Ned Rig Hype?

[Feathers and Fins]

And the Alabama Rig is nothing more than an Umbrella rig. I can cast the big model and the little model one just doesn't kill your arms as bad.

[rps]

No need to debate the syntax...It flat out works...Slow day on the G. Nade on Friday..Maybe 8 bass in the first 4 miles...ran through all the usuall suspects with no love, and tried out 4 new topwater baits....Norman Top Dollar drew my only two topwater bass..4" tube produced the rest...and it was running 3 goggs to one bass.....Figured the goggs were on and I'd clean some. Tried that Ned rig...wore the goggs out and plenty of bonus bass.

TD works, doesn't it.

[rps]

Fishing a slider or a Ned rig using some variation of Charlie Brewer's Do Nothing will work. Just like Billy Westmoreland's fly and rind method will work.

All three feature small, stream lined baits fished slowly and without fanfare. I will say I hang up less on the Ned, but I have yet to have a "great" day on it like I have on the other two. It is just a matter of time though.

[Wayne SW/MO]

So what is the difference between it and the slider system? I admittedly haven't looked close, but it sure sounds like the same thing. Using a small jig head to slow the fall isn't new. Short plastics aren't knew, and fishing slow on the bottom isn't new?

Way back it was impossible to find light jigs with large hooks. There was no mentality beyond getting to the bottom in a hurry, but eventually the idea of a slow fall began to produce and that opened a whole new mentality for plastics. Even the Senko was based on having a lure light enough to fall slowly.

I can remember in the early '70s using a Creme with a split shot just big enough to cause a slow fall. We would throw them against bridge piers and the slow fall would allow the worm to penetrate the level the fish were holding at slow enough to trigger strikes.

It's almost as if a group was in the dark and short on experience helped name an old system?

Throwing worms in crazy colors was new, and the Alabama is new to me. The knock and to some extent the separation of the bait and the weight in the Carolina rig was new.

Where does the Ned differ?

[Gavin]

Did like that Top Dollar...throws weird and works works weird occassionally...but when it works it works...Think its a keeper..any line and hook replacement recommendations?

[rps]

Did like that Top Dollar...throws weird and works works weird occassionally...but when it works it works...Think its a keeper..any line and hook replacement recommendations?

I fish the bait on 10# Yozuri Hybrid. Flouro sinks and gets in the way. I change the cheap Norman hooks out for Daiichi Death Traps. I tie a light feather and tinsel tail on the new rear hook. The bait as my avatar is a Tim Hughes repaint. I bought 20 baits direct from Norman, stripped them, sent them to Tim, and then rehooked them including hand tied tails. Worked out to about the same as a Gunfish or Yellow Magic. So far my largest was 23.5 inches. My best day was 63 with 12 keepers. I am sold.

BTW someone (I think Champ) said they throw like a potato chip. He was right. And yes they skip a beat here and there. They also sometimes dive on the back and forth. I think it all adds to the attraction.

[Wayne SW/MO]

This brings up a good question rps, and this is not a challenge question, but do you think given the fact that shad are normally not available to bass except early and late on the bank where most fish, is color as important or just convenient? Would a black perch/ green sunfish pattern be just as effective on a lure with the right action?

[Feathers and Fins]

Wayne I think you hit the nail on the head with color selection. When im working the bank early or late its shad colors when the sun comes up I go to more perch colors. Its deadly on smallmouth and walleye.

[rps]

As scientific as I can be: Whitish belly with a green, purple, or blue top plus orange or red accents. That is what I ordered from Tim Hughes. What do I like best? The green top with white bottom. He calls it House Number 2.

[dtrs5kprs]

Just to be clear...

Ned would be the first to tell you he does not like the name. Really does not like the name. Really. Not possible to overemphasize that part of it. Edits it out of reports we send.

He calls it "Midwest Finesse" in every article he writes. Trouble is, the other name is shorter and sticks better. Kind of the same reason we don't say "electric positioning motor" when we refer to a trolling motor. And he does deserve a ton of credit for being willing to talk about it. There are some well known folks at TR who fish it a lot but do not say much about it, and I was told recently at least one of them would prefer it kept that way.

As to whether it works better, or is different from the other finesse concepts, you should probably fish it as described and judge it afterwards. It really incorporates aspects of all of them, from flick shaking to slider fishing, and adds other touches that are all its own. If you don't want to that is cool too. Leaves more fish for some of us to stick.

It looks at least half ridiculous, but it catches fish like a Kardashian catches NBA players. I was very skeptical at first, but was faced with report after report, and pic after pic, of numbers and quality fish from very difficult lakes, under sometimes shockingly difficult conditions. It is not a small shakey head, a grub, or a slider worm. It will go right behind those baits and catch more fish.

And I am guilty on the potato chip comment regarding the Top Dollar. Darn thing works though. Went to a very soft stick for it. Stock colors have been fine for me, but I don't get to show it to them everyday like someone from the west end of the lake does . It is a very neat TW and have had some outstanding days on it vs. a yellow magic, super spook jr, etc. Neat combo of TW actions. Very grateful RPS has been willing to share it with us. Still throws like a potato chip. Must sell like them too, as it is still in production after many years.

A link to Ned's page at In Fisherman...

http://www.in-fisherman.com/core-experts/ned-kehde/blog/