How many have mostly abandoned the Ned Rig

[Jig Man]

I am getting there.  I am down to 5 designated Ned rig setups and still have several of the 44 TRD packs that my daughter bought me.

[kayaking_kev]

I like for clean bottoms and maybe a little bit of rock. It doesn't work to good if the bottom is mucky and vegetated, probably gets buried and the fish can't see that small bait as good.

[JediAmoeba]

I think a lot of people do not understand the basic ned rig with the zman TRD is virtually weedless on its own.  The key is to always, ALWAYS have a taut line.  Your line to the bottom of the hook eye that is positioned at the bottom of the head acts as the guard because it is perfectly lined up with the hook that remains upright because of the floating ned worm.  If you are fishing it slow with small hops or dragging it, you have few to no hangups.  I have always thought this was one of the essential keys to the lure - slowly bouncing and pulling it along wood, rocks, and through weeds.  You can leave it still in a spot for as long as you like and continue bringing it in.

 

I see way too many people fishing this thing fast; getting the ned all cockeyed and the line becoming slack which is where the hangups come in.  Any appendages will cause even more hang ups.

18 minutes ago, kayaking_kev said:

I like for clean bottoms and maybe a little bit of rock. It doesn't work to good if the bottom is mucky and vegetated, probably gets buried and the fish can't see that small bait as good.

If you are fishing this thing with a 1/20th oz head and a well worn TRD you would be amazed at how little vegetation this thing can sit on top of...

[Sam]

I saw the Ned Rig as a flash in the pan bait, like so many before it.

 

If you want to hear about other different baits out there tune into Ike as he promotes just about anything as he is always on the cutting edge of bass fishing technology.

 

I do throw the Ned rig with the Z-Man TRD's on the Z-Man Ned Bait jig heads but so far my results have not been as good as throwing a Senko or a trick worm against the bank.

[Mobasser]

2 minutes ago, Sam said:

I saw the Ned Rig as a flash in the pan bait, like so many before it.

 

If you want to hear about other different baits out there tune into Ike as he promotes just about anything as he is always on the cutting edge of bass fishing technology.

 

I do throw the Ned rig with the Z-Man TRD's on the Z-Man Ned Bait jig heads but so far my results have not been as good as throwing a Senko or a trick worm against the bank.

Sam, I was hesitant to buy this one also. I didn't see much difference in the Ned rig, and a plastic grub on a ball head jig, which I've used for years. I've read and followed the 6 basic retrieves outlined to fish this ned. I'm still not completely sold on it.

[Cgolf]

45 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

I think a lot of people do not understand the basic ned rig with the zman TRD is virtually weedless on its own.  The key is to always, ALWAYS have a taut line.  Your line to the bottom of the hook eye that is positioned at the bottom of the head acts as the guard because it is perfectly lined up with the hook that remains upright because of the floating ned worm.  If you are fishing it slow with small hops or dragging it, you have few to no hangups.  I have always thought this was one of the essential keys to the lure - slowly bouncing and pulling it along wood, rocks, and through weeds.  You can leave it still in a spot for as long as you like and continue bringing it in.

 

I see way too many people fishing this thing fast; getting the ned all cockeyed and the line becoming slack which is where the hangups come in.  Any appendages will cause even more hang ups.

If you are fishing this thing with a 1/20th oz head and a well worn TRD you would be amazed at how little vegetation this thing can sit on top of...

What is funny, is I have had better luck with a thinner heavily salted 5" stick cut in half vs the Zman stuff. My thoughts were it swims more neutrally because the tail wouldn't want to float up, but who really knows. I bought the Producto tourney grubs hoping for the same thing. Does it hang up a bit more, probably, but fishing rocky rivers, even Zman baits hang up a lot. I also never fish slack line on purpose, to try and limit deep hooked fish and in current slack line just kills the hook up percentage.

