Is the Ned rig just a small fish bait?

[Smokinal]

Gonna try it this weekend. Its going to be about 90 degrees and muggy. Do you have to have good visibility and rocky bottom for it to work? Will fish hit the Ned rig on the fall like a wacky rigged stick bait? I have green pumpkin and picked up Mud Minnow color as that was the only one avaialble at tackle store.

I've found visibility doesn't really matter. I thought it would but the main lake I fish is clear in the spring and greens up pretty good as it warms and it still crushed em. I haven't had many hits on the fall, hardly any at all. Don't work it too fast on bottom; give some pauses and shakes. Definitely works better in rock; I use the exposed hook Shroomz heads and of course they do gather some grass in grassy areas but not as bad as I thought.

I will give you a tip I do that I found helps a ton on rigging the TRD. I snap off the little keeper on the shank (if you are using the Shroomz heads) and super glue the end of the bait to the flat bottom of the head. You will find that the keeper is more of a hindrance after a few fish as it causes the bait to ball up. With the shank straight and clean it stays flat better.

Tell us how you do with it.

[massrob]

Definitely not a numbers only bait this was my first time using it and my first fish I caught with it. My pb on a hula stick that came in my mtb. I didn't expect a fish like that but I'm glad I tried the Ned rig finally now I have a tackle warehouse order coming and it's mostly Ned rig components. Love this bait

[BassThumb]

It wouldn't go so far as to call it a 'numbers-only' bait; however, the fish I usually catch on it aren't anywhere near as big as those I catch on a medium-to-large jig/craw or 10" T-rigged worm.

[Bluebasser86]

2 of these 3 were on the Deadly Nedly in the last 30 minutes of the tournament (including our largest), after fishing conventional gear all day and catching mostly shorts.  Not monsters, but they were big enough.

This was from the same lake by one of the local Ned rig gurus who occasionally fishes with Ned himself. If this doesn't convince you it's not just a little fish bait, I don't know what will. From the Midwest Finesse blog, the biggest was 7lb 10oz, the "littler" big one was 7lb 2oz. Have a day sir.

[Preytorien]

I catch all sizes on them. My personal best was several weeks ago on a Coppertreuse Ned Rig. I even landed a 15lb catfish with one a week ago. I don't know how they work, but man those things catch fish.

[Bluebasser86]

This would be my Ned Rig PB of the multispecies variety. Why does a 21.5lb flathead eat a Ned Rig? Because it can. 

[avidone1]

On ‎5‎/‎11‎/‎2015 at 4:39 AM, BigBlock496 said:

I have yet to jump on the Ned wagon, but with more and more of these threads popping up, it looks like I'm gonna have to give it a try. Nice fish!!

I never even heard of this until I joined bass resource.  I've been impressed enough by what I read here to buy a z man outfit.

[Fishin' Fool]

Yes only a small fish bait. You won't catch anything over 12"

[fishwizzard]

The Ned was the first rig I ever fished for bass, I lucked out read something about it in a magazine at an airport and decided it would be a good place to start.  I do loose a ton of them due to weeds and such but it is a lure that always produces, assuming I can get it to the fish. 

In the pursuit of a weedless version, I have finally settled on the Owner Ultrahead 1/16oz with a #1 hook.  It is far from perfect, the shank is too short and the lack of a keeper means that you will be resetting the plastic almost every cast, but the confidence that comes with knowing I can throw one into literally any cover more then makes up for the fussiness of it.  I think I manage to land more fish with an open hook gopher head, but looking at a total bass-per-hour, the time saved retying snagged lures more then evens it out.

I am going to try gluing/tying a tiny fly hook onto the shank of the Ultraheads to see how that works as a keeper, but I haven't actually remembered to pick some tiny hooks up yet.

 

[primetime]

If it lands next to small fish, it will catch Small Fish...If it lands next to a nice panfish, it is a great panfish bait..If it lands near a big bass...It catches big bass, but overall, it just get's bit and is addicting to fish and hard to put down...Catching fish on light line is always a good time, plus you can modify it for heavier tackle and use the "Concept" to target "Bigger Fish"...A Salt less Zinker in 5" size can be fished the same way, it just loses some of the action with thicker hooks, heavy line, and heavier weights etc...

[primetime]

On 5/11/2015 at 11:15 AM, Felixone said:

I am with you Catch and Grease.  I received the one from the MTB last month, but unfortunately it was a green pumpkin color.  Most of the places I fish that green colors work are nearly choked with weeds so bottom baits, or those with exposed hooks don't work too well.  I did try a relatively new spot this weekend.  I had high hopes for the Ned, but not a single bite.  Then I snagged on something and broke the hook trying to get it free.  I still have one set left, but I don't think it will be getting a lot of action.  

 

Of course I am not a real fan of finesse techniques.  I prefer to fish a bit faster than these techniques usually allow.

I have had success fishing the rig in weeds here in Florida by making a few modifications. I have tried almost every jighead you can think of, and I have found the best way to fish it in weeds is to buy some 1/16 oz Bull Shots or Tungsten Bullet weights, then peg the weight above a small #4- #1 Worm hook Texas Rigged-I use the lightest guage I can get away with and smallest size hook since a smaller hook gap is less likely to bend if you have to lock down the drag. I am still playing around with different ways to set it up, but I have used the Slider System with 4" Worms and a gliding Jig head for years in weeds and if you have the right rod, 10-20lb braid, or a good #10 Copoly can handle most areas....Worth a try, one pack of ZInkers is $4 and if you cut one in half you have enough baits for an entire day, they get better as they get beat up...Glue helps. 

