I've always used a fast lure when bass fishing.  Squarebill crankbaits, chatterbaits, spinners, top water frogs.  A buddy said I needed to try the Ned Rig.  So I bought some mushroom jigs and some Zman TRD's.  Tried it this morning in my favorite pond and it sucked.  The whole let it fall, pop it up and let it fall and sit thing was BORING.  45 minutes and nothing.  And it seemed to get hung up on timber alot.

Out of frustration, I started swimming it and instantly caught a 3 lb fish.  So I switched to a TX rig senko and started swimming that around and started catching fish again.

Am I doing it wrong?  Am I just impatient because I'm used to faster action?  Seems to be all the rage but so far I'm not impressed.

Btw...caught my best one of the summer after sunrise on a hollow body frog.  Over 6lbs and 22in.   Attached File

Ned rig is a finesse presentation for when fish are being tight lipped. You, like me, sound like a power fisherman or a "winder." You like moving baits so the mentality you have to have to effectively fish a Ned rig has to be different. Like I said, a Ned rig is a finesse presentation and as is the case with most finesse presentations, you have to be VERY patient and almost force feed the fish. Moving baits are targeting aggressive fish and creating reaction bites. That's the polar opposite of finesse fishing and using a Ned rig. If it were as easy as simply tying it on and casting it out and the fish devour it, every lure company in the world would be billion dollar companies but that's not the case. It's just the bait. The angler is still a big part of a particular lure's success. The lure can't do it by itself.

Both applications have their times and places where they will outshine everything else. Being able to do both will only make you a better fisherman.

Well, tried it again this morning and it worked better.  Caught about a dozen small fish and a couple toads.  I just has to put down the frog and make myself slow down.  Think it helped that I had my son too and was fishing slower with him.  Gonna keep working it.

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Nice!!

Good approach. I'll do that too. If there's a lure or a technique I'm wanting to figure out and learn how to use, I'll take one rod with that particular lure and use only that technique.

Congrats!

Caught 38 bass, 3 crappie, and 1 5lb flathead this morning using the ned rig.  I think I've got it figured out now...

BTW...all those fish were with one Zman TRD bait.  Blown away by how durable those things are.

Man, if that was a Yamamoto bait, you’d be out like $50 on this trip alone.

I have a couple friends who are fast bait fishers, and both times I've convinced them to try a texas rig or a ned, they hated it and weren't catching fish right next to me while I was catching them left and right.

So I started watching them...They were getting bit, they just didn't know it.  I watched the line jump several times on the fall, they never set the hook.  I watched the line move sideways, again, no hook set.  They either weren't watching the line, or they just didn't understand what line movement was a fish.

First guy I saw the line jump for the third time, so I told him to set the hook, he did, caught a 4 pounder.  Taught them what to look for in the line, and they were catching them right along side me.  They love finesse fishing now, for the same reasons I do.  It really puts you in closer proximity to the fish and lets you feel what's going on.  Not just getting reaction strikes and the fish hooking themselves.(which is fine sometimes, but not my style)  All my big fish have come on texas rig...a few have come on top water.

You don't get hung as much on a boat with a
ned rig because it's more for vertical jigging, if you want to get hung up a little less, throw a neko rig. Basically a modified wacky rick with a nail weight. Trd's are the best for the ned rig though, put a little super glue on the collar, you can fish all day with one.