Team9nine

Small paddletails and ST grubs are "Ned rigs" when fished Midwest Finesse style, mostly with the "straight swim" retrieve. Padon touched on it in his reply above. Several MF anglers use the Zman Slim SwimZ (paddletail), and Ned has written numerous times about using a ST (curlytail) grub.

Slightly off topic, but the whole problem here is use of the terms involved. When only locals in the area (KS/MO) coined the term and referred to "Ned rig," everyone still knew what they meant. The overall people "in the know" was still relatively small. Then Zman capitalized on the term via their marketing and their specific baits/plastic and jig heads, and everything went to hell. Jig worms, soft plastics on jig heads, etc. have been around for a long time. Ned's resurrection of the old tactics, adapted to his local waters where many of the tactics and techniques originated, is called "Midwest Finesse." Most 'Ned rig' stuff you read and watch now actually has very little to do with what Ned developed and practices. It really has become two entirely separate entities, with most people only knowing the marketed version of the story/technique/bait

Mostly marketing hype...yes, the material has a lot of benefits over traditional plastisol, but the specific aspect and application focused on in the video is but a tiny portion of the reason(s) to use it IMHO.

Got a couple friends who live down that way and fish it. Just like you said, musky and some nice bass. Decent crappie at times, too. Lots of good looking water in the area.

May get a chance at some smallies later this week, but for now, it's more small lake hopping for the time being. About 40 in 2 hours today on 2 different lakes. Sunny, hot and calm, so had to work for them. Rain in the forecast for later in the week, which would actually be nice. Might energize the fish a little.

Your poll question and what you posted are two completely different things. In the poll question/option, I'd gladly give up 3 months of bass for a new pb. Small price to pay considering it's been over 25 years since my pb, and a new one would likely have to be a dd bass to make it. As for your posted comment above, catching bass in general is more important to me. I go fishing to catch fish, and the more I catch, the happier I am. I'll just take the big ones as they come along, and not at the expense of numbers.

I'd be surprised if you're seeing any significant turnover in August. Much more likely to be some biological based phenomena; algal succession, plankton bloom, baitfish, detritus, etc. as opposed to actual water density changes, IMO.

I don't own a single one, if that gives you any idea of my opinion...

Still on the short leash for another month or so, so back to bank walking again tonight. Two dozen in about 90 minutes. Not bad considering they just did a lake treatment from the looks of it. A couple of the nicer ones, though they are all little chunkers in this place - no shortage of food for these guys.

^^ THIS ^^ Way too many variables to give specifics. Just remember that shade is just another form of break/breakline, so treat it (fish it) accordingly. -T9

Not for me to say...but good luck fishin'

Elaztech doesn't play nice with many dyes. Using colored jigheads became a way around that issue. Flo. red ("firetail") and chartreuse are the more common head colors used, though blue and orange have also seen some regular use by MF anglers. Gopher makes a wide variety of colors, and some simply use nail polish to get whatever color they like. -T9

I'd think most/many have to be to fish at that level. Just being passionate doesn't cut it. The number of even semi pro anglers I've known that have been through at least 1 divorce is well above average

I'd say it's an addiction when it starts negatively affecting other areas of your life. If you have a hard time paying the rent, or are running up big CC bills on tackle that you can't pay off; if you're calling into work sick to go fishing; if you're missing important family milestones or events because you're gone fishing; if your wife is threatening divorce; it's probably an addiction and you need to seriously consider getting help. Otherwise, if you just like spending all your free time fishing, and only blow disposable income on TW orders every other week, It's probably still just a passion.

Always hard to say for certain where things developed, especially certain terms or words we commonly use now in fishing, but having their origins dating back hundreds of years ('finesse' dates back to the 1500s). It wouldn't surprise me to see some of this stuff in use in different parts of the country at about the same time, co-developed if you will. The earliest in print use of the term in fishing I've come across was also from the early 1970s, and that was in an early Fishing Facts article, a Midwest publication. I also know George Kramer and Ned Kehde have discussed the origins of finesse, as well as Guido Hibdon and Michael Jones touching on the subject in Michael's book on finesse. In the end it doesn't matter a whole lot. As you pointed out, others have written about light line tactics well before the term was in use by anglers, even pre-dating Lucas by a couple decades, so none of the guys in question actually created "finesse" fishing. Heck, many of these same guys don't even agree on what 'finesse' is now days.

