The Ned Rig Resource

[Bluebasser86]

On 4/29/2017 at 11:03 PM, paleus said:

I think you're right. That's the smallest worm hook I could find at Academy. 

Check out the Owner Rig N hook. They come in really small sizes but with a good gap for the fat little bait. 

[paleus]

On 4/29/2017 at 3:55 PM, paleus said:

 

1/16th oz bullet weight pegged on a size 1 worm hook.

 

So this works pretty good, even without the weight pegged (since my peg-its blew out). Caught 7 in about an hour. Also fished with  a normal ned rig and caught just as many. 

[PaBassMan13]

Ned Rig Bass

 

BPS 3" Stik-O in California Craw with a BPS 1/16 oz. Shroom Head. I have used the BPS Brand worm since last season and it has not disappointed one bit. I have caught some great numbers but a few very nice bass as well (along with a couple of 25"+ pickerel). 

 

LOVE THE NED RIG!

[PaBassMan13]

New Ned Rig bait found this past weekend; works even better than a BPS Stik-O or a Z-Man TRD! 

 

The MISSILE BAITS FUSE 4.4

 

21 Bass in 90 minutes of fishing in the rain on Saturday; WOW.....what a fun time. I am now a believer!

 

[jr231]

Location and timing contributed to your success more than anything... 

 

Does look nice though. 

 

Ya know.. if you ask a real ned nerd () I'm pretty sure they will tell you a 4.4 inch piece of plastic is not a true Ned rig. Just sayin. 

[IndianaFinesse]

2 hours ago, PaBassMan13 said:

*****URGENT MESSAGE*****

New Ned Rig bait found this past weekend; works even better than a BPS Stik-O or a Z-Man TRD! 

 

The MISSILE BAITS FUSE 4.4

 

21 Bass in 90 minutes of fishing in the rain on Saturday; WOW.....what a fun time. I am now a believer!

 

Nice catch.  And I just caught 32 bass in two hours with the ol standby half of a zinkerz.

[fishwizzard]

On 3/28/2017 at 5:59 PM, WildmanWilson said:

I placed an order with Gopher tackle about 6 weeks ago and never got anything. I did get an email saying the order number but that was it. Never shipped it and I called and the voice mailbox was full. Sent emails with no reply. I can't do business with someone so unreliable. Looked like good product too.

 

I had the same thing happen to me.  Gopher always took a while to ship but they always answered the phone.  

 

I firmly believe that even a #1 hook is too big for a 1/16oz head, but I cannot find anyone who offers, other than Gopher, a hook that small.  The Zman heads are ok, but the hook is too brittle for my liking.  It is killing me as the Ned was a standby and I am almost out of Gopher heads.  I would love a lead on where to find some small-hooked heads.

 

Also, for a weedless option, look at the Owner Ultrahead 1/16oz w/ #1 hook and the Decoy Nailbomb head, also in 1/16oz w/ #1 hook.  The hookup rate is worse than an open hook, but they are a great weedless option and still catch a ton of fish.  

 

[IndianaFinesse]

@Bunnielab I have yet to find or hear of a 1/16 ounce mushroom jig with a small enough hook for halves of zinkerzs or trds, other than gopher or zman, but something I would recommend considering is pouring your own.  If you use the lil' nasty hooks (#4 and #2 lil nastys are my favorite hook I have tried, even better than owner IMO) they only cost 5¢ each to make plus lead costs.  I get my lead for free, its not all that hard to find someplace willing to give you lead wheel nuts or something.  If you pour your own, you can obviously choose whichever size and style of hook you want in addition to saving money.  My favorite mold is the Midwest finesse mold with the wire keepers, although unfortunately only two of the cavities are light enough to be usable and the 3/32 ounce size is rarely used.  Mine paid for itself within a few months.

 

 

[PaBassMan13]

3 hours ago, Yeajray231 said:

Location and timing contributed to your success more than anything... 

 

Does look nice though. 

