How the Ned Rig transformed my fishing over the years

[ironbjorn]

It used to be that I was a 50/50 baitcasting/spinning angler. This was based on the baits I liked to use and how I liked to fish.

 

Then I got into the Ned Rig and found that over time I wasn't fishing other finesse techniques nearly as often, and the spinning setups started to dwindle. Eventually it culminated with me almost exclusively fishing the Ned Rig as a finesse technique, and only using one spinning setup because of it. It was as simple as nothing working as well as the Ned Rig. I fish to catch fish and that catches fish better than just about anything.

 

But of course the Ned Rig can get boring, and that boredom made me a better power fisherman. More and more I was fishing bigger baits on bigger rods with heavier line, and having a ton of fun and success doing so. The more I was pitching and casting around, the more experience and control I gained with baitcasting gear. I had thought that I was pretty darn good with it before, but I learned that I still had a lot to learn. With more experience, the lighter one can go with baitcasting gear. This also had an impact on the spinning setups going bye bye, because I could easily fish the things I would have previously fished on spinning gear, but with more control.

 

It's just really interesting looking back and seeing how the Ned Rig changed how I fish from the top down; even making me a better power fisherman.

[LCG]

Similar for me as well. Picked up fishing about 7 years ago, huge learning curve as I knew absolutely nothing. Then got better, much better. Not pro level by any means but I was catching fish consistently.

 

Then started branching out to new techniques, which eventually led to learning how to use a baitcaster. Another big learning curve and still learning.

 

I do prefer the control and accuracy I get using a baitcaster and generally use them more and more.

 

My spinning set up is mostly Ned rigs and trick worms. Everything else is baitcasting. 

 

Really focusing on moving baits this year. Squarebills, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, etc. Which I have caught fish on before, but really want to get more into these techniques and learn the ins and outs. 

[Columbia Craw]

Never limit your options.

[BBuck]

I have no luck or confidence with a ned rig...I've tried it, but apparently I'm doing it wrong. lol. Plus it's no fun trying to fish it in Florida.

[Shimano_1]

Just now, BBuck said:

I have no luck or confidence with a ned rig...I've tried it, but apparently I'm doing it wrong. lol. Plus it's no fun trying to fish it in Florida.

I've caught a few on it but still seem to do better with a shakey head and drop shot.  Plan on trying it more this year but as of right now I'm not all in on it

[BBuck]

4 minutes ago, Shimano_1 said:

I've caught a few on it but still seem to do better with a shakey head and drop shot.  Plan on trying it more this year but as of right now I'm not all in on it

I agree with you on the shaky head. I don't drop shot very much, but have caught them on it enough to at least become a believer. 

[ironbjorn]

11 minutes ago, Columbia Craw said:

Never limit your options.

I would call it finding what works best for me where I live and fish and fine tuning it. I've never seen this as a limitation being that I've grown a lot over the past 4-5 years.

 

8 minutes ago, BBuck said:

I have no luck or confidence with a ned rig...I've tried it, but apparently I'm doing it wrong. lol. Plus it's no fun trying to fish it in Florida.

I probably wouldn't even bother in Florida.

 

7 minutes ago, Shimano_1 said:

I've caught a few on it but still seem to do better with a shakey head and drop shot.  Plan on trying it more this year but as of right now I'm not all in on it

Dragging bottom, hopping bottom, a slow swim retrieve, dead sticking: hardly ever worked for me. I cast it out and yo-yo it all the way back to me like a RES, only a very finesse-y version. It gets slammed. 

[MGF]

We've done really well on it in for river brown bass but...it really got me to do is explore other methods that catch as many fish. I did so well on it that it started feeling like a crutch. I barely fished it last year but managed to keep up with my wife who fished almost nothing else.

[Bankbeater]

I fished the ned rig for one or two seasons when it first became popular.  Since then I haven't fished it at all.

[roadwarrior]

Tennessee rocks LOVE the rig!  I can't fish the thing, maybe I need a lesson.

 

[Junk Fisherman]

The Ned has been a big factor in changing my way of fishing as well.  Also, I transitioned to more of a smallmouth fisherman over the last 10 years so light line, finesse fishing has been the norm for me for a while.  But I went from being a pitching plastics and jig fisherman to more of a finesse and deep structure fisherman.  

[galyonj]

Just now, roadwarrior said:

Tennessee rocks LOVE the rig!  I can't fish the thing, maybe I need a lesson.

 

Nah, that sounds about right for fishing it around the rubble and garbage that litter the bottom of TVA waterways. Letting anything small sit on the bottom here is a good recipe for losing that lure. The most successful day I've had fishing it was on sandy-bottom stretches of the French Broad. And even then, that rig spent more time yoyoing off the bottom than it did sitting there.

