Shocked by ned rig success?

[Ben77]

I haven't fished it enough to build confidence in it yet to say it's one of my go to baits. But I did pick up some flatlands swinging Ned head ewg's to try out. Has anybody tried these out yet with any luck? I like the fact that they are swinging freely and it just gives the trd a more realistic presentation.

[Mobasser]

I havnt had the success that others have on the Ned Rig. I caught a few small fish, but the bait got hung up too much to be a keeper for me, so I've put it aside for now. I think the main reason it works so well on some lakes is its small, moves slowly, and creates an easy target for bass. But, you could say the same about 4" plastic worms, tubes, or any smaller soft plastic bait also. For me, the Ned Rig is good in theory, but not in practice. Most times I need a weedless bait when fishing near or on the bottom.

[Krux5506]

1 hour ago, livemusic said:

How do you fish it? Do you just cast and reel it in with a steady retrieve?

 

For me it's a "less is more" type of fishing. I cast, let it sink, give it a twitch or two and sorta just slowly get it back to me. Seems to me more often than not, strikes come not long after the initial sink and twitch rather than when it's getting closer to me. I've turned a couple buddies onto the ned rig and they've all agreed with me it's a very interesting bite that you hardly even feel, but you usually will just get that bit of resistance on your line or feel it swimming away gently and then it's fish on. It's hard to explain but it's quick to get used to the feeling once you've gotten a few fish on it. 

[galyonj]

10 hours ago, BiteArray said:

Any other useful tips for a Ned Rig newcomer? I have a bunch of semi-ripped Senkos that I'm planning to try out. The only thing is that the watermelon color doesn't quite match the darker head, and I've also read that the action of the Senkos aren't as great, e.g. they don't stand up off the bottom.

 

I might have a couple from the perspective of someone that, not that long ago, would rather **** in my hands and clap than fish a ned rig.

 

Things I've learned about fishing a ned rig (Tip number 4 will BLOW your MIND):

1. Use as small a hook as you can get away with on the lightest jighead that gets to the depth you need.
   1. For relatively still water under, say, 10 feet, with little in the way of vegetation to get hung in, I just about always use a 1/16oz head with a #4 hook.
   2. In current, or if I'm swimming it, I generally upsize to a 1/4oz head with the same hook size.
   3. If you keep bringing a side order of greens back when you reel it in, just do something else.
2. It hurts my heart to have to say this to a group of people as learned as the membership of this forum, but the less hook you can get away with using, the better the plastic looks and moves in the water. It defeats the purpose of the presentation to put a 3" piece of plastic on a hook with a shank that's over 2" long. Look at this photo. There is absolutely no way that the rig on the right moves as well as the rig on the left.
3. Stop worrying about making everything matchy-matchy. I love a chartreuse or red jighead on these presentations because a little bit of contrast gives the fish something else to get interested in.
4. Don't sleep on the finesse punch rig (patent pending).
5. Just like any presentation, there are times you have to deadstick it, but stop approaching the presentation as if the only way to fish it is to deadstick it, or hop it like a tiny, stupid shakyhead. Swim it back. Pop it and shake on the way back down. Do...something to make it move. Stop sitting there waiting to get bit and show them something they wanna bite.
6. Where I fish, the more you let it sit, the more likely it is you ain't getting that jighead back.
7. Literally any small(er) soft plastic will work. All the finesse-branded stuff from Z-Man is cool. Big TRDs are cool. Bitten-in-half Senkos are cool. Small paddletail swimbaits, tubes, and literally any crappie-size soft plastics are also cool. The back half of a Zoom trick worm is amazing on a small jighead like this. The 4 or so inch skinny finesse worms or curly-tail worms are absolute bangers like this. Go wild. If anybody gives you any trouble, just show them all the fish you've caught while they sat in their mom's basement navel-gazing about the proper way to fish a little piece of plastic on a little jighead.

 

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’m still a ned holdout. I’ve used some that friends gave me but never bought one. I sure do throw this a lot though, a fraction of the cost and gets stuck far less 

 

Hey, that worm ain't purple! You're a big fat phony!

[TnRiver46]

9 minutes ago, galyonj said:

 

I might have a couple from the perspective of someone that, not that long ago, would rather **** in my hands and clap than fish a ned rig.

