Your Go to Ned Rig Weight

[Chance_Taker4]

Like the title says I have never tried the rig and as I stock up for next season I want to add them to my arsenal. So what is the general all around weight you use for this rig. I am looking to strictly purchase the Z-Man Shroomz. I fish a lot in rivers I don't know if current plays apart in weight decision on this rig.

[fishballer06]

Ned heads are very light, and the river current is going to carry them downstream on you. If you're going the Zman route, get some in both 1/6 and 1/10oz. If you want something with better quality, go with Siebert's Morel jig head.

[Darren.]

Mostly 1/10. Also have some 1/20.

[tander]

The general rule is to go with the lightest you can. If you fish no current, 1/16 is the way to go. With current, go with the 1/10 or 1/6.

[IndianaFinesse]

1/16, and sometimes 1/32 or 1/20.  1/16 gets 95% of the use.  Go any heavier than 3/32 and you lose one of the vital aspects of the ned rig (that separates it from a jig worm), the no-feel retrieve.

[Russ E]

1/16 (1/15 if it  is a shroomz head) 99% of the time.  Usually don't ever go heavier than that.

 

This summer,I had the opportunity to watch a couple of the veteran Kansas Midwest Finesse Fishermen fishing in heavy wind on my home lake. 

they were using 1/16 oz. Gopher heads and 1/2 of a Zinkerz.  

After casting they would point the rod at the water with the tip about a foot from the surface, reeling slowly, while shaking the rod occasionally. By doing this they could still use the light heads, without the wind affecting them.

After watching them, I don't see many times where anything over 1/16 oz is necessary.

 

The number of fish they caught that day was amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

[Preytorien]

Yea, the current is going to cause problems for you. I fish a river with relatively slow current and a 1/10oz gets carried pretty easily. 

[Chance_Taker4]

5 minutes ago, Preytorien said:

Yea, the current is going to cause problems for you. I fish a river with relatively slow current and a 1/10oz gets carried pretty easily. 

I fish the Detroit River and 3/8oz has problem staying on the bottom. The Maumee River though I can keep bottom contact with a tube or shakey head with a 1/4oz.

[rippin-lips]

All I take when we float the river in the summer is a bag of trd worms and a handful of mushroom heads. The majority of bites are while they’re drifting through the current. I take both 3/3nd and 1/8th heads. Unless it gets fairly shallow the 1/8 gets swept along pretty good by current. This is about the only time I’ll go over 3/32nd. I use 1/16 anywhere else but the river. 

[Bluebasser86]

I carry 1/16oz with a #2 hook, that's it. Doesn't matter if it's calm or windy, 1' or 20' deep, I use 1/16oz. As @Weedwhacker observed, just because it's windy, doesn't mean you need a heavier head, you just have to adapt. I fish the same size in heavy current below hot water outlets in the winter time. It's almost like flyfishing for trout in that situation. You have to gauge how far upstream you need to cast to get your bait on target. Most bites are detected when my line stops moving with the current. 

[Alan Reed]

Ned Rig I fish 1/10 pretty much exclusively. One thing I found for my waters is I have much better success with the weedless version. Otherwise I’m always get caught up. The river was really bad because the current would get me hung up.

[fishwizzard]

I use 1/20 or 1/16 for everything.  Letting it drift along with the current is where most of my better smallies have come from.  

[JustinJ]

I use the 1/20 and 1/15 sizes made by zman. Anything heavier defeats the purpose of a ned  rig

[HookRz]

1/16, 1/20, 1/32, only rarely go heavier. 

[OCdockskipper]

I use 1/15 a huge majority of the time, even when I have fished streams with current in Texas & Colorado. 

 

The only time I use the heavier weights is if I am fishing in water over 10 feet & I want to bump along the bottom to imitate a small crawdad.  In that scenario, although I am using a TRD, I don't consider it a Ned rig because of the way I am fishing it (feeling it bumping along the bottom).  It is more like a small sized, open hook shakey head than a Ned rig when fished liked that.

 

I also have grown fond of skipping TRD's under docks (instead of wacky rigged Senko's) and have found that the 1/15 skip better than the heavier weights (as well as quieter).  I even bought a bag of Big TRD's specifically for this technique and they have a niche using the 1/15 head (bigger profile with a slower drop).  Again though, I wouldn't call either of these setups a Ned rig, they are just finesse jigs using Ned rig components used to skip docks.

[rangerjockey]

1/16 or 1/8 oz. Ozark finesse heads.