 

As for the Z man stuff, I have found the Zinkerz to be far superior to the TRDs. For some reason most of the TRDs I fished would tear easily where the hookpoint came out. They also seem to have a texture that is different than the Zinkerz The texture reminds me of the twin tail trailers that come with the chatterbaits. Speaking of the twin tail trailers, thought they looked like and awesome Ned bait, never caught a fish on one on a Ned head.

[Hawkeye21]

I tried the Ned rig a few times for a couple years and had no luck with it.  I didn't understand what the big deal was.  Last year was the year of the Ned for me.  I finally figured out how to fish it and it caught at least half of all my fish last year.  When I was struggling in tourneys I knew I could get a limit by using the Ned rig.

[kayaking_kev]

1 hour ago, JediAmoeba said:

If you are fishing this thing with a 1/20th oz head and a well worn TRD you would be amazed at how little vegetation this thing can sit on top of...

Thanks for the tip, I have only used 1/4, 1/5, & 1/6 oz so far.

[JediAmoeba]

6 minutes ago, kayaking_kev said:

Thanks for the tip, I have only used 1/4, 1/5, & 1/6 oz so far.

Those oz weights really aren't a true ned rig.  1/20th and 1/15th ounce are really where it is at...

[kayaking_kev]

22 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

Those oz weights really aren't a true ned rig.  1/20th and 1/15th ounce are really where it is at...

I just try to avoid using spinning gear as much as possible, but I'll try it sometime. I throw my neds on a Extreme HP 702c ML rod.

 

[Jig Man]

2 minutes ago, kayaking_kev said:

I just try to avoid using spinning gear as much as possible, but I'll try it sometime. I throw my neds on a Extreme HP 702c ML rod.

 

I can only go down to a 3/32 oz head with a bait caster.  I mostly throw 1/16 on my spinning setups.

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, Log Catcher said:

I have quit using the ned rig. I used to fish it in a creek but I never caught anything with it. I got frustrated by getting hung up and losing the bait every time I used it. I would much rather throw a shaky head or small Texas rigged soft plastic.

Yep. I've thrown it some and usually lose the whole rig immediately. To the OPs question, heck no people aren't quitting the ned in my area. I would guess it's the most popular bait thrown. Between chatter bait and ned,  z man is laughing all the way to the bank. I just use small worms on jig heads to create a similar presentation for a fraction of the cost. And like many others have said, we were doing it decades before the TRD hit the market 

[Jermination]

12 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Yep. I've thrown it some and usually lose the whole rig immediately. To the OPs question, heck no people aren't quitting the ned in my area. I would guess it's the most popular bait thrown. Between chatter bait and ned,  z man is laughing all the way to the bank. I just use small worms on jig heads to create a similar presentation for a fraction of the cost. And like many others have said, we were doing it decades before the TRD hit the market 

youve been fishing with me too much lately lol you know those are two go-tos

[Mobasser]

There are so many good light tackle or " finesse" rigs to use these days, as need be. The few that I've caught on the Ned rig were small, and, I only had luck on the 1/20 oz head. 6lb line and med spin rod. I can catch so many more fish with a light T rig and 4" worm with the same tackle. That's how it's worked out for me anyway

[WRB]

Finesse bass fish in a oxymoron, bass fishing is power fishing to the vast majority of anglers.

The past decade has changed bass fishing with spinning tackle becoming more excepted. The Ned rig is a spinning finesse presentation that became popular along with more bass anglers using spinning tackle. Bass anglers don't like to slow down and saturate a small area using spinning tackle and the Ned rig requires a finesse presentation.

Is the Ned rig more effective then a split shot rig? It hasn't been for me. I haven't fished for awhile but in 2018 everyone was using a Ned rig when finesse bass fishing. I tried it and caught bass using it but caught more bass faster using a slip shot worm or reaper or a dart head jig worm.

Like most bass anglers I prefer baitcasting larger size lures power fishing.

