Who fishes "Ned Rig" baits on heavy jigs

[Cgolf]

I have found myself using Ned rig baits with heavy mushroom head jigs which happen to have bigger hooks when fishing on lakes due to conditions. The big issue I have with the original Ned, and why I find Senkos useless is I fish it in heavy wind. Fishing cover 90 degrees to the wind is not possible with a lightly weighted or weightless bait, because by the time it reaches bottom it is blown well off cover. 

 

Fish appear to still love the heavier weighted Ned plastic. My best advice is to not give up on Ned plastics if the weather gets crazy, use a similar retrieve, allow it to drop and reel it slowly back in. It may not be a Ned Rig, but it can still catch a bunch of fish. 

[JustJames]

I don't fish with Ned rig a lot but I do have all three size, 1/6 1/10 and 1/15. Also I just ordered 3/32 shroom head with siebert to add more. For 1/15 I'd use TRD, finesse Shad and 1/2 zinkerz. For 1/10 I'd use for big TRD Hula stickz and Zman scent Paddlerz. Last 1/6 I'd use beat up whole zinkerz.

[MNGeorge]

We fish the Finesse TRD on a 1/2 oz. swinging football head with 4/0 hooks in the Fall of the year when the Smallies have migrated into their wintering areas in order to get the bait to the bottom as quickly as possible and keep it there in the current. It's an ugly looking set up but the Smallies have shown no reluctance to eat it.

[fishwizzard]

I have started messing around with the 4" Hula Sticks t-rigged with like a 1/16 to 1/8oz weight.  For hooks I have been using either 2/0 EWG or Offset worm hooks.  I have been fishing it on a spinning rod and pitching it to holes in very close cover or bouncing it off of pilings to fall right next to them.  I have gotten a few bites swimming it back, but most hits has been on the fall.   

I plan on using it more in the winter for creek fishing, everything seems to hold in the pools around logjams and I am losing too many Ned and Wacky rigs fishing these spots.  The plastics do slide around off the hook a lot once they get soft, I am going to fuss around with some diy keeper ideas at some point.  

[earthworm77]

nice!!

[Cgolf]

40 minutes ago, Bunnielab said:

I have started messing around with the 4" Hula Sticks t-rigged with like a 1/16 to 1/8oz weight.  For hooks I have been using either 2/0 EWG or Offset worm hooks.  I have been fishing it on a spinning rod and pitching it to holes in very close cover or bouncing it off of pilings to fall right next to them.  I have gotten a few bites swimming it back, but most hits has been on the fall.   

I plan on using it more in the winter for creek fishing, everything seems to hold in the pools around logjams and I am losing too many Ned and Wacky rigs fishing these spots.  The plastics do slide around off the hook a lot once they get soft, I am going to fuss around with some diy keeper ideas at some point.  

I have found that slider heads work great with a spot of glue to hold the plastic tight to the head. I started using this for dock fishing and have taken it to the river as well, because the spider head snags up less than other jigs on the rocks. 

[fishwizzard]

I have used the slider heads a good bit but they do not like being repeatedly thrown into dock pilings.  A tiny unpegged tungsten weight lets the plastic fall a bit more slowly and doesn't deform.  

 

My favorite zman plastic to fish on a slider head are their Tubez.  I use them as an inserted jighead and find that the hook will pop right through a single tube wall so you don't even have to mess with skinhooking them. It makes for a very snagless presentation.   

[Bluebasser86]

It's almost always windy here, but I still fish the light heads. It's a no feel presentation and they'll hold onto it forever, so wind really isn't an issue for me. You can see the swells my boat was bucking over and the whitecaps in the background of this picture, but still caught the big bass of the tournament on a 1/16oz Ned Rig.

The small baits will work on a heavier head no doubt, but don't think you need to upsize just because the wind is blowing. 

[IndianaFinesse]

15 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

It's almost always windy here, but I still fish the light heads. It's a no feel presentation and they'll hold onto it forever, so wind really isn't an issue for me. You can see the swells my boat was bucking over and the whitecaps in the background of this picture, but still caught the big bass of the tournament on a 1/16oz Ned Rig.

The small baits will work on a heavier head no doubt, but don't think you need to upsize just because the wind is blowing. 

Pretty much this ^

[Cgolf]

7 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

It's almost always windy here, but I still fish the light heads. It's a no feel presentation and they'll hold onto it forever, so wind really isn't an issue for me. You can see the swells my boat was bucking over and the whitecaps in the background of this picture, but still caught the big bass of the tournament on a 1/16oz Ned Rig.

