Been fishing the ned rigs for several seasons now and it will catch fish! Last trip out, I gassed about half the bites I had with jumps and mystery unhooking. I always have fished with a weed guard and I'm thinking that makes for a poor hookset. Can't really rock em' using 6# test. So how many of you fish the Ned without a weed guard?
No weedguard 99% of the time
No weed guard for me. My hook up ratio without them is nearly perfect. If you’re getting hung a lot then use a lighter head. I use 20lb braid to an 8lb fluoro leader. I also used straight 6lb with good results though too
No weed guard and 7lb floro
Red Sox in 6!
^^^^^this^^^^^^Originally Posted by KMcClure
No weed guard here, if you’re getting hung up lighten up the head weight IMO.
No weedguard
I use both, but the ones with no weed-guard are better for hook sets. I use the weed guard around a lot of down tree/limbs, and brush under docks.
No weedguard if you can help it at all. Only use a weedguard on mine when skipping them around docks or otherwise fishing them in wood.
Advice above to use a lighter head if you’re getting snagged up is spot on!
2011 Skeeter ZX225
225 Yamaha HPDI Series 2
Minn Kota Ultrex 112 52"
Console: HDS 16 Carbon
Bow: HDS 12 Carbon, Solix 12 G2, Mega 360, Garmin 106 SV, LVS 34
I use a weedguard all the time. Going lighter doesn't work with 30k cfs flow out of the dam
Has anyone tried Flatlands Custom Tackle Weedless Ned Heads ?
I would use joey’s Ned heads but can’t use lead in NH.
Red Sox in 6!
weedguard all the time here in the river with current and large rocks
2022 Hog Island Skiff
Johnson 70/40 jet
Bouncin' off rocks, and catching the smallies.
Potomac River Smallmouth Guide
Owner of Potomac Custom Tackle
Yep!
I'll get back to agreeing with you DrewFlu! Certain docks and wood are the only time I consider using a weedguard.
Interesting that you guys fishing in current are finding the weedguard helps. We don't have much of that around my area, unless I'm fishing for other species. I would've figured the jighead would wedge between rocks more often than the hook snagged a rock. Guess that's not the case? Can you river guys explain some more how the weedguard makes a difference? Honestly would like to know.
Having grown up nearby, I know where JoshKeller is doing at least a good portion of his fishing, and I'm guessing where HeavyDuty is fishing as well. "Large rocks" is probably an understatement in a lot of cases, and even if not, a lot of those rocks are irregularly shaped with large crevices in them and in between them as opposed to forming a nice, uniform cobble like you'll see in a lot of other places. It's the geography of the area resulting from ancient plate techtonics, and the fact that the rivers are really old and have dug through multiple layers formed over millions of years. You end up with a mixture of multiple different types of rock which I suppose erode differently leading to all the irregularities. It's the same thing that can make floating or rafting these rivers very dangerous when there are big elevation changes mixed in.
The jig head itself gets wedged then rolls over and the hook point digs in. A weedguard definitely makes a difference there.
2011 Skeeter ZX225
225 Yamaha HPDI Series 2
Minn Kota Ultrex 112 52"
Console: HDS 16 Carbon
Bow: HDS 12 Carbon, Solix 12 G2, Mega 360, Garmin 106 SV, LVS 34
I don't really know why it makes a difference on rocks where I fish but it does. Less hangups and more pop offs when they do get hung. Also there ends up being a bunch of wood washing down river than hangs up in the rocks
Adding to the above, current speeds in those places are a lot faster than what we'd see in the Midwest. That adds to this problem of the jig head rolling over and wedging the hook point just due to the additional force of that current.
2011 Skeeter ZX225
225 Yamaha HPDI Series 2
Minn Kota Ultrex 112 52"
Console: HDS 16 Carbon
Bow: HDS 12 Carbon, Solix 12 G2, Mega 360, Garmin 106 SV, LVS 34
That does make more sense now guys. Thanks for clarifying.
In my area, the snaggiest rocky areas tend to be riprap on bridges and dams. On a scale of snagginess, they are far from smooth cobblestone, but shy of broken concrete and rebar.But since we don't have current to deal with, we can get away with going to a lighter head.
Wood is definitely the bane of an exposed hook, and we lose a rig or two to those occasionally.
You guys who are weedless fans may want to keep an eye on ICAST. There might be something interesting.
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Last edited by mdhunter; 05-24-2018 at 04:11 PM.
Well in actual weeds my weedless shroomz get caught more bring in more weeds than the non-weedless shroomz of the same weight.
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