Ned Rig

[C&R]

I will be using the neg rig this year after all the positive articles listed here. However, what about this: seems the smallies will be swallowing a lot of these rigs when fishing it the way you are suppose to. That is, fishing in on slack line, etc. I love the bitsy tube, and have a lot of trouble keeping them from swallowing the tube.

[Smallieguy87]

I can't really comment on the Ned as i have not fished it yet but i know it can be difficult to feel the bite on tubes. I very rarely "feel" and bite at all even with a good rod and line. How i fish the tube does help me a lot though. I very rarely have any slack in my line and i'm always moving the tube(very slowly) the slow movement and contact with the bottom is actually what helps me detect a fish. Its tough to describe the change in feel when you have a fish on but to me it goes from feeling cover on the bottom to just feeling like mush or pulling dead weight...its just different. I don't hesitate to set the hook when i feel the difference. Sometimes It's not a fish and i just snag some cover but a lot of the time i hook into a fish. It also helped me to use a little bit bigger tube. I was using 3 inch tubes when i first started and later switched to 3.5-3.75. This has not seemed to change the overall amount of fish i catch and it actually helps keep the sunfish away. I'm no tube expert as i just started fishing them hard about a year and half ago but those changes really helped me a lot. From reading some of the ned tactics it does look like people do drag them so it should be a little easier to detect the bite sooner that way. I'd only have a slight bow in the line to shake the bait. There's a lot of guys here who fish the ned heavily that should be able to give you some great tips on it. I hope the tube advice helps you out!

[Guest]

I have quite a bit of experience with little river bass wanting to swallow the Ned.

You have to be vigilant in keeping a tight line.

As soon as the bait hits the water, Im taking up slack so it falls on a semi-slack line.

When they bite the bait, set the hook immediatley. Don't wait for them to "take" the bait.

If you hit em fast enough, they dont have time to swallow it. Granted there's always that 1 fish that swallows it no matter what.

I noticed a big difference in fewer gut hooked bass, once I started setting the hook quickly.

A lot of times, they will bite it on the inital entry into the water so it never hits bottom. Thats why it needs to fall on a tight or nearly tight line.

Any slack or bow in the line results in higher percentage of gut hookings.

[Ham]

Smallies are notorious for swallowing tubes. I have been fishing them on tight line and set the hook immediately on the strike and they have STILL managed to take it deep. SUCKS. I am way too tender hearted with smallmouth. I simply love them and I hate it when I kill one,

The one guide trip I had we used tubes. That guide WILL NOT use tubes once the water had fully warmed up in spring because of smallies swallowing the tubes. He switched to a finesse skirted jig once the water got > 55 degrees.

I have had less trouble with deep takes on the Ned than I expected. It has happened a couple of times, but they seem a little slower to swallow it than they do the tube. I fish my Ned on a tighter line than recommended. I constantly feel for the bite.

Barbless hooks would make it better. They would cost you a few fish in hand along the way though.

You can also look online for various try this hook removal techniques.

[Amery]

Break the barbs off. That's a start.

[Terrierman]

I guess I'm either quicker on the draw or more likely luckier than some of you guys. Caught a lot of river fish on that stupid little thing and one of the things I like about it is how I tend to hook fish in the roof of the mouth with it. Not always of course but more often than not. Of course now that I said something about it 9 out of 10 will now swallow that thing all the way down to their guzzler.

[dtrs5kprs]

Really have not had any more trouble with them swallowing a Ned than with things like a fish doctor, grub, shakey head. And that is with the slack line technique. You have to develop some touch for it. If it bugs you, squeeze the barbs down, which I would probably do with river fish anyway.

I do keep a hook remover tool on board that works the occasional miracle. One of the rotating jobs.

[C&R]

Great info. Confirms my thoughts about needing to stay in contact with the rig. So many articles indicated that the "no feel", or "total slack line" approach is the way to fish it, but that seems to invite gut hooks. And I ALWAYS pinch my barbs, but still hate to preform dental work on the smallies that swallow it, even with a pinched barb.

My smallie fishing is 99% on s.w.missouri creeks. Seems the ned rig isn't suited for any real current where a bitsy tube is. Anyone effectively fish the ned in lite to medium current with success. Seems you may need to us a heaver jig, and then that seems to go away from how you are suppose to fish the ned. So how do you fish it in current?

[Ham]

I've fished the rg that shall be un-named on the Current river in high flow areas with great success. I fish it the way I would fish any other jig in current. Down and across.

[Terrierman]

Great info. Confirms my thoughts about needing to stay in contact with the rig. So many articles indicated that the "no feel", or "total slack line" approach is the way to fish it, but that seems to invite gut hooks. And I ALWAYS pinch my barbs, but still hate to preform dental work on the smallies that swallow it, even with a pinched barb.

My smallie fishing is 99% on s.w.missouri creeks. Seems the ned rig isn't suited for any real current where a bitsy tube is. Anyone effectively fish the ned in lite to medium current with success. Seems you may need to us a heaver jig, and then that seems to go away from how you are suppose to fish the ned. So how do you fish it in current?

I caught 13 smallmouth on 15 casts out of the same eddy last year fishing ned made up with a 1/8 oz ball head with trimmed mono brush guard. It was just one of those amazing days. They work just fine in current.