 

Things I've learned about fishing a ned rig (Tip number 4 will BLOW your MIND):

1. Use as small a hook as you can get away with on the lightest jighead that gets to the depth you need.
   1. For relatively still water under, say, 10 feet, with little in the way of vegetation to get hung in, I just about always use a 1/16oz head with a #4 hook.
   2. In current, or if I'm swimming it, I generally upsize to a 1/4oz head with the same hook size.
   3. If you keep bringing a side order of greens back when you reel it in, just do something else.
2. It hurts my heart to have to say this to a group of people as learned as the membership of this forum, but the less hook you can get away with using, the better the plastic looks and moves in the water. It defeats the purpose of the presentation to put a 3" piece of plastic on a hook with a shank that's over 2" long. Look at this photo. There is absolutely no way that the rig on the right moves as well as the rig on the left.
3. Stop worrying about making everything matchy-matchy. I love a chartreuse or red jighead on these presentations because a little bit of contrast gives the fish something else to get interested in.
4. Don't sleep on the finesse punch rig (patent pending).
5. Just like any presentation, there are times you have to deadstick it, but stop approaching the presentation as if the only way to fish it is to deadstick it, or hop it like a tiny, stupid shakyhead. Swim it back. Pop it and shake on the way back down. Do...something to make it move. Stop sitting there waiting to get bit and show them something they wanna bite.
6. Where I fish, the more you let it sit, the more likely it is you ain't getting that jighead back.
7. Literally any small(er) soft plastic will work. All the finesse-branded stuff from Z-Man is cool. Big TRDs are cool. Bitten-in-half Senkos are cool. Small paddletail swimbaits, tubes, and literally any crappie-size soft plastics are also cool. The back half of a Zoom trick worm is amazing on a small jighead like this. The 4 or so inch skinny finesse worms or curly-tail worms are absolute bangers like this. Go wild. If anybody gives you any trouble, just show them all the fish you've caught while they sat in their mom's basement navel-gazing about the proper way to fish a little piece of plastic on a little jighead.

 

 

Hey, that worm ain't purple! You're a big fat phony!

 

 

 

 

that was an old pic on my phone that google photos found when I typed “fishing worm” haha

[galyonj]

11 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

that was an old pic on my phone that google photos found when I typed “fishing worm” haha

 

Mmhm.

 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

15 hours ago, txchaser said:

I tried a bunch of stuff last summer and for what it's worth, I've had way better results in weeds with this:

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Hayabusa_Baby_Shooting_Ball_Football_Jig_Head_4pk/descpage-HSBFBJ.html

And even the version without the weedguard works fine if you just jiggle it through. Giant hooks and heavy heads don't end well. 1/16 and a #2 hook it won't bury down in the weeds or the muck very much (often light enough to just lay on top of the weeds), and there's not much sticking out to get snagged on.

 

The lifted heads and the new EWG heads from zman are better if there's any wood though. 

You ever try the Brush Easys?  They may be the best all around head Ive ever used.

[livemusic]

1 hour ago, galyonj said:

 

...would rather **** in my hands and clap...

 

 

OMG, that is hilarious! I have never heard that before, lol. That's my belly laugh for the day.

[RDB]

2 hours ago, galyonj said:

would rather **** in my hands and clap than fish a ned rig.

Am I the only one thinking how do you know?   ?

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Never much success with neds. Ive tried all weights shroomz 1/20-1/5 and weedless too multiple other brands in various sizes. Trd, big trd,  zinker z, finesses z, 1/2 senko. Caught 3 bass one day using roboworm neds so bought 15 more packs of them in various colors just to be disappoint there after. Spinning casting mono fc braid.

A 2.8" paddle tail on 1/8 jig head does me much better in the same places. 

[hokiehunter373]

Have had solid success with neds but I always fished them more like a shaky head.  In the summer that got AGGRRESSIVE bites.  In the winter, bites were so timid I thought I had algae instead of fish.  Thankful for this thread because I had for some reason never thought of just swimming it back to me.  Gonna give that a go tonight or at least sometime soon.  Thanks!

[Black Hawk Basser]

It saved the day for me on Sunday when jigs weren't doing much damage.  Jigs did get better quality fish, which is typical.

 

I catch so many river walleye with a TRD, it's stupid.  I don't need to use anything else.

[padon]

5 hours ago, hokiehunter373 said:

Have had solid success with neds but I always fished them more like a shaky head.  In the summer that got AGGRRESSIVE bites.  In the winter, bites were so timid I thought I had algae instead of fish.  Thankful for this thread because I had for some reason never thought of just swimming it back to me.  Gonna give that a go tonight or at least sometime soon.  Thanks!

it will work fished like a shakey head but the swimming techniques give fish a different look. just think about how a minnow kind of hovers and glides.. try to make the bait act like that. also google ned kedhe 5 different ned retrieves. he goes into great detail.

[mcipinkie]

What amazes me is that people think this is some new technique invented in the last few years.

 

We were throwing Manns Sting Ray grubs, and Sliders on little jig heads down on the Coosa River in the 1970's.  Probably all over the country also.  We called it "Do Nothing" fishing.

 

It's a dad gum jig with a little worm on it.  Some times you wind it fast.  Some times you wind it slow.  Some times you hop it.  Some times you swim it.  Some times you twitch it.  Some times it catches fish, some times it don't.  It ain't magic, just another thing to try.

