Losing fish on Ned rig

[Subaqua Adinterim]

I fish the ned rig a lot and crimp the barb down and land most of the fish I hook.  I have only bent one zman hook trying to pry it out of the mouth of a pickerel with a pair of needle nose pliers.  Never have these hooks bent fighting a bass, they are also needle sharp out of the package.  As far as the z man hook bait keepers, as referenced above; I recommend bending these down so they are parallel with the shank of the hook.  If you are using z man elaztech plastic, this will be good enough to keep the plastic in place and make it easier to straighten out if it gets twisted and scrunched up. 

 

If you keep pressure on the fish from the start, you will have good success.  Yes, you may lose more than if you keep the barb as stated above by Bluebasser, however, if you're not in a tournament; as long as you are able to fight the fish and see it, then it's all good.  You are fishing for fun and will land many fish with the barb crimped down and will have more fun seeing a fish swim away after you quickly unhook it and release it uninjured.  Best of luck.

[Todd2]

17 hours ago, WRB said:

How often do bass swallow a jig into it's gullet where a barbed hook could be injurious to the bass? 

 

Otherwise enjoy loosing a high % of jig hooked bass using barbless jig hooks. Bass jump and head shake to get rid of the hook 

Yup, I agree, seems like a solution to a problem that doesn't exist to me.

[Boomstick]

I use 12lb braid to 6lb fluro leader and rarely lose them on the NED rig myself. Make sure to reel before setting the hook. My youngest son lost a couple of rainbows on a ned rig by not reeling before giving it a good hookset.

 

I use a ML/XF rod, although St. Croix so it's probably a little stiffer than a ML/F Dobyns.

[mikie2084]

I was having problems losing fish with zman ned rig hooks, TRD combo. I noticed it's almost always from my kayak, I set the hook and the rod is high and I'm reeling at a pretty good pace. I've watched them shake it out at the kayak while still underwater. My guess is with the rod high and the speed of the reel/me, I lose pressure on them and they take advantage of that slack and win.

[Tim Kelly]

A friend of mine was having similar problems when he started using the Ned. He came out in the boat with me, and we were both catching fish on Ned, but he remarked on how much more firmly I set the hook than he had been. I think the tendency is to think the little hook with set itself with a reel set, but it actually needs a little more force with the lighter rods. He started setting more firmly and his problem vanished. Ned Kedhe (sp?) uses smaller hooks than most of the commercially available hooks, and a medium power rod. Maybe tells you something about the firmness of the set required?

[FordsnFishin]

When I fish started fishing a ned rig I lost alot of fish at the boat. 

 

I found it was the zman jig heads them selfs.  I changed up to a 1/8oz jig head with a wide gap hook.  Believe it is a 1/0 hook.  Made a night and day difference for me. 

[Glaucus]

This thread is a tad old but I wanted to revisit it. I've been having great success at a couple of river dams using the Ned Rig. I'm catching some really nice fish, and a lot of fish all in all. It's not unusual to walk away having caught 40! However, I'm batting .500. I keep my drag set properly, I'm using a M/F rod that is in all reality a ML/F rod for most companies, and I keep pressure on and my rod tip up. My hookset is a reel set and I simply lean into them. I have noticed that it isn't the bigger fish that I'm losing. It's the small fish, particularly Smallies. I'm chalking it up to smaller mouths, and most likely to me, softer mouths that makes it easier for them to shake. It's a little frustrating, but I'm glad it isn't the good fish, and catching a bunch of fish makes it feel better. Still though I'd prefer to not lose them. Anyone think my theory is correct as to why it's the smaller fish getting free? 

[PAbasser927]

^This same thing had been happening to me earlier this year only with the small fish.  Along with some of your theories, I also thought that the weight of the fish could be an issue.  Heavier fish would not budge on a hookset and the hook would penetrate.  Smaller fish may just get pulled along a bit rather than the hook actually penetrating.  Now when I am reeling and realize the fish is small I give a second hookset with a little more purpose behind it.  I don’t know if this is the correct way to handle or not but it has alleviated most of the problem for me.

[fishwizzard]

6 hours ago, Glaucus said:

This thread is a tad old but I wanted to revisit it. I've been having great success at a couple of river dams using the Ned Rig. I'm catching some really nice fish, and a lot of fish all in all. It's not unusual to walk away having caught 40! However, I'm batting .500. I keep my drag set properly, I'm using a M/F rod that is in all reality a ML/F rod for most companies, and I keep pressure on and my rod tip up. My hookset is a reel set and I simply lean into them. I have noticed that it isn't the bigger fish that I'm losing. It's the small fish, particularly Smallies. I'm chalking it up to smaller mouths, and most likely to me, softer mouths that makes it easier for them to shake. It's a little frustrating, but I'm glad it isn't the good fish, and catching a bunch of fish makes it feel better. Still though I'd prefer to not lose them. Anyone think my theory is correct as to why it's the smaller fish getting free? 

Are you checking your hooks for sharpness?  Thin wire hooks get beat up pretty quick if you are fishing them in current and letting it hit rocks and such.