 

[TnRiver46]

Well, since 99% of anglers are now throwing ned rigs most of the time, my regular ole plastic worms work much better. The fish forgot all about them 

[Russ E]

To me the Ned is just a tool like any other bait.

While it can catch big fish, Most times there are better baits for larger fish.

Catching 50 to 100 dinks a day does not do much for me.

I may fish it around 5% of the time. Usually when the bite is extremely slow.

Living in the birthplace of the Ned rig, it seems that is the bait everyone uses.

 

 

[JustJames]

When one said he caught fish on Ned, 10 followed. I do use Ned from time to time but not exclusively. Anything that work for shallow water with less snag I’m all for it since I most fishing from bank. Another story just happened to me the other day. I was fishing 1/4oz mushroom head with whole 5” ZinkerZ. Only caught one fish working for about 45 minutes around deep edge. One young kid show up with jerkbait and his very first cast he caught a 10.3lb bass. So much for Ned lol.

 

[Boomstick]

I'll be honest here, the Ned rig isn't my favorite way to catch bass, I prefer fishing jigs, spinnerbaits, frogs or drop shots for finesse but they sure do work and they're fairly quick to tie on and they don't eat up a lot of leader line.
 

When I'm having a tough time catching fish, they're probably the best lure to tie on. If nothing else, they'll catch bass in numbers and also trout and panfish eat them right up.

[padon]

right tool for the right job . nothing more nothing less.

[Michigander]

All I ever caught was weeds with a Ned. Abandoned it for more vegetation friendly presentations.

[OCdockskipper]

 

I think what that showed was the fish were suspended, pretty usual come winter time.  Your Ned rig was bouncing around underneath that 10 lb beast, good chance she never even saw it.  The kid's jerkbait comes along at or near the depth she is suspending & she bites.

 

Not so much the lure but the depth of the presentation for the conditions & time of year.

On 2/8/2021 at 7:49 AM, Michigander said:

All I ever caught was weeds with a Ned. Abandoned it for more vegetation friendly presentations.

 

Most of the time that seems to happen with the heavier heads or in snotgrass type vegetation.  For the pond weed in my lake, the 1/16th oz heads & a TRS stay on top of the weeds, neither falling in nor snagging.  The fish below was caught a few years ago in August, in 5 feet of water with pond weed covering the bottom 2 feet.  Not sure if she was swimming over the weedbed & grabbed it or ambushed it from a secluded hole, but it was right in the middle of the vegetation.

 

 

[Michigander]

@OCdockskipper I think I was using the 1/32 head or maybe 1/16, can't remember what I bought when I stocked up to experiment. Maybe a head without an exposed hook would work but I'm not super motivated to try when I can just throw a micro jig or tiny tube.

[JustJames]

Yeah you know that and you might even guess where the kid caught that 10.3Lb (three tunnels on main lake side). At this time of yeah I always throw hudds in this area. Too bad I sold most all my big swimbait but will definitely try Gantarel Jr. or flashy swimmer when I have a chance. BTW thanks to big crappie in the bass gullet to put her over 10lb. 

[OCdockskipper]

1 hour ago, Michigander said:

@OCdockskipper I think I was using the 1/32 head or maybe 1/16, can't remember what I bought when I stocked up to experiment. Maybe a head without an exposed hook would work but I'm not super motivated to try when I can just throw a micro jig or tiny tube.

 

Then you were using the right size, the vegetation you are dealing with sounds like it makes Ned a difficult option.

1 hour ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

 BTW thanks to big crappie in the bass gullet to put her over 10lb. 

 

Interesting you mention crappie, I knew they were in the lake, but in the hundreds of times I fished there, we only ran into a school of crappie once.  We could catch bluegill all day long near any dock, but almost never stumbled upon crappie (although we weren't targeting them).

 

Then again, I never knew where any of the planted brushpiles were back then either...

[KCFinesse]

@ironbjorn I've had a really really similar progression- so much so that I have a 6lb flouro size 50 baitcasting set up that I mix in with my couple ned spinning set ups. 

 

I think the ned stuff has given me much more of a feel for weights... There's definitely a feel for going lighter in weight to keep neds from bogging down to the bottom... And there is a feel for keeping more traditional bottom contact baits in the strike zone without bogging down.

 

I'll add that a lot of my fishing has started going to either extreme... Ten inch bull worms or 1/16 oz neds...

[Ravox]

On 2/5/2021 at 7:49 PM, BBuck said:

I have no luck or confidence with a ned rig...I've tried it, but apparently I'm doing it wrong. lol. Plus it's no fun trying to fish it in Florida.

Why not in Florida?