News & Stories

By Mike Frisch

The Ned Rig technique involving fishing a small plastic bait on a small jig when chasing bass.  Here in the northern reaches of the country, we have been using plastic worms of various shapes on small jig heads for years when casting to bass that live on the deep weedlines of many lakes.  “Jig-worming” is basically the same technique as the Ned Rig, though jig-wormers often use bigger plastics.

 

Regardless the name, a plastic on a jig cast to weeds and allowed to slowly settle in and then worked with various pops and shakes back toward the boat will produce bass in good numbers on many Midwestern lakes.  As a Minnesota fishing guide, this is a “go to” method for getting lots of bites from bass.  Plus, northern pike. big panfish, and the occasional walleye eat Ned Rigs fished on weedlines too!

 

Most of my plastic worm and small jig head fishing over the years involved baits in the 4- to 7-inch size range.  I must admit, however, that as our waters have cleared and fishing pressure for bass increases on many lakes, smaller Ned Rig plastics have taken a very prominent place in my tackle box.  In fact, more times than not, weedline fishing for me starts with jigs tipped with the smaller plastics .

 

The deep weedlines that are often fished with this method are the outside edges of weeds that rim the perimeters of lots of lakes, grow down the drop-off edges, and eventually fade away as the water deepens and light penetration decreases.  Those weed bands and edges often are present on shallower off-shore sunken islands and humps too.

 

Finding fish on these deep weedlines often involves actually fishing down an edge until a school of fish is encountered.  Some anglers prefer to fish Ned Rigs down the edges looking for fish, while others use faster fishing methods involving “moving” baits like crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and vibrating jigs to locate fish schools.  Once found, the Ned Rig is a great way to slow up and really “work over” an area and school to maximize bite numbers.

 

Schools can often be found in the summer relating to points or turns in the weedline, though other changes along the edge like variations in weed type or bottom composition changes can be key spots too.  It’s good advice to mark fish-holding spots on GPS as productive spots often hold fish throughout the summer season well into fall.

 

Small jig “stand up” style jig heads like the Tour Grade Ned Rig Head in the 1/8-ounce size are often preferred. My favorite plastics to fish on those jigs have quickly become the new Ned Ocho and the Rage Ned Cut-R Worm. These baits come in a variety of colors, get bit under just about any fishing conditions, and their textures usually allow for positive hooksets too.  Various colors will produce and it often pays to experiment to find the best color pattern, though green pumpkin and the dirt patterns are two favorites.

 

The right baits are important to Ned Rigging as is fishing those baits on the right rod, reel, and fishing line set up.  Because this is a technique that usually works best when fishing light line, I often tie an 8-pound fluorocarbon leader into a small diameter braided mainline.   This combination allows for good sensitivity and hook-setting power when making long casts to weeds.  

 

Ned rigs on light line also usually fish best on lightweight, sensitive spinning rod and reel combos. The Lew’s TP1 Black Speed Stick “finesse” model works great for this style rigging and their Custom Pro Speed Spin reel in the TLC2000 model is the perfect size for Ned Rigging and features a silky smooth drag system too.

 

There is no perfect fishing method that matches all fishing situations.  If you want to get bit by a bunch of bass in the summer, however, it’s hard to beat a Ned Rig fished on the deep weedline.  In fact, using this technique with the suggestions above might just lead to the best fishing action of the summer on your next fishing trip!

 

As always, good luck on the water and remember to include a youngster in your next outdoors adventure!

 

Mike Frisch hosts the popular Fishing the Midwest TV series.  Visit www.fishingthemidwest to see more.   

 

Photo 1 – These two happy anglers found Ned Rigging success on the deep weedline on a recent fishing trip.

CRANKBAITS IN THE SUMMER

 

By Bob Jensen

 

In the summer months, the water is warm, the fish are hungry, and there is a lot of food in the water for the fish to eat.  The predator fish have a lot of options on their menu, so if we want to get them to bite the bait on the end of our line, we need to show them something that appeals to them.  With so much real food in the water for the predators, making our bait more appealing can be a challenge.  That’s why I like to use crankbaits in the summer, especially when it comes to walleyes and largemouth bass.  Following are some ideas for making your crankbait attractive to walleyes and largemouth.

In the summer, my favorite way to figure out what the walleyes want is by trolling a crankbait, or better yet, trolling several crankbaits.  When you’re fishing an area that allows multiple lines per angler, get as many crankbaits out there as allowed.

Crankbaits come in a wide variety of shapes, colors, actions, and sizes. There’s a reason for that:  Sometimes the fish want a particular shape, color, action, or size.  We need to give them what they want, and the best way to figure out what they want is to show them several shapes, colors, actions, and sizes.

Walleyes generally prefer longer, thinner profile baits.  Sometimes they like a bait with a fast wobble, other times a bait with a slower wobble will be more appealing.  In two line states, if there are three of us in the boat, we’ll have six lines in the water, and to start, they’ll all have a different bait unless we’ve got current info that one bait is performing better.  We’ll probably have a Hornet on half the lines and a Lucky Shad on the others.  These are both outstanding walleye baits, but they certainly look and act differently in the water.  If the water is clear, we’ll have some baits that are bright in color and others that are more natural appearing.  In stained water, we’ll probably start with all bright baits.  We’ll separate them with Off Shore in-line planer boards.  This is the most efficient way of presenting them to the walleyes.  When the fish show a preference, we’ll start switching baits.  By working in this manner, we can really dial in to what the fish want.

Largemouth bass are a different deal.  We’ll be casting to them along deep weedlines mostly.  It’s really hard to troll effectively along a weedline.  There are points and corners and such that make a trolling pass ineffective.  Your bait will be either fouled in the weeds or in unproductive water too much of the time.

Largemouth bass generally prefer a shorter, fatter crankbait.  Bass eat a lot of shorter, fatter baitfish, so it’s good to show them a bait that resembles their prey.  Bass will certainly eat longer, thinner baits like we use for walleyes, but put the odds in your favor and start with the crankbait that looks most like their prey.

However, just like the walleye baits, most of the shorter, fatter baits have different characteristics.  If two anglers are fishing, they should be throwing baits that are different in action, color, and size.  Maybe have one angler throw a deep-running bait and the other use a bait that doesn’t run quite as deep.  Bluegill, perch, shad, and crayfish are good colors to use, but blue/chartreuse is a color that doesn’t resemble much in the way of baitfish, but it catches lots of bass.  Keep experimenting with colors until the fish show you what they want.

Crankbaits are outstanding summer fish-catchers.  If you give them a try and keep these ideas in mind, you’ll learn for yourself just how effective they can be.

 

     PHOTO #1:  The Hornet on the left and the Lucky Shad on the right are outstanding walleye catchers, but they are very different in appearance and action.

     PHOTO #2:  The KVD crankbait on the left is a shape that largemouth bass usually go for, while the Lucky Shad on the right is more of a walleye shape.

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