Ned vs Neko for less hangups on river rocks and boulders??

[DLAWIII]

I wade for smallies on medium size rivers in Western Pennsylvania, usually fishing in less than 4 feet of water. The bottom is all rock, ranging in size from bowling balls to dinner table sized boulders. No mud and very little gravel.

 

I do really well with a 1/16 oz Ned rig and a Finesse TRD. When I fish slow (better results for me) and drag along the bottom, I hang up quite a bit. The jig head seems to get wedged into crevices.

 

Would a small plastic craw on a Neko rig do better in my situation and avoid some of the hangups? What are my other options for a similar and slow presentation on the bottom among rocks and boulders?

[Scott F]

I frequently fish similar rivers. Where there are a lot of boulders and rocks, I skip using weighted jigs and drift unweighted Senkos. In water that shallow, anything in the water column will be close to the bottom. The Senkos come through without snagging. If you really want to stay in the rocks, a Slider Head comes through rocks better than any other style jig I ever tried.

[OkobojiEagle]

26 minutes ago, Scott F said:

a Slider Head comes through rocks better than any other style jig I ever tried.

Bingo

 

oe

[M0xxie]

Have you tried weightless wacky style on a weedless hook?  Stogie worms have a lot of salt imbued in the plastic, so they'll always sink, and without a weight or jig head it's practically impossible to get stuck in the rocks.  I can recommend using clear heat shrink tubing instead of o-rings to keep the hook from tearing out in the current, which is always the problem with stogies -- they use a softer plastic blend than other baits, plus the salt further weakens the plastic.

 

I like the weightless style because it prolongs the fall, but if you do need to add weight, I'd use a neko/nail weight.

[FryDog62]

I like the weightless wacky worm too - although sometimes the fish just seem to like a small TRD better.  

 

Kyle Peterson from *** uses a pretty snagless Ned technique for TRD’s in rivers for smallies.  

 

It works too... video link is available if you google “The Most Dominant Finesse Bass Rig I’ve ever used.”

 

 

[LCG]

EWG size 2,texas rigged TRD, and 1/16oz bullet weight works well. 

[Fishes in trees]

If I'm bouncing around rocks, I find a football head works best.  I have some 1/4, 1/8 & 1/16 oz football heads in my creek fishing bag - made by Strike King - forget the hook size right now.   I don't creek fish very often but I carry a variety of jig head in my creek fishing bag (In addition to the Ned gear - which comes in its own bag )

[DLAWIII]

23 hours ago, Scott F said:

I frequently fish similar rivers. Where there are a lot of boulders and rocks, I skip using weighted jigs and drift unweighted Senkos. In water that shallow, anything in the water column will be close to the bottom. The Senkos come through without snagging. If you really want to stay in the rocks, a Slider Head comes through rocks better than any other style jig I ever tried.

I go weightless occasionally, but usually I'm dealing with just enough current that even heavy type soft plastics fished weightless are moving too fast for my liking.

 

Until you mentioned it, I had never heard of the slider head. It looks like the eye is 90 degrees from the shank which is nice, but I'm guessing with the shape of the head that the hook shank and TRD will tend to lie parallel to the bottom. Ideally I'd like the hook shank and plastic to stand upright.

 

Thanks for the input. It has me thinking.

16 hours ago, M0xxie said:

Have you tried weightless wacky style on a weedless hook?  Stogie worms have a lot of salt imbued in the plastic, so they'll always sink, and without a weight or jig head it's practically impossible to get stuck in the rocks.  I can recommend using clear heat shrink tubing instead of o-rings to keep the hook from tearing out in the current, which is always the problem with stogies -- they use a softer plastic blend than other baits, plus the salt further weakens the plastic.

 

I like the weightless style because it prolongs the fall, but if you do need to add weight, I'd use a neko/nail weight.

I'm dealing with a decent amount of current so I need some weight. Do you think the neko/nail weight would hang up less in the rocks than standard ned rig? I don't have experience with neko, but in my mind I think this may be better for my situation.

 

Have you heard of anyone using the tiny TRD or other very very small plastics with the neko rig?

10 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

I like the weightless wacky worm too - although sometimes the fish just seem to like a small TRD better.  

 

Kyle Peterson from *** uses a pretty snagless Ned technique for TRD’s in rivers for smallies.  

 

It works too... video link is available if you google “The Most Dominant Finesse Bass Rig I’ve ever used.”

This is it right here! Thank you! This seems like a genius setup.

 

Because of where the line is pulling from, I'm guessing this setup will drastically reduce my number of snags/wedges on rocks and boulders. It will be interesting to see if this setup changes my hookup percentages.

[CountryboyinDC]

2 hours ago, DLAWIII said:

Do you think the neko/nail weight would hang up less in the rocks than standard ned rig?

It may hang up less, particularly if you reverse rig it, but I think the Neko rig in much of any current is a pretty lousy presentation.  As others have said, weightless Texas-rigged or with a small bullet weight work well.

[pdxfisher]

I fish deeper water than you are describing and it is pretty rocky. I have found using the weedless Z-man jig heads really helps. They are quite rockless too! The jigheads I mean are the Finesse Shroomz Weedless. I use the 1/10 oz size. I wish they made them in the 1/15oz size but they don't.

 

Edited October 1, 2019 by pdxfisher
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