Ned rods

[dtrs5kprs]

Due to an *ahem* issue, I ended up rod shopping on this trip.

The not great: the Falcon Expert Finesse Jig rod. 7 foot, 4 power. Very accurate, very sensitive (too sensitive), very crisp feel. 

Terrible Ned rod. Tip takes the bait away from fish. Rod is just too much rod, particularly with a hot fish boatside.

Too much rod doesn't mean you need a light action rod, just a different blank.

The good: Lew's TP1 Black 7'6" MH. 

First off, not my definition of a medium heavy. They sell it as an "open water rod", and it is. It's nearly identical to my custom 7'6" rods built on SJ9000 hot shot blanks. Those are, in my opinion, as good as it gets for fishing the 1/8oz Ned on 6# line on flats, and this rod is very close. Caught a couple piles of fish on it since Friday. Up close to the boat it has a fantastic shock absorber effect.

Negatives... didn't find the handle especially comfortable. Gooped it up with Winn tape until it was nice and fat. Was a little concerned about the microwave guides, but sort of like how they perform. Like most Lew's, the guy who designed the hook keeper should be paddled for a few hours until he learns what they are supposed to look like, and where they should be.

Liked it enough we drove up and bought two more. Have a Dobyns and Loomis on the way, but may send them back after finding the Lew's.

Still not the same as my old 7'6" Abu Venerate, but that was a special blank.

[mixermarkb]

What Loomis did you order? I tried a few for Ned and just thought they were all too fast, crisp, and too sensitive. 

[mixermarkb]

The hook keepers are the only thing I hate about the lews finesse spin rods I've been loving for Ned. I wouldn't mind a little extra length, but I like the way the 6'9" balance tip up with a 3000 size reel 

[dtrs5kprs]

8 minutes ago, mixermarkb said:

The hook keepers are the only thing I hate about the lews finesse spin rods I've been loving for Ned. I wouldn't mind a little extra length, but I like the way the 6'9" balance tip up with a 3000 size reel 

Those Lew's 6'9" rods are tons softer than what I like. They'd maybe be ok for the 1/32 or 1/16, but they're so slow I think casting them would bug me. Their 7' Laser Speed Stick UL is closer, and in fact we have two for playing around in the summer.

Folks would be shocked at how hard I pop fish on 6# line, and how many times. Blank has to have a particular taper for it. Need to get them stuck at distance, and handle them when they lose it at the boat.

Ordered the Loomis IMX 901 Walleye jig pitching rod, and a Dobyns Champion XP ML. Both 7'6". Honestly, the next Dobyns up may be right. Figure I'll have to return the Loomis, but the special offer was too good to pass up.

 

[Bassmeister]

31 minutes ago, mixermarkb said:

What Loomis did you order? I tried a few for Ned and just thought they were all too fast, crisp, and too sensitive. 

That’s why I try to avoid braid with the ned. I tried my new GLoomis E6X 842 SJR this weekend with 6# FC and thought it was perfect for ned rigging. 

[mixermarkb]

I've not tried the e6x series. Old school GLX and IMX SJR rods did not work for me, as well as NRX SYR. I love them for grubs and tubes, but they pull the bait away from the fish too easy with Ned for me, and that is with straight FC

[dtrs5kprs]

5 hours ago, Bassmeister said:

That’s why I try to avoid braid with the ned. I tried my new GLoomis E6X 842 SJR this weekend with 6# FC and thought it was perfect for ned rigging. 

We're mostly straight Seaguar 6#. The boy grew up with braid, and generally prefers it, but he's just now getting to the 3000 size reels. And his obvious need to use FC in the wind, with the reach of a 7'6" stick is how I ended up buying rods 😬.

We do run braid for a few purposes, but I much prefer straight fluorocarbon for the Ned, and most other twirly reel applications.

Rolling for the other KC this morning, after some Ma's and fellowship. Y'all take care. Be good to the brown fish.

[Ham]

I set the hook too hard a lot of the time. Super Dave sets it MUCH, MUCH harder than I do. 
Super Dave is very particular about his rod choices. He is 100% sincere and well reasoned in his suggestions, but not everyone thinks sensitivity in a spinning rod is a BAD Thing and Not everyone thinks straight fluro on spinning is a Good Thing. Those Kansas Ned Fishing Jedi using the Force to detect strikes when letting the Little guy drift along somewhere in The water column are a Special breed.

remember that I’m somewhat of an iconoclast. I don’t fish the Zig Jig like Richard Cross does either. Both of those guys catch way more than their share of the fish. I do ok. 

[dtrs5kprs]

6 minutes ago, Ham said:

I set the hook too hard a lot of the time. Super Dave sets it MUCH, MUCH harder than I do. 
Super Dave is very particular about his rod choices. He is 100% sincere and well reasoned in his suggestions, but not everyone thinks sensitivity in a spinning rod is a BAD Thing and Not everyone thinks straight fluro on spinning is a Good Thing. Those Kansas Ned Fishing Jedi using the Force to detect strikes when letting the Little guy drift along somewhere in The water column are a Special breed.

remember that I’m somewhat of an iconoclast. I don’t fish the Zig Jig like Richard Cross does either. Both of those guys catch way more than their share of the fish. I do ok. 

Wanderer of the earth. The paths are many.

[dtrs5kprs]

And don't confuse "too sensitive" with wanting a fiberglass Snoopy pole. Just that if you're a plastics guy anyway, it's easy to snatch it away from them if you're a tad early.

We could have walked across Schooner on the K's that just fiddled with it before eating it. The Falcon exacerbated the problem.

With the old Venerate, I could actually watch the tip load up, like fishing bait for eyes up north.