 

Ya know.. if you ask a real ned nerd () I'm pretty sure they will tell you a 4.4 inch piece of plastic is not a true Ned rig. Just sayin. 

Actually; I read an article in Bassmaster a few months ago where Ned himself states that he also uses a Z man Hula Stick and a Z man ShadZ; both baits are 4" and almost 5" respectively. You don't necessarily need to use a 2.5-3" straight worm to be a Ned Rig. Z man also put out a 4" big trd so you can still officially have a Ned Rig with a 4" bait. Just sayin'

[fishwizzard]

I have a hundred pounds or so of lead that I hoarded up years ago when I was looking to get into bullet casting.  But as of now, I don't have the space or really the desire to get into pouring lead.  It is just so odd that no one else sells heads with smaller hooks.  

 

I hope Gopher comes back, or atleast sells the molds to someone who will keep them in production.  

[IndianaFinesse]

42 minutes ago, PaBassMan13 said:

Actually; I read an article in Bassmaster a few months ago where Ned himself states that he also uses a Z man Hula Stick and a Z man ShadZ; both baits are 4" and almost 5" respectively. You don't necessarily need to use a 2.5-3" straight worm to be a Ned Rig. Z man also put out a 4" big trd so you can still officially have a Ned Rig with a 4" bait. Just sayin'

Both the hula stickz and the finesse shadz are 4" long, according to the zman website.  And not to be nitpicky, but he usually cuts the hula stickz down to three inches long for the record.

[Bluebasser86]

7 hours ago, PaBassMan13 said:

Actually; I read an article in Bassmaster a few months ago where Ned himself states that he also uses a Z man Hula Stick and a Z man ShadZ; both baits are 4" and almost 5" respectively. You don't necessarily need to use a 2.5-3" straight worm to be a Ned Rig. Z man also put out a 4" big trd so you can still officially have a Ned Rig with a 4" bait. Just sayin'

Ned fishes the Finesse ShadZ, which is a 4" bait. You're right though, it doesn't have to a half ZinkerZ or TRD to be a Ned rig. This is a great Ned rig bait, but I didn't tell you that.

[PaBassMan13]

11 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

Both the hula stickz and the finesse shadz are 4" long, according to the zman website.  And not to be nitpicky, but he usually cuts the hula stickz down to three inches long for the record.

Well; I could always cut an inch of the Fuse 4.4; then it would be a Fuse 3.4, haha.....just giving you a hard time : ) But seriously; if I see I'm not getting bites I would certainly not object to trimming it down a bit.

[fishwizzard]

13 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Ned fishes the Finesse ShadZ, which is a 4" bait. You're right though, it doesn't have to a half ZinkerZ or TRD to be a Ned rig. This is a great Ned rig bait, but I didn't tell you that.

 

I used to fish these all the time, but moved over to the small sized Batwingz trailer.  I would cut the Punch Crawz down so the hook exited at the crotch of the "Y" on the craw's back.  I find the Batwingz have a slower fall and have more action on a slow swim.  

[Bluebasser86]

9 hours ago, Bunnielab said:

 

I used to fish these all the time, but moved over to the small sized Batwingz trailer.  I would cut the Punch Crawz down so the hook exited at the crotch of the "Y" on the craw's back.  I find the Batwingz have a slower fall and have more action on a slow swim.  

The Punch CrawZ is one of my favorites on a very pressured lake, where I want next to no action from my bait, and it provides just that. I fish the whole thing on a 1/16oz head. I'm sure it stands and rocks pretty good on the pause, a lot like a real craw in a defensive posture. 

[fishwizzard]

Interesting.  I don't think I ever fished one without trimming it down.  I think a have a few left, I will have to give them a try.  

[SMBLifter]

Does anyone soak their elaztech baits in water before using them? Found a video of a guy testing buoyancy of them and when it was soaked in water for awhile it floated more. I'd imagine it's getting rid of some of the salt. What are your thoughts?

