vs the big crawbug. The big one will get bit, but not even close to as often as the small one. Usually its the smaller smallies are the ones that attack the big crawbug. Smallies just want to be different I guess, the big bait big fish rule doesn't apply to them. Same goes for Muskys too, have hooked a 45+ on a 2" grub and my PB came on a 5/32 swim jig with a 5" kalins trailer.

I haven't got the shipping confirmation either. Not too worried yet. First time ordering from this place, so of course that doesn't help. Was like that when I ordered from other places to for the first time till it goes through.

Just in case some think I am stirring the pot or hate Zman, I am not and don’t, or am going stir crazy working at home, I am, here is most of my Ned stash. The great thing about Ned plastics are cheap especially if you buy on sale and in bulk. I do like the Roboworm baits too even though they aren’t the most durable option.

What is funny, is I have had better luck with a thinner heavily salted 5" stick cut in half vs the Zman stuff. My thoughts were it swims more neutrally because the tail wouldn't want to float up, but who really knows. I bought the Producto tourney grubs hoping for the same thing. Does it hang up a bit more, probably, but fishing rocky rivers, even Zman baits hang up a lot. I also never fish slack line on purpose, to try and limit deep hooked fish and in current slack line just kills the hook up percentage. As for the Z man stuff, I have found the Zinkerz to be far superior to the TRDs. For some reason most of the TRDs I fished would tear easily where the hookpoint came out. They also seem to have a texture that is different than the Zinkerz The texture reminds me of the twin tail trailers that come with the chatterbaits. Speaking of the twin tail trailers, thought they looked like and awesome Ned bait, never caught a fish on one on a Ned head.

I have used the TRD's and half Zinkerz with the 2/0 slider spider head and had pretty good luck. I called it the Sled rig.

The big girl was on a large lake in N WI. I swear the mouth was a beer can and a half wide and she was heavy and long. guessing she was a solid 22"+ fish. Problem was just as her mouth hit the top of the water and the net was just underneath, the bait popped out. Guessing a slight flinch with the net and she was gone. Serious heartbreak on that one.

Apparently everyone gets likes today:) I also mostly fished the Ned on a local river, but found it effective on lakes when the wind didn't push the bait off target, had to go to a heavier head at that point and fish it as a jigworm. I do always have one rigged in my box, it just rarely got the water time last year. I wonder if it is human nature to, at least for me. I have caught a ton of brown bass on a small yum crawbug and have a deep 3700 box half full of them. Most times it was on a slider, sometimes on a jig head. I haven't thrown that for a few years now either. The Rage Menace and Baby Menace are my magic baits now. Thankfully I don't go through marriages like I do baits. It sucks too cause about the time the Ned fell out of my rotation I had bought a couple hundred Producto tourney grubs for Ned rigging that are just sitting in a box right now. Maybe this year should be the year I bring the Ned and the Crawbug back. I was smart and asked for and got the 2/0 hooked sliders that fit the crawbug for christmas. On some levels it goes to show that a lot of baits will catch em, sometimes I think we make it harder than it is;) Like many most of my early bass fishing was what one would call midwest finesse, Ned rigging, etc. The only thing I really never have tried is the true slider retrieve just steadily pulling the bait back. Love the heads, just never tried the technique. Too much time to think nowadays, gets me into trouble;) The Ned definitely catches the big girls. My PB smallie came on the Ned. To be fair I lost a giant at the net on a RES, but biggest landed goes to the Ned. A 20.5" on a river system where a 16 to 17" fish is big. Never understood the small bait small fish thing. I guess living in WI though are bass are pretty small compared to out west and down south.

So not to hijack the Pro Ned Rig topic. I was all in for 4 or 5 years on the Ned rig, tossed that the most by far, but last year I barely threw it, because I always found more traditional plastics to put more fish in the boat or along the bank. Is the rig being over fished and the fish have wised up, or is it not as effective as we thought? As far as the Z man stuff goes I am on the fence of what I do with my back stock. I may use it again, but just hate that it can't be mixed with other stuff. Sell or trade value is low so I will hold on to it and slowly use it over time. Am I the only one seeing this trend on their local waters?

I agree on not spending a ton on spinning reels. Tonight trout fishing, I was using a Shakespeare Excursion ($20) that has got to be 20 years old now that has caught me a ton of bass. At some point I will retire it, but it just keeps working lol. Most expensive spinning reels are either the Daiwa Regals or the Presidents, but since both were bought on sale no clue which is the pricier reel. The only thing with the Daiwas is they break bail springs. All 3 have broke at least one, not sure why they haven't fixed the issues. No clue why other than the monkey I would need an expensive spinning reel. Baitcasters I get to a point because of the casting controls.

1/2 ounce is favorite size, but there have been days where the 1/4 ounce just crushes them. Best all around is the red eye shad. The Cordell spot has been good to and is dirt cheap. The Rippin Rap and Trap are hit or miss, highs are great otherwise skunk city. One bait I have had some luck with is the Glo Pro soft lipless. It is a little over a 1/2 ounce, but seems to run deeper than others.

Looks like it. I was shown on the visual that alternates. Guessing they sold a bunch.

So far my favorite has been the Santone swim jig. The flat bottom allows it to be a bit more versatile, especially since most of the bass I encounter are bottom huggers. I have had good luck with Outkast heads too. My favorite setup so far has been throwing 3/32 and 1/4 oz swim jigs on the same spinning setup I toss my slider rigged plastics and jerkbaits on. The best trailer for me has either been a kalins 5" grub, Yum wooly bully rigged sideways, smash tech smash shad, and yum pulse Jr.

The one thing I have noticed when pros say they are throwing the Ned, they throw a heavier weight with a large hook. Micah Frazier used a combo of 1/8 and 1/4 Ned heads. So I guess it depends on the definition of the Ned, plastic size/style or jig weight.

I ordered yesterday, and as of now I haven't heard that it isn't available. Fingers crossed. The 635CB was sold out though.

As I have stated, bought my Sierra in 2018 during the TW 25 days sale and loved it last year. Best spinning rod I have ever used. This sale allowed me to get another Sierra for cheaper than the TW sale and yes my first model in the Champion XP series. I would have stuck in the sierra line, but getting a 6' 3" higher end rod did it. IMO not enough 6' or shorter higher quality rods on the market for folks that fish out of small boats. For me the 133 price tag on the Champion on sale is the most I will likely ever pay for a rod. Anything more than that is beyond my budget for a rod. Reels are the same, I got some nice reels, but I got last years models for really good prices. Do you take issue with those of us doing this?