I was a skeptic for a long time and figured any small soft bait would work, but after using the Elaztach-Strike King Zero or Z-Man worms, the action is different. When the Pores open up it looks as if the bait is breathing if you look at it in the water, I believe that is what makes the Elaztach more effective imo....

[Smokinal]

2 hours ago, Bunnielab said:

 the lack of a keeper means that you will be resetting the plastic almost every cast,

 

Super glue the flat end of the TRD to the bottom of the head=problem solved.

[BronzeChaser]

I must be the only one ever to not catch a ton of fish on the ned rig. I've fished it some, and caught fish, but not a whole lot. Maybe I'm missing something

[fishwizzard]

4 hours ago, Smokinal said:

Super glue the flat end of the TRD to the bottom of the head=problem solved.

Ah, but then I cant switch colors or plastic styles without retying.  

My ned plastics go through a "lifecycle" where in they get loose rigged on the owner heads when new and the ones that survive and get soft end up glued or tied to a mushroom or VMC half moon head.  If the jig they are on gets damaged beyond repair the become trailers for small spinner or chatter baits.   

I have never had one survive this stage, I guess if one did I would hang it on the wall or something. 

[Bluebasser86]

2 hours ago, Bunnielab said:

Ah, but then I cant switch colors or plastic styles without retying.  

My ned plastics go through a "lifecycle" where in they get loose rigged on the owner heads when new and the ones that survive and get soft end up glued or tied to a mushroom or VMC half moon head.  If the jig they are on gets damaged beyond repair the become trailers for small spinner or chatter baits.   

I have never had one survive this stage, I guess if one did I would hang it on the wall or something. 

Do you really have to change colors with them that often? Not that I'm really worried about it because the whole rig is pretty cheap, but it's pretty rare that I find one color is really outfishing another color or even feel the need to try a different color. 

[Smokinal]

^^^I just glue em and leave that bait on that jighead. I have different colors already glued on different heads if I feel I need to change colors.

Besides, what other colors do you need besides GP and PBJ???

[MIbassyaker]

It turned out actually to be a white bass bait first time I tried it about a year ago on a lunch break excursion...

For green and brown bass, I haven't caught anything over a couple pounds on it, but that's typical of most baits most of the time, in most places I fish. It definitely catches numbers. But It's not like I switch to something else and all of a sudden the weight starts going up.

Nice article from in-fisherman by Ned himself about how it's catching on among some more pros; I'm sure many more of them use it than let on:

http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/jeff-gustafsons-introduction-to-midwest-finesse/

[Bluebasser86]

3 minutes ago, MIbassyaker said:

It turned out actually to be a white bass bait first time I tried it about a year ago on a lunch break excursion...

For green and brown bass, I haven't caught anything over a couple pounds on it, but that's typical of most baits most of the time, in most places I fish. It definitely catches numbers. But It's not like I switch to something else and all of a sudden the weight starts going up.

Nice article from in-fisherman by Ned himself about how it's catching on among some more pros; I'm sure many more of them use it than let on:

http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/jeff-gustafsons-introduction-to-midwest-finesse/

It catches everything for sure. I've caught a ton of whites and wipers on a Ned. I had one trip where I was hammering the wipers and a PB&J Ned was the only thing they wanted. 

[cbass12]

Only small fish on the bait, gotta use bigger baits........

Bluebasser took this pic last April. His was a 4 lb LM and mine was about a 16" Spot both caught within feet of each other.

[Pond]

I tried the rig yesterday caught a bunch of bass all sizes and even a pike never had to change the Trd held up to a pike even great bait it's definitely in my arsenal now

[fishwizzard]

16 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Do you really have to change colors with them that often? Not that I'm really worried about it because the whole rig is pretty cheap, but it's pretty rare that I find one color is really outfishing another color or even feel the need to try a different color. 

I usually only change from a natural color to a bright color if the natural isn't getting hit.  However, I will often change the type of plastic, going from a TRD/.5 Zlinker to a shad, a 4" finesse worm or tiny craw, until I find something that gets hit.  

Just today I was fishing a little stream and getting my trd was getting bumped every cast, but never hit.  I switched to a 4" worm and caught a small SMB within two casts.  

[Scott F]

After reading all the positive reviews posted here on BR, I bought a couple packages of Z-man TRD's and mushroom heads. I'm currently on a trip in northern Wisconsin on a lake that's known as a numbers lake and the Ned rigs stayed in my tackle box for the first half of my trip.  I've been doing very well with small jerkbaits but I noticed a lot of hard bottom areas with gravel, small rocks and not too much downed wood that were perfect for "Ned". I have to say it worked exactly as described.  I got some bigger smallmouth, lots of largemouth of various sizes and rock bass. My fishing partner was suitably impressed enough, after being greatly out fished, to go to town and buy the jigs and plastics. He was too cheap to spring for the VMC finesse half moon jigs, so he got some painted 1/16 oz jigs and some 3 inch Yum stick baits which worked just fine.

Thanks guys for turning me on to a new, very effective addition to my arsenal.

[Smokinal]

^^^Glad to hear you had good success; although it's not surprising. It's a fun way to catch them after throwing the usual jigs, cranks etc... Enjoy the new thing.