Winter Ned Rig ?

[ChrisD46]

It would appear to me that fishing a Ned Rig in the winter for bass would be a good match . Using a TRD on a 1/16th oz. or 1/8th oz. mushroom jig heads crawled or hoped slowly along the bottom would not give off any unnatural ques causing a bass to become alarmed . Lastly , the do nothing look and lack of action of the TRD could really come into play and be better in the cooler water months ? Anyone primarily use a Ned Rig in cooler water months for bass ?

[Jig Man]

I will when they start biting them.  So far no love here.

[TnRiver46]

That’s all anyone throws all winter in my region, it works 

[RipzLipz]

10 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

That’s all anyone throws all winter in my region, it works 

No love for the float n’ fly? Too much current?

[TnRiver46]

5 minutes ago, RipzLipz said:

No love for the float n’ fly? Too much current?

Thats what they used to do . I’m sure they will label a bobber ned one day haha

[kingmotorboat]

Ned rig was my number one producer for numbers last winter in east tn. 

[The Bassman]

Ned rig and cold water goes together like peas and carrots as Forrest Gump would say. Stick with a light head and swim it just off the bottom rather than hopping it. I had my first "handwarmer session" of the fall this afternoon and caught about twenty along with two crappie. Not the most exciting bait to fish but simply put, it works.

[Team9nine]

I use it all the time, but have had many a good day fishing Ned on partially ice frozen lakes in the winter. Nothing like the thump of a bass hitting a falling Ned pulled off an ice sheet 😉

[FishTank]

I got lucky and was able to hit the water yesterday after we ate. I took two rods, one with one of my favorite crankbaits and the other was a Ned Rig. I was short on time but the final score was crankbait 0 and Ned Rig 3. I found I like the Yamamoto 3in Ned Senko in Electric Shad.  Not sure why but every lake I have fished this bait has worked. 

[Munkin]

Plan on trying my Ned beaver bait this winter. Doubt anything will replace the bear hair jigs but I will give them a try. 

 

Allen 

[Jig Man]

I’ve been trying your beaver but like the TRDs nothing so far.  Our surface temperature is about 58°.  It probably needs to drop some more.

[Dan N]

I’ve had some good success on it. A TRD slowly retrieved rite above bottom. 
worked better then jerkbaits/cranks on some days. 
 

[galyonj]

7 hours ago, Jig Man said:

I’ve been trying your beaver but like the TRDs nothing so far.  Our surface temperature is about 58°.  It probably needs to drop some more.

 

Fwiw, I fish little finesse plastics like that year round. Caught both my PB catfish and small mouth on a TRD in near 70 degree water.

 

Fish love them things year round. 

[PaulVE64]

1/16 oz  black marabou (hair) jig with a stump of a fluke tail or senko works in sub 50 water. 

 

[SpinLight]

How deep do you winter Ned users fish the Ned rig? Lb test line? Ned head weight?

[Jig Man]

Normally I fish it to 30’.  I use from 1/16 to 1/8 oz most of the time.  I can go up to 1/4 if necessary.  Up to 15’ with little wind 1/16 is my choice.  As I go deeper I use heavier heads.

 

 I have tried several line sizes and found that I get a lot more bites on 6#.  My line of choice is Yozuri hybrid.

[Bluebasser86]

It's always one of my best baits in winter. 10lb braid to 8lb leader with a 1/16oz head #1 size hook. I like the TRD and Big TRD both. Some days they show a lot of preference to the Big TRD over the regular TRD for some reason. 

[33oldtimer]

I'm going to use the plastics/ElaZtech on regular ball head jigs. I've lost patience with Ned jig heads, especially as a bank fisherman. Last one I used took just two casts to snag under a rock. I just watched Nathan Quince's latest youtube video where he was using Neds. I couldn't count the snags and number of Neds he lost. He caught some nice fish, but I think I would've used anything else. I had some luck this summer slowly swimming Ned plastics on regular jig heads. Will try dragging them this winter.

[galyonj]

40 minutes ago, 33oldtimer said:

Will try dragging them this winter.

 

Dragging anything from the bank is always a recipe for a short, frustrating day for me. 

[kingmotorboat]

14 minutes ago, galyonj said:

 

Dragging anything from the bank is always a recipe for a short, frustrating day for me. 

unless it’s a 3 pounder absolutely. 

56 minutes ago, 33oldtimer said:

I'm going to use the plastics/ElaZtech on regular ball head jigs. I've lost patience with Ned jig heads, especially as a bank fisherman. Last one I used took just two casts to snag under a rock. I just watched Nathan Quince's latest youtube video where he was using Neds. I couldn't count the snags and number of Neds he lost. He caught some nice fish, but I think I would've used anything else. I had some luck this summer slowly swimming Ned plastics on regular jig heads. Will try dragging them this winter.

something I do while bank fishing with a ned is just work it mid depth like a slow jerkbait almost if that makes sense

[ChrisD46]

24 minutes ago, kingmotorboat said:

unless it’s a 3 pounder absolutely. 

something I do while bank fishing with a ned is just work it mid depth like a slow jerkbait almost if that makes sense

A couple thoughts on Ned Rig snag reduction : 1) Use as light a jig head as you can get away with (1/16th oz , 1/32nd oz) , 2) Use EWG style Ned Jig Head with hook buried in the TRD (more weedless , snagless ) . Siebert Outdoors (sponser) has a nice EWG Ned Rig Jig Head .

[33oldtimer]

1 hour ago, galyonj said:

 

Dragging anything from the bank is always a recipe for a short, frustrating day for me. 

I agree, except for T-Rigs and Jigs. Will have to be careful with anything having an open hook and keep it away from heavy cover.

[Bluebasser86]

5 hours ago, 33oldtimer said:

I'm going to use the plastics/ElaZtech on regular ball head jigs. I've lost patience with Ned jig heads, especially as a bank fisherman. Last one I used took just two casts to snag under a rock. I just watched Nathan Quince's latest youtube video where he was using Neds. I couldn't count the snags and number of Neds he lost. He caught some nice fish, but I think I would've used anything else. I had some luck this summer slowly swimming Ned plastics on regular jig heads. Will try dragging them this winter.

Don't drag them. I fish them through rocks and sparse laydowns all the time and rarely snag, but I also rarely let them touch bottom. 

[The Bassman]

18 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

It's always one of my best baits in winter. 10lb braid to 8lb leader with a 1/16oz head #1 size hook. I like the TRD and Big TRD both. Some days they show a lot of preference to the Big TRD over the regular TRD for some reason. 

Could be that the extra buoyancy lets it fish slower? Thanks for the idea. I'll experiment with it.

[Susky River Rat]

I ned rig all year round. Even though people say I am not ned rigging because of the weight I need for the river.