Ned rigs #1 killer of Bass?

[Sore Thumbs]

Gonna share David Dudley’s YouTube post. Thoughts?

 

[Basfis]

I dunno. My kid fishes the ned a ton. Catches 100’s per year. Rarely ever use pliers. I mention this as he is rarely on top of what his bait is doing and frequently surprised by a fish being on the end of his line.

Maybe it’s the small hooks he uses vs the newer longer shank and wider gap heads out there? Theory being the little hook slips back to the lips?

[Quillback]

I hung in there for about 6 minutes.  I very rarely gut hook fish with a Ned rig.  

[FishnDave]

Its fair to say we all kill bass unintentionally.  I've released lip-hooked fish that mysteriously didn't want to live.  I've released bleeding fish that I assumed would not make it, only to catch that same fish again a week or more later.  The Ned Rig is a jig.  Jig-n-plastic.  The mortality numbers are probably not significantly different from any other lures, even crankbaits.  It happens.  Two treble hooks with more than one point buried can be tough to get out without damaging the fish.  Its gotten to the point in my local waters that its exciting when I catch a nice bass that doesn't have visible damage from being caught before.  Some folks are not as gentle when removing hooks as they should be.

Maybe one solution might be the use of barbless hooks in tournaments, and maybe that idea will eventually filter down to everyday anglers.  A barbless hook can be removed easily, regardless of where the fish is hooked.  Plus barbless hooks come out easier when we inadvertantly hook ourselves or companions.

Flyfishermen often use barbless hooks, and most have said it doesn't seem to affect their ratio of fish hooked vs lost, as compared to barbed hooks.  I dunno.  Just an idea.

[Dutch]

I applaud your tenacity Quillback.  I couldn’t make it that long. I don’t gut hook anymore with Ned than shaky.  If you know how to remove them there is no problem.

 

[motoman]

Ole Dudley sure did jump on the clickbait bandwagon with that title screen. (Rollingeyes)

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I agree with comments above; can’t say I gut hook more fish with ned than other finesse stuff. Even if gut hooked, long nose side cutters do a great job snipping the hook.

[Bill Babler]

Since the Ned came out myself and my clients have spent 1000’s of hours with it. Probably the lowest mortality bait I use because of the small size and the single hook. Maybe a drop shot is less hurtfull but that would be the only bait I can think of

As for barbless I would pretty much have to retire if my fly fishing clients were barbless as they would get about 2 out of 10 fish to the boat 

Terrible piece and it shows you how little some of these guys really know

[Guest]

i use a NuTech Crappie Jig for my doodles and they are all hooked in the top of the head.  but, i use braid and know when they breath on it and set the hook instantly.  they have not been swimming around with the bait for an hour.

bo

[Sore Thumbs]

I tend to agree with you guys. I don’t remember gut hooking any bass on the Ned. 

[Bill Babler]

Guy's we have just fished that thing for hours upon hours and like Bo said, it is about 95% in the upper lip even for novice anglers.  The following are baits I consider to be the least harmful when "My clients fish them"

Swim Bait Mostly 99% safe.

Float-N-Fly same

Drop Shot  Maybe 98%

Buzz Bait

Spinner bait excluding trailer hook 

Vertical jig

Ned

Ice Jig

Flutter Spoon  Even if your not in contact  Just to big to get deep for the most part

Jig that is NOT A EWG

EWG Jig

Jigging Spoon

C-rig

Tube

Those are kind of how I rank the baits I use as far a mortality from safest  to the most dangerous for the fish in the hands of my clients.

 Next set of baits. 

Cosmetic damage to the fish: Eye damage, mouth and lip damage, scale damage, not life threatening for the most part

Starting with the worst.  Most of these are multiple triple hooked lures

Suspending jerk bait

Top Water 

Crank baits

A-rig

I probably forgot some but that is pretty close