The small baits will work on a heavier head no doubt, but don't think you need to upsize just because the wind is blowing. 

 

Looking at the picture fishing open water like you are I would agree. The area I am fishing is reed beds where you want the lure to drop right where you put it, which needs a heavier head. Crosswind line control is also nightmare. Essentially I am target fishing in less than ideal conditions. 

 

It works well for me and I save the "Ned Rig" for the river and days with little to no wind when target fishing. 

[Bluebasser86]

41 minutes ago, cgolf said:

 

Looking at the picture fishing open water like you are I would agree. 

I'm actually holding the boat near the shoreline, the picture was just taken out towards the open portion of the lake. That fish came out of 2-4 feet of water fishing a very snaggy riprap dam.

 

Reed beds and weed edges present a different challenge because they're vertical cover the bait can't float over the top of.  If the fish are tight to the edges, it would make presenting a light head very difficult. 

[Cgolf]

1 hour ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I'm actually holding the boat near the shoreline, the picture was just taken out towards the open portion of the lake. That fish came out of 2-4 feet of water fishing a very snaggy riprap dam.

 

Reed beds and weed edges present a different challenge because they're vertical cover the bait can't float over the top of.  If the fish are tight to the edges, it would make presenting a light head very difficult. 

 

That was why I switched to a heavier head. Had a worst case scenario last week, where fish wanted the bait after the drop, sitting for a pause and they were either there when I popped it or I had to recast. The only soft plastic bait they would follow was a 1/2 of a wart hawg, 2.5" piece, that was reeled slowly on that heavier head. I normally really hate this bite but deal with it to catch fish. Add in the wind, rain, cold, and line control issues it was a challenging week. 

 

Other oddities is they would hit a lipless after letting it drop to bottom vertically before reeling quite well, but would not chase a square bill. We just hit bad conditions, level had dropped around a foot right before we got there when they opened the dam to ease flooding and the water temps started at 65, bottomed at 62 and ended the week in the upper 63s.

[KCFinesse]

I've noticed that sometimes figuring out a drift with the lighter 1/16 oz heads can make a world of difference in both fall rates and catch rates. If I can cast quartering upwind and work the bait back slow with the drift of the current, I can get lighter baits down a lot further. Shorter casts, 100% flouro, and rod position all can make a big difference.

 

I fish 1/16oz about 90% of the time in depths down to 20 feet in typical Kansas/Missouri winds and down to 30 feet in calm conditions. Sometimes the bottom contact suffers, but the natural look of the bait can be awesome.

 

-Jared

[RoLo]

9 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

It's almost always windy here, but I still fish the light heads. It's a no feel presentation and they'll hold onto it forever, so wind really isn't an issue for me. You can see the swells my boat was bucking over and the whitecaps in the background of this picture, but still caught the big bass of the tournament on a 1/16oz Ned Rig.

The small baits will work on a heavier head no doubt, but don't think you need to upsize just because the wind is blowing. 

 

 

I also stick to the same light weight in a wind, so the lure doesn't lose its natural delivery.

In a stiff wind my rod-tip is virtually touching the water surface,

and when that's not enough I'll abandon a finesse delivery before upping the weight.

 

Roger

[Cgolf]

1 hour ago, RoLo said:

 

 

I also stick to the same light weight in a wind, so the lure doesn't lose its natural delivery.

In a stiff wind my rod-tip is virtually touching the water surface,

and when that's not enough I'll abandon a finesse delivery before upping the weight.

 

Roger

 

I guess I go the other way, especially fishing vertical cover. I stick to a finesse bait/presentation using heavier weights to hold it in place. Even used a 1 1/4 ounce jig with a menace trailer at one point. 

[Cgolf]

I wanted to add that I am not claiming the to be a Ned rig or even a Ned presentation. Just that over the last few years I have found a 2.5" stick bait on a heavy jig head to be a very successful presentation for me during tough conditions. It gets down quick and probably does a bang up job of looking fishy when reeled back after the drop. If the fish wanted a bait higher in the water column, it wouldn't be the proper rig, but for some reason they have been wanting a bait pinned on the bottom. 

 

Rolo I appologize if this gets merged with my reply to you, the site tends to merge replies for us. 

[fishwizzard]

In some of my reading of old threads here someone talked about using a 5" senko with a pegged 1/4oz weight as his high wind bait.  The idea being that it gets to the bottom and keep enough bow out of your line to let you feel a hit.  When faced with heavy wind I usualy just switch to a spinnerbait, but I mean to give a weighted senko a try next time. 