It seems and feels "oh so wrong" throwing a jig without a trailer, but if the profile is right, bass will definitely eat a swim jig without one. I've spent several days doing this to prove it to myself after a rather unorthodox fishing friend of mine matched me fish for fish one day, trailer vs. trailerless, just to prove the point. Was eye opening for me.

Feathering the line on a spin cast reel is rather easy, and I first remember learning how reading an article by Stan Fagerstrom, legendary trick caster, back in the 80s. The technique hasn't changed. Granted, the majority of persons on this board would likely never purchase such a reel, but if you've ever hung out on a general fishing message board where anglers from all walks of life come and post pics, I could certainly see a market for these. Heck, just from all the negative comments alone, I'm tempted to buy one and post a video using it on the water and catching bass

Part of the game, but if it's primarily one bait type causing the issues, I'd smash or file down the barb. Takes just a few seconds.

Long before the term "swim jig" was ever coined, we were putting them on jig heads similar to what @Turtle135 posted and swimming them around shallow cover and on structure. I was in one club that this was d**n near the only bait and presentation guys would use in tourneys because it was so effective in the right hands.

The original portable depth finder, the Lowrance Lo-K-Tor. Works as good now as it did then

For different reasons, Zman and others have inadvertently corrupted, and arguably hijacked, the entire thing. Midwest Finesse was so named to differentiate between it and other finesse tactics spawned in Japan or out west. It's roots stem back to the 1950s and 1960s, and later the 1970s in the upper Midwest, arguably before many of the west coast techniques were in play. The modern adaptations are obviously more recent. Don't confuse anything Zman or most others refer to as "Ned rigging" with the philosophy and practice of Midwest Finesse

- Fluorocarbon sucks - Braid is great, with or without a leader - Gliss is bliss - Yozuri Hybrid is better than all of them - Only Catt still throws mono - Problem is, there is no such thing as monofilament anymore. It's either a monomer, polymer, hybrid, copolymer or some other technical variation. Don't worry if you get them confused and use the wrong term; you will be corrected - Everybody fishes or throws at structure these days even though nobody can agree on its definition - You're either a practitioner of Midwest Finesse or a Ned Rig thrower, but likely not both - Everybody wants to know what the best " " is, but it turns out opinions suggest that everything is the best to someone - Everyone likes to know what your 1, 3, 5, 10 best lures (or models within a lure type) are, but in reality, nobody asking or answering the question has that few lures, or could ever live with such limited options; but it's always fun to dream anyway - Could someone please explain the relationship between IPT, gear ratio, leverage, and bicycles again? - Reel drags are the greatest modern innovation since channel lock pliers

There are plenty of studies on bass in this regard, and it is quite apparent that many can learn (become conditioned) over time in certain situations. As for terminology, at least in most psych classes, conditioning is considered a type (or subform) of learning. Back on the bass, studies both in the lab and field tend to bear out that; - bass are most susceptible to a presentation the first time they are exposed to it - if continually exposed day after day, catch rates will quickly plummet - bass, at least in the lab can learn and remember, for very long periods of time, certain artificial lures, and can't be fooled into hitting them again even months later - in every population, some bass are more susceptible and some bass less susceptible to being caught. Some will be caught many times, while others may never be caught. It's a typical bell curve. - Some bass are more prone to hit certain presentations than others, almost appearing to have 'favorites' I've spent a lot of time fishing small subdivision ponds over the years, and have seen firsthand how easy it is to overpressure fish with repeated, specific presentations. It's much better to rotate ponds, or rotate presentations within a pond over a period of days or weeks. It's one of the big reasons I think anglers who bring everything with them and expose a majority of the bass to a majority of the presentations, trip after trip, are likely only hurting their overall success and catch rates in the long run. It's much better (IMO) to fish a single presentation on any given day, and change that presentation the next time you go, eventually cycling back to the original.

The fish are either in the shallows, the deep water, or somewhere in between If that doesn't make sense, or comes across as a smart aleck answer, do a little reading of Buck Perry's material. On any given day, fish are biting somewhere in the lake, but often we can only speculate as to where. By having some type of process you follow to eliminate certain sections of the lake in an orderly manner, you'll eventually arrive at the fish AND understand why. Otherwise, you're likely "just fishing" and won't learn near as much from the experience. JMHO