Shocked by ned rig success?

[J Francho]

If I was fishing for them, I'd rather be the one to eat them.  I really don't need to use a bait that replaces what I'm actually after with spiny squirts that don't put up any struggle.  If I was into that I'd be on CrappieResource.com.

[MGF]

Wow rough crowd. LOL. My wife and I have caught a lot of nice brown bass on the river with a ned. She fishes little else but I usually find something else that works just as well...just to avoid the "one trick pony. thing. 

 

 

[Bluebasser86]

3 hours ago, Bass Junke said:

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)? 

I won 2 kayak tournaments so far this year primarily on a Ned rig fishing that way in areas that it would be a goner if I tried to fish it as a bottom contact bait. I had second big bass on it in both too so the whole little this thing I think is like any other lure, fish it where they live and you'll get big ones, but you put it in front of dinks and you'll get them too.

 

Nothing wrong with using ball heads. Ned used the VMC Moon eye jigheads for awhile (asprin heads). I use the mushroom heads because I like the wire keeper and I have a couple of the molds to make my own for about $.10 a jighead. 

 

 

 

[Finessegenics]

I used to consider the ned different from a regular old grub and jighead because when I first started using a "ned", it seemed to work that much better. I argued with people that the ned was a technique of its own. In hindsight though, the biggest difference between my idea of the ned and my grub n jig was the weight of the jighead. Before this ned rig craze, I would have scoffed at the idea of using a 1/16 oz jig in some of the waters I fish. I was using 1/8 at the lightest and most of the time had a 1/4 oz ball-head with some plastic tied on. I saw people advocating the TRD with a 1/16 head so I gave it a shot and it changed everything for me. 

 

I believe switching to 1/16 made all the difference. The bait looks so much more natural in the water especially when making the bait glide. Two reel cranks then let it fall back on bottom and sit for a few seconds, then repeat. I also caught a lot of fish last year ticking the bottom with a constant retrieve. Any plastic should work but I stuck with the Elaztech stuff. It's worth it if you're not losing too many to snags. I was also a big fan of mushroom style jigs but I made the switch to ballheads because they were more affordable. Obviously, they work just the same. 

[J Francho]

Pretty sure the weights have to be prime numbers in order to be fully considered a Ned, like 1/13 or 1/17 oz.

[MGF]

5 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Pretty sure the weights have to be prime numbers in order to be fully considered a Ned, like 1/13 or 1/17 oz.

My most used genuine zman ned jigs are 1/20 oz and 1/15 oz. No prime numbers there.

[J Francho]

It was a joke.  Prime numbers are always integers.

[fishingtx]

On 5/5/2021 at 1:39 PM, livemusic said:

Has anyone been enduring a slow or non-existent bite and gone to ned rig and been happy with the results? I haven't used it much. Problem is all the cover here; need weedless and I never did find a great solution to that when I was trying it. I was thinking of not letting the bait hit the bottom, just keep moving all the time and have less hangups. Thinking being that the bass on my main lake are seeing Senkos go by about every hour, lol, and a ned rig would be something different!

I have tried to throw it and had the same problem. Not only that, but I don't really know fow to fish them. this is what I throw as a "ned rig"'

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Strike_King_Tour_Grade_Ned_Head_3pk/descpage-SKTGNH.html

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/search-tackle.html?start=0&count=30&searchtext=smallie+beaver in color green oumokin jig head and watermelon red in the beaver

PLZ tell me how to fish this and will it catch large mouth?

[galyonj]

3 minutes ago, bass4life.... said:

PLZ tell me how to fish this and will it catch large mouth?

 

 

[TnRiver46]

21 minutes ago, J Francho said:

It was a joke.  Prime numbers are always integers.

Throw it on 7 lb line 

[YoTone]

I recently watched a video on the subject of ned rigs and the guy, i think David Dunleavy, says he wont throw it because it gut hooks too many fish.

[J Francho]

1 minute ago, YoTone said:

it gut hooks too many fish

Like wacky rigs?  Get a better rod and learn to hook set 

 

Seriously though, if you're fishing it as a moving bait, I can't see it gut hooking too many.  

[Junk Fisherman]

21 minutes ago, YoTone said:

I recently watched a video on the subject of ned rigs and the guy, i think David Dunleavy, says he wont throw it because it gut hooks too many fish.

 

Set the hook faster.  I can't recall ever gut hooking a fish on a Ned rig.  

[CM-fisher]

I just bought my first ned rig supplies (finesse TRD Canada craw color with a 1/10 oz shroomz jighead)

I've heard really good things about the ned rig. I'll see how it works out for local largemouths as soon as the season opens

[livemusic]

46 minutes ago, YoTone said:

I recently watched a video on the subject of ned rigs and the guy, i think David Dunleavy, says he wont throw it because it gut hooks too many fish.

 

That is my frustration with a fluke and a senko!

[MGF]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

It was a joke.   

Of course.

1 hour ago, YoTone said:

I recently watched a video on the subject of ned rigs and the guy, i think David Dunleavy, says he wont throw it because it gut hooks too many fish.

Some stuff on the net needs to be taken with a grain of salt...or just ignored.

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, YoTone said:

I recently watched a video on the subject of ned rigs and the guy, i think David Dunleavy, says he wont throw it because it gut hooks too many fish.