[Cgolf]

16 minutes ago, Bunnielab said:

In some of my reading of old threads here someone talked about using a 5" senko with a pegged 1/4oz weight as his high wind bait.  The idea being that it gets to the bottom and keep enough bow out of your line to let you feel a hit.  When faced with heavy wind I usualy just switch to a spinnerbait, but I mean to give a weighted senko a try next time. 

 

It is a good idea, I was also using menace grubs and gambler ugly otters on the heaviest sliders I had to deadstick the bait on the bottom. The bass would have ignored the spinner in my case, just more options to try for those tough bite fish;)

[RoLo]

4 hours ago, cgolf said:

 

I guess I go the other way, especially fishing vertical cover. I stick to a finesse bait/presentation using heavier weights to hold it in place. Even used a 1 1/4 ounce jig with a menace trailer at one point. 

 

 

The main feature of a finesse delivery (more than size) is an unweighted or lightly weighted lure.

When heavy weight is added to a small lure, there is little chance of a finesse delivery.

 

Roger

 

 

[WRB]

The late Dick Trask (western bass pro) was an expert at boat control while fishing finesse presentation in high wind with 3' white caps. Dick could stay on off shore structure without moving while using 1/16 to 1/8 oz dart head jigs or split shot with 4" Flutter Craft curl tail worms in 35' to 40' of water.  Trask won several tournament with the prize being a fully rigged bass boat. Lots of skill envolved fishing finesse light weight rigs in deep water under windy conditions. 

Today there are trolling motors with spot lock so anyone should be able to stay on a spot in the wind.

Tom

[Cgolf]

15 minutes ago, RoLo said:

 

 

The main feature of a finesse delivery (more than size) is an unweighted or lightly weighted lure.

When heavy weight is added to a small lure, there is little chance of a finesse delivery.

 

Roger

 

 

 

Got it, by that definition I am not finessing it, definately a slow presentation, small heavily weighted bait cast to a spot, shook/shimmied a bit and recast. The only bait I swam with any luck was the 1/2 stick bait. 

 

I guess i was closer pitching/flipping than anything else. Water was too clear and wind was too high to precisely control the boat to get close enough to flip without spooking the fish. 

 

I have never ever thought of myself as a power fisherman, maybe that is changing without me realizing it lol. 

6 minutes ago, WRB said:

The late Dick Trask (western bass pro) was an expert at boat control while fishing finesse presentation in high wind with 3' white caps. Dick could stay on off shore structure without moving while using 1/16 to 1/8 oz dart head jigs or split shot with 4" Flutter Craft curl tail worms in 35' to 40' of water.  Trask won several tournament with the prize being a fully rigged bass boat. Lots of skill envolved fishing finesse light weight rigs in deep water under windy conditions. 

Today there are trolling motors with spot lock so anyone should be able to stay on a spot in the wind.

Tom

 

Deep structure can be fun, do this for walleyes during the summer with a 3/32 ounce jig in 20 to 30 feet of water. The bass I generally target are in 6 fow that I need to cast to a target and get the bait to stay on target. I can do light weight on the downwind side, it is just the upwind and sides that are tough to impossible for me to keep the bait right where I want it. Next year will try drift socks to control the boat better I hope. 

[WRB]

Drift socks will keep the bow pointed into the wind and slow the down wind drift speed but will not keep you on a spot, you need the trolling motor to do that.

I am good at boat control but not a master like Trask was. My problem is controlling the boat and fighting bass, re rigging or re tying and keeping the boat in position without anchoring spooking the bass.

Good luck.

Tom

[Cgolf]

26 minutes ago, WRB said:

 

I am good at boat control but not a master like Trask was. My problem is controlling the boat and fighting bass, re rigging or re tying and keeping the boat in position without anchoring spooking the bass.

Good luck.

Tom

 

This made me smile, because I had to apologize multiple times to my father in law for the boat getting away from the cover almost every time this happened. Eventually I learned to steer it away from the cover and ultimately loop around while I was unhooking and resetting. 

 

I love my 16 ft aluminum boat, but it has some drawbacks in the wind, hoping those drift socks keep the aft from getting blown all over the place. 

[the reel ess]

I have seen them as a trailer on conventional bass jigs in an ad on my facebook feed, but I can't find it now. I see no reason it wouldn't work though. Anything's worth a try or two.