[IndianaFinesse]

Just now, SMBLifter said:

Does anyone soak their elaztech baits in water before using them? Found a video of a guy testing buoyancy of them and when it was soaked in water for awhile it floated more. I'd imagine it's getting rid of some of the salt. What are your thoughts?

It probably doesn't matter, the salt all gets soaked out in less than an hour of fishing anyways.  But the ocd side of me soaks and stretches the salt out beforehand just cause.  The buoyancy is somewhat a moot point in my opinion, its more about the softness and durability.  Unless you are spending a lot of time dead sticking it, which I don't.  I almost always use a swimming and shaking retrieve just above the bottom.  So my thoughts are, soak the salt out if you want or just leave it, it probably doesn't matter anyways.

[fishwizzard]

I stretch the TRDs a ton before I glue them on, but the zlinkers are soft enough as is and they loose their salt really really fast in any case.  

 

I went wading yesterday and fished a the Ned almost the entire time.  Caught some nice smallies, some very nice redbreasts, a few fallfish and a surprise stocker rainbow.  The numbers were not what I was hoping for, but I am confident that the Ned will catch most anything that swims in small rivers.   

[desmobob]

7 hours ago, SMBLifter said:

Does anyone soak their elaztech baits in water before using them? Found a video of a guy testing buoyancy of them and when it was soaked in water for awhile it floated more. I'd imagine it's getting rid of some of the salt. What are your thoughts?

 

I stretch them a couple of times while holding them in the water.  This rinses the salt out quickly and makes them buoyant right away.  

 

Tight lines,

Bob

[WildmanWilson]

On 5/15/2017 at 5:26 PM, Bunnielab said:

 

I had the same thing happen to me.  Gopher always took a while to ship but they always answered the phone.  

 

I firmly believe that even a #1 hook is too big for a 1/16oz head, but I cannot find anyone who offers, other than Gopher, a hook that small.  The Zman heads are ok, but the hook is too brittle for my liking.  It is killing me as the Ned was a standby and I am almost out of Gopher heads.  I would love a lead on where to find some small-hooked heads.

 

Also, for a weedless option, look at the Owner Ultrahead 1/16oz w/ #1 hook and the Decoy Nailbomb head, also in 1/16oz w/ #1 hook.  The hookup rate is worse than an open hook, but they are a great weedless option and still catch a ton of fish.  

 

Well guess what. Exactly 3 months after I placed my order with Gopher Tackle it came in. There was a note inside stating he would call to get updates credit card information because I guess the other one expired. I didn't even want them now as I've bought others. I'm sure it's a good product but it's my first and last order. 

[fishwizzard]

I am just glad the guy is still alive.  InFisherman did a little profile on the company and it seems like it has been scaled back to a one man operation.  

 

Also, if you got some 1/16oz heads with #2 or 4 hooks, I will buy them from you if you don't want them 

[Bluebasser86]

15 hours ago, Bunnielab said:

I am just glad the guy is still alive.  InFisherman did a little profile on the company and it seems like it has been scaled back to a one man operation.  

 

Also, if you got some 1/16oz heads with #2 or 4 hooks, I will buy them from you if you don't want them 

I ordered some #4 hooks to do my own. Curious to see if they make a difference. 

[fishwizzard]

4 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I ordered some #4 hooks to do my own. Curious to see if they make a difference. 

I find that they snag a whole lot less and bass still get really well hooked.  The only downside is that smaller panfish can now hook themselves instead at just knocking at the lure.  

 

 

[txchaser]

After a bit of reading it seems like Ned and the infish crew have moved to red or chartreuse heads. Trip reports almost always have red/chart, occassionaly blue on a black/blue bait.

 

I'm baffled that most of what I see in pictures are GP or black, and other colors are scarce. Am I missing something, or that just didn't translate into wide adoption? Or just one of those 'it worked one day so they keep doing it but no one really knows if it makes a difference' things?