Ned vs Tube for Smallmouth

[Buzzbaiter]

In the context of fishing for river smallmouth, when do you use a tube over a Ned rig, or a Ned rig over a tube? What are the advantages to each? They seem pretty much the same to me, just different profiles.

[tracker01]

I usually have one of each tied on and let the fish tell me what’s on the menu for that day.

[Finessegenics]

I feel like a tube has more drawing power since it is a larger profile compared to a ned. Stroking a tube can get you some reaction bites, but I imagine fishing a Ned that way could too. I wish there was a simple formula for when to choose one bait over another but there really isn’t. Take tracker01’s advice and try each until you find what the fish want. River smallmouth are so aggressive I doubt it would make a difference. 

[gim]

I use both for brown bass regularly.  The advantage that a tube has is that you can rig it weedless.  I use a gamakatsu skip gap hook and peg a small bullet weight above it.  Slides through thick weeds like a texas rig.  I have yet to find a mushroom head that pairs with a ned which is weedless.  Also, zman makes both a ned/trd and a tube in elaztech.

 

Specifically in a river, I prefer a tube.

[J Francho]

I never caught a smallmouth on a ned, and it's been well over a decade since I fished a tube.  I catch most of my smallies outside the spawn on little worms using a drop shot.  Tubes were the jam back in the late 80s and 90s.  I'm positive both tubes and neds will catch them today.

[GaryH]

As was already said, let the bass tell you what they want. I also have both at the ready along with other baits. Isn’t that what makes it fun when you can find what they want.

[TOXIC]

They do make weed less Ned heads but to me the real advantage to a Ned is that you can change up the profile of the bait with whatever plastic you decide to use.  A tube is a tube and although you can change the size mainly you change the color.  With a Ned, I can change from a long slender bait like a Yamamoto Pro Senko which is long and slender, to a 4” regular Senko which is thicker or to a Yamamoto California Roll which is thin with a large flat tail at the end to give them something different.  Same applies to a dropshot.  

[TnRiver46]

Tube all the way 

 

my buddy left a z man tube on my console that ate a hole in it...........

[Spankey]

Tubes and grubs on the river for me. Never really got that hung up in the NED craze. RiverRats have been fishing soft plastic parts for years but with regular style jig heads for a long time. I might be missing out by not fishing a TRD yet but there are so many good grubs out there already. I know the elastic is suppose to stand straight up. I see it in the fish tank ad. But I’m not so convinced that’s what happens to it on the bottom of the river. Maybe a better chance in a lake or pond. Do have to say that some of the TRD colors are nice Smallie colors. 

[gim]

1 hour ago, TOXIC said:

They do make weed less Ned heads

 

Those things are junk.  Its not weedless by any means.

[fishwizzard]

For me, a tube is fished primarily on the bottom and a Ned is primarily fished moving somewhere in the water column.  

[DaubsNU1]

Fished Frances Case in South Dakota, above and below the dam. Tried chompers, cranks, grubs, small spinnerbaits...none worked for me. Brother and Dad were catching smallies on minnows (lindy, bouncer, jig).

 

I tried NED+TRD and started catching them like crazy. Good stuff.

[NHBull]

I use the fat Ika instead of a tube……it can be almost weedless

[FryDog62]

If any larger fish are present, tube all the way. If the bite is poor and nothing is working, I opt for the dreaded Nerd rig..

[Black Hawk Basser]

I opt for the Ned/TRD in my river because it gets way more bites from all species than a tube does.  I'm there to get anything that is willing, be it walleye, white bass, catfish or smallies.  However, if I need to get the bait down in heavier current, I might go with a 3/8 oz insert jig head in a tube rather than the dainty little Ned head which would get swept away too quickly.

[PaulVE64]

I would be using the tube as a search bait from mid  column  to bottom but the ned for me is only a bottom presentation.

[Bluebasser86]

They're both a soft bait, that's about where the similarities end for me. Tube is bigger, fished on the bottom, on a heavier head, with heavier gear, on a weedless head or open hook. Ned is fished off the bottom, on a light head, with lighter gear, a smaller profile and slower fall, with an open hook. 

[WRB]

Cap & Gown is a forgotten combo with a floating finesse curl tail worm inside the tube. 

Tom

[pdxfisher]

I mostly use a Ned rig but i don't think there is much difference in it versus a tube as a tool. I think of lures as tools to cover a certain depth with a certain speed of presentation. They both do the same job.

 

My main reason for using a Ned is that the TRDs take up less room in the kayak than tubes and their durability is outstanding.

 

I always fish the weedless Ned heads. They seem to work pretty well for me at avoiding getting hung up.  I will say that i use them more as rockless than weedless.

[Dye99]

NED for me....

When I first tried them a few years ago I wasnt impressed but lately its become my favorite smallie bait. Love the ElaZtech trd...

 

Im finding myself using the ned more than anything else..

[Boomstick]

On 5/28/2021 at 11:56 AM, fishwizzard said:

For me, a tube is fished primarily on the bottom and a Ned is primarily fished moving somewhere in the water column.  

You can fish a tube at whatever depth you want to target, similar to a ned. Just let it call down a little past your target depth then start twitching it back.

 

I actually prefer the NED on the bottom personally.

[JLBBass]

On 5/28/2021 at 9:36 AM, J Francho said:

 and it's been well over a decade since I fished a tube. 

  Tubes were the jam back in the late 80s and 90s.  I'm positive both tubes and neds will catch them today.

WOW!!!  I NEVER smallmouth fish without a tube tied on. Caught smallies 40 years ago on them, and still catch them just as well now! My opinion is that a tube is by far the most versatile piece of fishing plastic ever made!

[MGF]

On 5/28/2021 at 8:56 AM, Finessegenics said:

I feel like a tube has more drawing power since it is a larger profile compared to a ned. Stroking a tube can get you some reaction bites, but I imagine fishing a Ned that way could too. I wish there was a simple formula for when to choose one bait over another but there really isn’t. Take tracker01’s advice and try each until you find what the fish want. River smallmouth are so aggressive I doubt it would make a difference. 

I agree. In the context of rivers, I use both extensively. For whatever reason there are days when one definitely works better than the other. I tend to think of the tube for cracking and stroking to trigger fish. There are times I might drag it or let it roll with the current but it isn't my first choice for that.

 

The ned (or weedless alternative) is weighted so that it just barely bumps the bottom as it moves down river with the current. Paired with the buoyant plastic it really looks good rolling and bobbing with the current. 

 

I use a lot of different presentations in the river but I really have a hard time coming up with other methods that produce the numbers that a ned does. 

[Hawkeye21]

On 7/18/2021 at 5:28 AM, MGF said:

I agree. In the context of rivers, I use both extensively. For whatever reason there are days when one definitely works better than the other. I tend to think of the tube for cracking and stroking to trigger fish. There are times I might drag it or let it roll with the current but it isn't my first choice for that.

 

The ned (or weedless alternative) is weighted so that it just barely bumps the bottom as it moves down river with the current. Paired with the buoyant plastic it really looks good rolling and bobbing with the current. 

 

I use a lot of different presentations in the river but I really have a hard time coming up with other methods that produce the numbers that a ned does. 

Do you use a weight with the tube?

[MGF]

17 hours ago, Hawkeye21 said:

Do you use a weight with the tube?

Yes. I rig it a few different ways. I use a texas rig, internal tube head with an exposed hook, internal with an ewg (stupid tube) and lately I've been fishing them just threaded on to a ball head...head and hook exposed. I generally use between 1/16 and 1/4 oz with 1/8 oz being the most common in our shallow river.