The basics of the Ned rig

[ClackerBuzz]

On 2/7/2017 at 11:25 PM, IndianaFinesse said:

Vary the length and speed of the drag.  After dragging it, deadstick it for several seconds while watching the line (always watch the line during all of the retrieves, this is how you will detect most of the bites).  Vary the length of the pause.

this is pure gold

[Cgolf]

On February 9, 2017 at 8:03 PM, QUAKEnSHAKE said:

How would one fair with heavy current or just at the edge of like an eddy or back wash?  I was thinking of going to a river just below old dam and throw into the rough current maybe let it flow a few feet then work it to calmer section. Smallmouths and walleye are the targets and its a rocky bottom.

 

Here is the area to the left on shore.

 

 

I fish it in current for smallies all the time and it works really well for this. I usually cast across and upstream allowing it to work through all the current seams and eddies. I also fish a very rocky river so you will get a lot of hits in heavy current with fish holding in the dead water in front of and behind the rocks. 

 

I have two baits I like, an anglers choice 5" wart hawg, skinny and heavily salted, cut in half and the Zinkerz cut in half. The wart hawg swims differently and gives a different profile than the Zinkerz. The nice thing about the Zinkerz is I lose less baits, because it seems to snag up less due to the floating feature of the Zman plastics. 

 

On the river I fish the rig true to what it is. I do use a 1/16 fireball jig in place of the mushroom head, but it actually has a shorter shank hook, so it gives the bait more action. 

 

Where I differ. On the retrieve I never fully let the bait be on slack line. The first few fish I caught doing this were foul hooked, and my goal is to protect the resource I fish, so I keep in contact with the bait, but still let it drift naturally, if is a balancing act. I am ok with catching less fish as long as I can cleanly release them all. On lakes I vary the weight depending on the cover I am tossing to and the wind. Lastly I have been rigging a 1/2 Zinkerz on a slider head and pitching it around docks with great success. The big TRD should be a great dock bait.