 

The other possibility is that it is small fish just holding onto the lure and they were never hooked at all.  I have landed several panfish that were not hooked, but would not let the plastic go.  

[Glaucus]

4 hours ago, fishwizzard said:

Are you checking your hooks for sharpness?  Thin wire hooks get beat up pretty quick if you are fishing them in current and letting it hit rocks and such.

 

The other possibility is that it is small fish just holding onto the lure and they were never hooked at all.  I have landed several panfish that were not hooked, but would not let the plastic go.  

Weedguard ShroomZ but I do check the hook every few casts. I know they're little Smallies because I can see them. It's only the little guys that get off frequently. 

[TBAG]

On 7/12/2018 at 9:51 PM, mikie2084 said:

I was having problems losing fish with zman ned rig hooks, TRD combo. I noticed it's almost always from my kayak, I set the hook s

and the rod is high and I'm reeling at a pretty good pace. I've watched them shake it out at the kayak while still underwater. My guess is with the rod high and the speed of the reel/me, I lose pressure on them and they take advantage of that slack and win.

Same exact thing happened to me today in my yak. I thought I was going to skunk this morning from some guarantees in the creek, small crank or Senko and ended up throwing a ned rig after lunch. It was the first time using one, green pumpkin 1/10 and green pumpkin TRD. I'm a believer, but still lost 5 at the boat. Using Shimano 1500 spinning, 6'8 ML/xf 

[EGbassing]

1 hour ago, TBAG said:

Same exact thing happened to me today in my yak. I thought I was going to skunk this morning from some guarantees in the creek, small crank or Senko and ended up throwing a ned rig after lunch. It was the first time using one, green pumpkin 1/10 and green pumpkin TRD. I'm a believer, but still lost 5 at the boat. Using Shimano 1500 spinning, 6'8 ML/xf 

Try a 1/15 ounce. You'll get a lot more bites and the swim-shake-glide retrieve is easier/more effective.

[Further North]

On 7/11/2018 at 2:29 PM, EGbassing said:

Thanks. I forgot to mention that my hooks are barbless. I used to use barbed hooks and I'm afraid I injured a lot of bass with them, so I just started smashing down the barbs with pliers. 

Good for you.  Better for the fish, better for you when you get stuck.

On 7/11/2018 at 3:37 PM, WRB said:

Otherwise enjoy loosing a high % of jig hooked bass using barbless jig hooks.

Not true.

 

I de-barb all my hooks, from trout to musky and I don't "...lose a high %..." of anything.

On 7/11/2018 at 10:33 PM, buzzbaiter83 said:

Barbless hooks are going to fail a high % of the time.

With a good hookset and keeping pressure on...no, they're not.

On 7/11/2018 at 10:27 PM, EGbassing said:

Yeah. I might try a barbed one and see how hard it is to remove next time I'm out.

I wouldn't waste your time.  Get a good hookset and focus on keeping pressure on.  Those two things will make you a better fishermen.

[Further North]

On 7/12/2018 at 5:36 AM, smalljaw67 said:

Pinching the barbs down is your problem plain and simple. The man who the rig is named after does the same and he'd be the first to tell you that you will lose a lot of fish like that as well as catching a lot. I can't remember is the article was in Bass Master or In-Fisherman but Ned talks about the large number of fish he loses because he pinches the barb down on a small size hook.

Correlation doesn't equal causation...

 

Pinched barbs don't loose fish...

 

I've caught two foot western trout that spend half their time in the air when hooked with a tiny, #20 pinched barb nymph (really a tiny jig) on a fly rod (harder to keep pressure on a fish than with gear).

 

Keep the pressure on and it works fine.

On 7/12/2018 at 8:51 PM, mikie2084 said:

I was having problems losing fish with zman ned rig hooks, TRD combo. I noticed it's almost always from my kayak, I set the hook and the rod is high and I'm reeling at a pretty good pace. I've watched them shake it out at the kayak while still underwater. My guess is with the rod high and the speed of the reel/me, I lose pressure on them and they take advantage of that slack and win.

That's a really good point...there's a video out there somewhere on Vimeo of me catching trout on the Bighorn...there's music playing...and it covers up the sound of my friend Dave telling me to keep the rod tip down...

 

Edit: I found it: https://vimeo.com/user10940546/review/40376808/5256533a16

 

...I'm the 2nd guy kneeling on the bank, learning to catch fish...

 

It makes a big difference...the more line in the water helping you add drag and pressure, the better...and when the fish goes up, the rod tip goes down even further...

 

 

[EGbassing]

30 minutes ago, Further North said:

Good for you.  Better for the fish, better for you when you get stuck.

Yeah, I caught one on a barbed hook the other day, and I went back to using barbless after that. It was a solid 4 pounder hooked in the corner of the lip but it still took me around 15 seconds with needle-nose to get it out. (usually 5 seconds or less with barbless) I also just bought a scale so if I'm going to keep it out of water another 15 seconds to weigh it, I can't afford to spend that extra time un-hooking it. 