 

46 minutes ago, Junk Fisherman said:

 

Set the hook faster.  I can't recall ever gut hooking a fish on a Ned rig.  

My buddies gut hook smallies with ned rigs all winter long, Dudley actually had a point even though he got lambasted over it. They hook them deep so frequently they even came up with a term for it, “goozled “

6 minutes ago, MGF said:

Of course.

Some stuff on the net needs to be taken with a grain of salt...or just ignored.

 

[dv616]

For me, the Ned rig is a must have in MI natural lakes for bass.  The first year I tried it it definitely out caught my then favorite senko or drop shot options.   By a lot.  I don’t use the Zman stuff anymore since I got into pouring my own plastics.  I still do quite well on Neds with my own plastics but wish I had the buoyancy of elaztech.  

[Cgolf]

8 hours ago, MGF said:

My most used genuine zman ned jigs are 1/20 oz and 1/15 oz. No prime numbers there.

If you really want to be a purist you need some gopher heads, wish they were still around. I only have a few left. My current heads of choice are Jades jigs non lead heads and Siebert Morels. I also have some baby morels when he did a run with smaller hooks. Wish he did another run. Won’t touch the Zman heads as I don’t like the hook material. The berkley half head jigs and northland fireball heads both in 1/16 ounce have worked well for me as well. 
 

That said Midwest finesse has been a staple for me and never knew I was doing it. For me the ned is primarily a river bait but will use it sometimes on lakes. Not a miracle bait but a solid tool in the toolbox. 

[desmobob]

4 hours ago, dv616 said:

I still do quite well on Neds with my own plastics but wish I had the buoyancy of elaztech.  

To me, if the plastic isn't buoyant, it's not really a Ned Rig (even though it still works very well with non-buoyant plastics).  

[Cgolf]

47 minutes ago, desmobob said:

To me, if the plastic isn't buoyant, it's not really a Ned Rig (even though it still works very well with non-buoyant plastics).  

I don’t know in Team9 has responded as he has been my goto on here for Ned questions, but the original Ned baits weren’t buoyant. Ned is a thrifty guy, which I can relate to in the non hobby portion of my life, and he likes Zman products because they were economical. The buoyancy was a bonus. I find a place for both. One of my favorites is a heavily salted wart hawg that is a skinny 5” stick bait I cut in half to use as a Ned rig bait. Zman has just hyped the crap out of it and then went and changed the image of it with the big TRD, Etc confusing the definition of what a Ned rig is. I think people newer to the technique think a Ned is exclusively an elaztech bait thing. 
 

Man I must be getting old because I feel like I am the old guy yelling get off my lawn;)

[Bluebasser86]

10 hours ago, YoTone said:

I recently watched a video on the subject of ned rigs and the guy, i think David Dunleavy, says he wont throw it because it gut hooks too many fish.

David Dudley, unfollowed his channel for that ridiculous video. I'll listen to a person's argument on a subject, until they start just making up numbers and pulling them out of the air, then I'm out.

 

 I fish that rig so much and it's so rare to gut hook a fish, I couldn't even tell that last time I deep hooked a fish. It isn't just because of my gear or experience either. My wife and oldest son fish the Ned rig almost exclusively when they fish with me and rarely deep hook a fish either. It's such a popular way to fish around here, that if fish were being killed by a Ned rig at the rate he was pulling out of the air, there would be no fish left to catch. 

 

The irony of the whole thing, not a rig out there that gut hooks more fish than a wacky rigged stick worm, one of Dudley's favorite rigs to fish. 

[MGF]

4 hours ago, cgolf said:

I don’t know in Team9 has responded as he has been my goto on here for Ned questions, but the original Ned baits weren’t buoyant. Ned is a thrifty guy, which I can relate to in the non hobby portion of my life, and he likes Zman products because they were economical. The buoyancy was a bonus. I find a place for both. One of my favorites is a heavily salted wart hawg that is a skinny 5” stick bait I cut in half to use as a Ned rig bait. Zman has just hyped the crap out of it and then went and changed the image of it with the big TRD, Etc confusing the definition of what a Ned rig is. I think people newer to the technique think a Ned is exclusively an elaztech bait thing. 
 

Man I must be getting old because I feel like I am the old guy yelling get off my lawn;)

The way I most often fish it is a pretty specific presentation and it doesn't have anything to do with zman hype.

 

I fish it in the river. It's just heavy enough (usually 1/20 oz) to just barely bump bottom as it moves with the current...bumping and wobbling with the tail/hook mostly up and nose down. It's even fairly snag resistant. 

 

Without the buoyant plastic it just isn't the same presentation. 

[desmobob]

2 hours ago, MGF said:

The way I most often fish it is a pretty specific presentation and it doesn't have anything to do with zman hype.

 

I fish it in the river. It's just heavy enough (usually 1/20 oz) to just barely bump bottom as it moves with the current...bumping and wobbling with the tail/hook mostly up and nose down. It's even fairly snag resistant. 

 

Without the buoyant plastic it just isn't the same presentation. 

 

+1 !  

 

1/15 or 1/20 ounce head and buoyant plastic is my preferred rigging.

[dv616]

Since the classic Ned rig, at least with the current popularity, started with half a senko which is one of the most dense soft plastics, I would say that floating is optional.  My baits float too, but not at the level of Elaztech.