Heartland

Wonder if the heat has anything to do with it. Leave a reel exposed on the deck of your boat in the sun for an hour or two and it can build up some heat in the material, I would have to think this may make it a little softer, more pliable.

Tommy Biffle seemed to have managed the learning curve of the swing jig a little ahead of most others. He was deadly on the rivers of OK with that rig. If it were me I would do some reading and see what line, rod, baits, and structure/cover he found the rig most successful in, may cut down some of the learning curve or just fill in a little info.

Once you find fish be methodical, there will generally be other fish in the same area. You know the old saying, don't leave fish to find fish..... One other thing is structure, find a good piece of structure to fish, the fish will generally be there. Another old fishing saying, you may find structure without fish, but you will rarely find fish without structure.

I make a few finesse jigs of my own and choose the round ball head. I don't have a super sound reason for this but if I had to explain my choice I think I would go with that a round ball head is very universal, may not excel for any one type of cover but can generally be fished in them all. I like it for sandy silty areas and for dragging and hopping in moderately rocky areas. Almost forgot, baits that are intended to stand up also do very well on a ball head.

I have studied the information on FC and Mono stretch at length, they do both end up with about the same amount of stretch at comparable strengths but they do so in different manners. In other words the stretch characteristics of the two different materials are what you figure, different. Mono line by the data tends to stretch in a fairly parabolic manner to breaking strength where FC line tends to reach a point before it begins to stretch but then does so a little less parabolic to breaking strength. This has helped me make my choice in line.

Might give a look to a few of these, Melvern Lake, Milford Lake and Wilson Lake. There is also a Boy Scout Ranch that has a very nice lake in Sedan KS. You can lease it but there are some restrictions on dates. Lots of small to average bass, good to great crappie and a few smallmouth.

I have the 7ft version of the St.Croix Panfish in Light power XF action, it casts 1/16 oz baits great, never tried anything lighter but feel like it may be capable of a little lighter baits. The UL was a true buggy whip. In terms of sensitivity I feel like it is a about on par with the avid, maybe a very slight edge to the avid. I have caught so many bluegill, crappie and small bass on this rod that I can honestly say that sensitivity has never been an issue. This is one of my favorite rods it is a blast to fish with.

Best fishing in Wichita is easily going to be the sandpits but it's getting harder and harder to find any that will let a guy on them. Butler is close but often windy, it's small and muddy but is a lot of fun for fishing frogs on. Polk Daniels is another small lake that is set down in some hills and has descent protection from the wind, small bass and crappie are what I usually catch. There are several other small lakes that you can catch fish on within an hour of Wichita but I suggest traveling a little further and then there are some lakes that fish real well.

Far less hang-ups when you go lighter, I also think it lets the bait present itself much better with a lighter weight and small hook. Makes it easier to keep it off the bottom also. I lived in Tulsa for a while, where you finding alll this grass at.

I use and really enjoy Pflueger spinning reels. I would never use the President for the same reason, way too much flex.

That would be a Ned Rig for sure, try going lighter, try a 1/16oz head sometime try fishing it where you can't feel the bait. I guess what I am saying in my OP is that if you're going to rig a TRD with EWG then call it a TX rigged TRD not a Ned Rig, if you're going to rig a TRD with a Charlie Brewer type of sled rig then call it that if you want to fish it on a shakey head then do it, I am sure it works fantastic, but it does not make it a Ned Rig. /Rant IMO the Ned Rig was never designed to fish in grass, it was designed and used to fish the reservoirs, small lakes , rivers and creeks of the Midwest.

The new Zodias rods were also engineered to pair well with Shimano's new Vanford F spinning reels, and the matching colors was no coincidence. These technique specific rods will retail from $199.99 to $219.99 when they hit the market in August.

In my mind, it matters exactly the same way it does for casting reels. Gear ratio not as much as IPT.

Yes that's true, was fishing before the TRD, have made my peace with it.

Quote from Shimano about their new rods... "Synonymous with performance, the redesigned line of Zodias rods incorporate Carbon Monocoque technology passed down from Shimano’s elite series of rods that set the industry standard for sensitivity. For 2020, Zodias rods couple the hollow Carbon Monocoque Grip into a CI4+ reel seat to achieve up to 30% more sensitivity than conventionally constructed models, ultimately transmitting vibration from underwater structure, lure action or bites into the palm of angler’s hand". 30% better, sure would like some specifics on what they compared them to or are they saying 30% better than previous model? 30% is a big number.

When you start using hardware like this to rig the TRD, you are no longer fish a "Ned Rig". It looks much closer to a shakey head. Spend some time learning the actual "Ned Rig" technique - Midwest Finesse, learn the different retrieves that make is very successful, listen to an interview with Ned himself while he talks retrieves, tackle and hardware. Probably my OCD but I dislike hearing someone say Ned Rig and look at it and the only thing it has in common with a Ned Rig usually is a TRD.

I am going to agree, does not have a very strong aesthetic appeal to me either.

Went through one of my rod lockers today and found these. I bought them on clearance a few years back, spooled them up and intended on fishing them. Just don't think they have ever seen water. The one with the handle off had a stuck screw, I was able to drill the head off the screw so the cover would come off but was not able to extract the rest of he screw, does not seem to have any effect on reel and the cover is very secure, it is also missing a handle retainer and locknut. I won't use these reels, I have too many, anyone interested in doing some horse swapping, I would be interested. I think the line on them is Sunline Shooter Defier Mono 13lb.

You will get a lot of information, just remember to take it all with a grain of salt.

I fish quite a bit of spinning reels. I tried a lot of lines and followed all the tips and they do help. .......But using a light braid with short leader has been the best thing since sliced bread for me. I have found nothing better in terms of line management.

Welcome, looking to make a purchase for some new fishing equipment? I can suggest that the more information you can give about what kind of baits you want to throw, cover and structure of the lakes you typically fish and most important, what kind of a budget are you working with. Fishing equipment ranges in price greatly as I am sure you have seen. Make another post with just a little more information , someone will be able to help you find exactly what you're looking for.

Korean OEM that produces a lot of reels for company's like Lews, ABU, BPS and probably a bunch of other. They have a website

Look for one of the Stradic CI4's on closeout.

I don't have a good enough rod to cast light baits on to really give a good review of how light it will cast. Most of the baits I am using on it area 1/4 oz to 1/2 oz and it works as expected at those weights. I like to fish spinning reels so I usually reserve the light stuff for those setups.

If you are catching them good on a ned rig, you might try to throw a wacky rig or t-rig stick worm in the same area. Maybe the larger bait will help a little. A shakey head jig, or jig and trailer in the same area might work also. Stay patient and work the area slow.