[Further North]

Just now, EGbassing said:

Yeah, I caught one on a barbed hook the other day, and I went back to using barbless after that. It was a solid 4 pounder hooked in the corner of the lip but it still took me around 15 seconds with needle-nose to get it out. (usually 5 seconds or less with barbless) I also just bought a scale so if I'm going to keep it out of water another 15 seconds to weigh it, I can't afford to spend that extra time un-hooking it. 

If I can get to the hook to pop it out, I don't even bring most bigger fish into the boat.  I reach over, pop out the hook and let 'em go without ever touching them if I can.

[EGbassing]

8 minutes ago, Further North said:

If I can get to the hook to pop it out, I don't even bring most bigger fish into the boat.  I reach over, pop out the hook and let 'em go without ever touching them if I can.

I've never done that, but if they're over 5 pounds I just pull their head (only their head) up out of water and pop the hook out. I personally don't think lipping small ones does any damage, but I have heard that holding a 5+ pounder vertically can injure them. I learned that soon after I took a picture of that one in my profile picture...

[Further North]

5 minutes ago, EGbassing said:

I've never done that, but if they're over 5 pounds I just pull their head (only their head) up out of water and pop the hook out. I personally don't think lipping small ones does any damage, but I have heard that holding a 5+ pounder vertically can injure them. I learned that soon after I took a picture of that one in my profile picture...

Yep.  We all do that when we start, most learn to not to do it.

 

What really makes me cringe is big pike and musky being held vertically...we can do a lot of damage in just few seconds doing that.

 

I've got a picture somewhere of an 18" brown trout that I took out of the water and posed on streamside rocks alongside my fly rod...pretty picture...but odds are good I killed that fish...and that's a shame, because I didn't eat it.  I don't do that any more...

[EGbassing]

1 hour ago, Further North said:

Yep.  We all do that when we start, most learn to not to do it.

 

What really makes me cringe is big pike and musky being held vertically...we can do a lot of damage in just few seconds doing that.

 

I've got a picture somewhere of an 18" brown trout that I took out of the water and posed on streamside rocks alongside my fly rod...pretty picture...but odds are good I killed that fish...and that's a shame, because I didn't eat it.  I don't do that any more...

• Yeah, and people dragging bass on to the bank and then leaving them there for 5 minutes to take pictures from every angle, weigh them, etc... ?

[Comfortably Numb]

Leave the barb on and see if your landing percentage improves.

 

 

[Darren.]

Jumping bass are always nerve-wracking. Just watch the

pros when they're bringing in a nice bass "oh lord, PLEASE

don't jump, stay down, stay down, PLEASE don't jump"

Bass jumps, frees self from hook, pro falls on deck in a slump.

 

It happens, and it hurts especially when you almost have them

lipped or netted! FCOL (Fer Cryin' Out Loud).

 

It took me a while to learn to play the bass well to land 'em, but

even if I do everything right, they can still evade landing. @A-Jay

describes the technique well:

Quote

Concentrating on 'pulling back into the fish' helps me out; especially when the bass gets close.

 

And I use Zman NED jigs, prefer the weedguard in my waters.

Very good results with their hooks, not broken any, may have

bent one on a snag, but that's it. 

[Brad in Texas]

On 7/12/2018 at 8:51 PM, mikie2084 said:

I was having problems losing fish with zman ned rig hooks, TRD combo. I noticed it's almost always from my kayak, I set the hook and the rod is high and I'm reeling at a pretty good pace. I've watched them shake it out at the kayak while still underwater. My guess is with the rod high and the speed of the reel/me, I lose pressure on them and they take advantage of that slack and win.

Most of us kayak anglers know this experience. We hook a fish really good, play it out with spinning gear and bring the fish alongside our vessels. So, with a rod 5.5 to 7.5 feet long, what we almost always do is take our rod-holding hand and extend it behind us and up while reaching for the fish to grab it. 

 

I lost two LMBs yesterday just doing this very thing, not on a Ned Rig, but on a Drop Shot.

 

I think the solution for losing them this close to the vessel, one anyway, is using a net, something I rarely do but I am certainly thinking about it now. Especially for kayak tournament anglers where it makes a difference, a net will save some fish I suspect.

 

Still, part of the "trade off" is this: using finesse tackle will certainly get you a lot of attention from fish, more bites in many circumstances . . . but using smallish, light wire hooks and other issues have some downsides, too.  I still love finesse fishing tactics!

 

Brad

[Further North]

I had a 30" musky go airborne on me three times today.

 

Barbless hooks.

 

Didn't get off.

 

Add a half dozen pike, three smallies and five largemouth...

 

...no barbs.Barb

 

Hmmmm..........

11 hours ago, Brad in Texas said:

I think the solution for losing them this close to the vessel, one anyway, is using a net, something I rarely do but I am certainly thinking about it now. Especially for kayak tournament anglers where it makes a difference, a net will save some fish I suspect.

I use a large hoop trout net for landing bass.

 

Works great.