Tom

[Cgolf]

Just in case some think I am stirring the pot or hate Zman, I am not and don’t, or am going stir crazy working at home, I am, here is most of my Ned stash. The great thing about Ned plastics are cheap especially if you buy on sale and in bulk. 
 

I do like the Roboworm baits too even though they aren’t the most durable option. 

[TnRiver46]

9 minutes ago, Jermination said:

youve been fishing with me too much lately lol you know those are two go-tos

Hahaha . It’s all several of my buddies throw! That Jig head you gave me is the only Ned head I’ve been able to use on more than one outing 

[Bankbeater]

I've never used a ned rig.  I'd rather use a finesse jig instead.

[Jermination]

6 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Hahaha . It’s all several of my buddies throw! That Jig head you gave me is the only Ned head I’ve been able to use on more than one outing 

we had an "incident" on chickamauga last thursday with one of those nedheads. poor jim is still sick to his stomach

[TnRiver46]

24 minutes ago, WRB said:

Finesse bass fish in a oxymoron, bass fishing is power fishing to the vast majority of anglers.

The past decade has changed bass fishing with spinning tackle becoming more excepted. The Ned rig is a spinning finesse presentation that became popular along with more bass anglers using spinning tackle. Bass anglers don't like to slow down and saturate a small area using spinning tackle and the Ned rig requires a finesse presentation.

Is the Ned rig more effective then a split shot rig? It hasn't been for me. I haven't fished for awhile but in 2018 everyone was using a Ned rig when finesse bass fishing. I tried it and caught bass using it but caught more bass faster using a slip shot worm or reaper or a dart head jig worm.

Like most bass anglers I prefer baitcasting larger size lures power fishing.

Tom

well that’s quite the generalization. Lots of bass fisherman, myself included, enjoy fishing slow. I like dragging the bottom with baitcasting or spinning gear. I Much prefer slow fishing to power fishing. Casting and winding is not everyone’s favorite way to fish 

[MickD]

Why would I abandon the rig that caught my PB smallie in 2019?  Not I.

[OCdockskipper]

The bass below was caught on a TRD being fished on top of a weedbed (Bushy Pondweed, aka southern naiad) in about 5 feet of water.  It was midsummer, the weedbed in question was about 3 feet tall.  The Ned rig being used had a 1/15oz head and was being hopped & dragged across the top of the weedbed.  If it started to hang, a quick pop like with a lipless crank, would free it and let it continue to be fished without any debris hanging off it.

 

If I had tried to do this with a heavier head or a non Elasticel plastic, the bait would have continually burrowed into the weeds and gotten hung up.

 

 

[TnRiver46]

14 minutes ago, MickD said:

Why would I abandon the rig that caught my PB smallie in 2019?  Not I.

You gotta keep those smallies on their toes!!! Although I’ve heard up in your area ( big water ) finding them is the key, not the lure 

[WRB]

16 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

well that’s quite the generalization. Lots of bass fisherman, myself included, enjoy fishing slow. I like dragging the bottom with baitcasting or spinning gear. I Much prefer slow fishing to power fishing. Casting and winding is not everyone’s favorite way to fish 

Dragging a jig, T-rig, C-rig using bait casting tackle is still power fishing, it isn't finesse until using light tackle with light line (4-8 lb.) for a bench mark. I realize it's a generalization. I don't consider casting  7/16 oz hair jigs with 10 lb mono 50 yards and working it back along the bottom a finesse presentation.

Tom

[TnRiver46]

6 minutes ago, WRB said:

Dragging a jig, T-rig, C-rig using bait casting tackle is still power fishing, it isn't finesse until using light tackle with light line (4-8 lb.) for a bench mark. I realize it's a generalization. I don't consider casting  7/16 oz hair jigs with 10 lb mono 50 yards and working it back along the bottom a finesse presentation.

Tom

I would agree. I don’t call dragging a 3/4 oz football jig on 20 lb line finesse either but it’s not power fishing