 

Dad gum good for the tackle business though.

 

Don't get me wrong, I throw them every now and then.  Did 50 years ago also.

[TnRiver46]

9 hours ago, mcipinkie said:

What amazes me is that people think this is some new technique invented in the last few years.

 

We were throwing Manns Sting Ray grubs, and Sliders on little jig heads down on the Coosa River in the 1970's.  Probably all over the country also.  We called it "Do Nothing" fishing.

 

It's a dad gum jig with a little worm on it.  Some times you wind it fast.  Some times you wind it slow.  Some times you hop it.  Some times you swim it.  Some times you twitch it.  Some times it catches fish, some times it don't.  It ain't magic, just another thing to try.

 

Dad gum good for the tackle business though.

 

Don't get me wrong, I throw them every now and then.  Did 50 years ago also.

What you say is all true but you missed the real point...........

 

now they can sell jigheads and worms that cost more than double what they should because people just gotta have it! 

[jbmaine]

Picked up a 18" salmon on a ned rig a couple years ago, That shocked me a bit.

[padon]

10 hours ago, mcipinkie said:

What amazes me is that people think this is some new technique invented in the last few years.

 

We were throwing Manns Sting Ray grubs, and Sliders on little jig heads down on the Coosa River in the 1970's.  Probably all over the country also.  We called it "Do Nothing" fishing.

 

It's a dad gum jig with a little worm on it.  Some times you wind it fast.  Some times you wind it slow.  Some times you hop it.  Some times you swim it.  Some times you twitch it.  Some times it catches fish, some times it don't.  It ain't magic, just another thing to try.

 

Dad gum good for the tackle business though.

 

Don't get me wrong, I throw them every now and then.  Did 50 years ago also.

if you read some of neds stuff he says the exact same thing.its not new he didnt invent it.its very similar to slider fishing etc. the only really new thing is the zman material and he used a mushroom head exclusively.we used those sting ray grubs by the basket full especially in cold water or after a cold front back in the 90s. some of us who are old and wiley still use them and the fish arent used to seeing them. 

[Plottman1974]

I started tracking the baits I catch fish on in February.  as of right now, I have caught more bass on the ol' ned rig than all other baits combined.  routinely, I will say "today is a jig day".....or "today I am going to really focus on using XYZ bait....when fishing is slow, I pull out the Ned rig and usually start catching.  

 

The Berkley Shroom Head and Z-man ned rigs are deadly.  

[Bass Junke]

On 5/6/2021 at 9:58 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

A Ned rig is not a bottom contact bait in my opinion. It might occasionally touch bottom, but not intentionally. It's constantly moving and not picking up anything from the bottom or hanging up. I learned to fish it from one of Ned's friends that helped develop the Midwest Finesse concept. 

Like others here I have fished the Ned rig a lot and caught a lot fish doing the hop, drag, twitch thing. Monday morning I read this thread particularly what Bluebasser said. I went fishing Monday afternoon, had a Ned rig tied on, decided I would try swimming it just off the bottom. Wow! Caught 3 fish doing just that. 

I always felt that the shape of the Ned head was the unique part. It would just stand up on the bottom. Hence a bottom contact bait. If you are just going to swim it though, what is the difference between a Ned head and a 1/16oz ball head jig. 

Never underestimate the 1/16oz ball head jig and a ribbon tail grub. 

Who was it in a pro tournament this year caught limits of small mouth all 4 days and won? Zaldain? He was basically fishing a ball jig with a minnow on it. There is a name for it, Damiki rig? (spelling)? 

[TnRiver46]

55 minutes ago, Bass Junke said:

 If you are just going to swim it though, what is the difference between a Ned head and a 1/16oz ball head jig. 

 

The price 

 

jeff Gustafson is the angler you were thinking of 

[galyonj]

1 hour ago, Bass Junke said:

If you are just going to swim it though, what is the difference between a Ned head and a 1/16oz ball head jig.

 

7 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

The price

 

100% this as far as I can tell. Pick a jighead you like and run with it. My only real criteria is a small hook that's not pot-metal garbage, so Z-Man's automatically out.

[Bass Junke]

18 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

The price 

 

jeff Gustafson is the angler you were thinking of 

So right on both, thanks. As soon as I posted it, I was thinking I was nuts. Some guy from Texas probably wouldn't be doing that.  

[J Francho]

I was not shocked by all the yellow perch I caught fishing it.

[galyonj]

1 minute ago, J Francho said:

I was not shocked by all the yellow perch I caught fishing it.

 

A small jighead and a bite-size piece of soft plastic'll catch dang near anything that swims. I love it.

[TnRiver46]

31 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I was not shocked by all the yellow perch I caught fishing it.

Just let them flounder around helplessly on the end of your line until something huge eats it