HookRz

Keepers, smeepers! Superglue should always be in your Ned box, whether you are true midwest finesse fishing (magic!) or using heavier heads....rediscovering the jigworm.

Kinda strange replying to my own post, but the bait described is still my number one throw walleye bait that I fish after dark. I toss it off Lake Erie beaches at night on Lake Erie beaches in the Spring when the water is flat. Usually hookup with big Smallmouth, and occasionally steelhead and Brown trout. It's a bad boy!

I don't know about cranks but I was cutting and altering the lip on Rapala jointed J13 floating minnows 35 years ago to create what are now called wake baits. Now that I think back I should have applied fo a patent!

Black and dark green pumpkin skirt, dark green pumpkin, black, or June bug trailer. Yup, june big, cuz no else around here throws it. I use it on a green pumpkin 1/8 th oz brown hair jig in the Smallie creeks too.

These guys are just salesmen. I'll bet if they weren't paid to shill products most of them would have rods from a variety of manufacturers and very few if any would be from Quantum or Abu.

Up my way bass fishing usually is multi-species fishing by default, and vice-versa. I do a lot of spring shore casting for Walleye off the Lake Erie beaches, and always end up catching a few big Smallies and I've caught walleye, lake trout and steelhead fishing for SM out on the big lake. Inland I've caught 5 pound largemouth on tiny panfish jigs and the biggest crappie of my life flipping a 1/2 oz jig and craw in the pads. Not complaining. It's all good!

A lot of the smaller natural lakes here in NW Pa turned over early. Almost embarrassed by the number of bass I caught a week or so ago using jigworms on the deepest, greenest, weedlines I could find. Light heads, snap it off a stalk then let it slowly fall. Everyone else was complaining. Since then the warm spell has Fish moved shallow, almost like a second Spring. This post got me thinking. You rarely read about turnover in bass media. Probably cuz reservoir impoundments with current don't really turn over in the classic sense. Recognizing turnover and post turnover used to be 101 basic, for fishing for any species. It's the tyranny of bass pro mentality. At this time of year, they generally fish somewhere warmer, in impoundments, or on huge natural lakes that turn over late.

St. Croix MLXF or MXF. Anything from The Avid series on up, according to your budget. Great creek/kayak rods. Super for deep semi-vertical finesse or skipping docks too! Wish it came in the Avid X.

I'm betting on the FK, unless you balance out the handle. Frankly, my Avid X MXF 6'8" with a Ci4 2500 was the "hero" rod today. Fishing jigworms on outside weedlines was the ticket. It has about 3/8 oz. added to the tail end. Maybe a touch more. When you pick it up vertically you notice the weight. Put it in fishing position it seems to float in your hand. More so than with just a heavier reel. I wish I had experience with the particular rod you have. Closest thing I have is a 2 piece Avid X MLF. Its got a Shimano Saros 2500 on it. Didn't add any weight and it's fine. Pretty sweet trunk rod in the company car.

The Ci4 is a great reel. But if you value a balanced rod the FK is the way to go. Or add weight by tricking out the rear grip. St. Croix succumbed to the bass market when they put out the X. Love the guide train. Hate the short split grip. Totally tip heavy with the Ci4, even in the shorter lengths. Targeted bass marketing, selling what it "kewl" has made tackle buying a mine field.

Leftie.

SK Zero or ZMan Zinker. Nothing nearly comes even close in durability. Eventually they float but you can always use a weighted whacky head. Or...cut them in half for the traditional Midwest Finesse bait. Truth be told most of my Zinkers get chopped before they see whacky action.

For frogs and pitching/flipping heavy veggies I use 12# mono with a 75 yard 50# braid leader.

I would go St.Croix. The only Dobyns I ever got to check out were the old champions...and I would take the Mojo over those.

Condom and bikini top while trolling walleyes on Lake Erie. Both on the same pass!

Doesn't this deaden the sensitivity? It seems it would have the same effect as a silencer on a bowstring, that is, dampening vibration.

None. Not yet. But when after reading this I'll try one out given the chance! This is why I joined the forum!

For me always, except I thick weed cover. Punching, Frogging. But even in Finesse situations in not using a leader because the fish might see the braid. IRS for abrasion resistance. And I use actual flouro leader not the flouro line blended for casting. Real Flouro leader material is so much thinner, stronger, and abrasion resistant. It seems in the South, away from the Salmon, Trout, Steelhead, and fly fishing world folks think Floro line and leader are the same thing.

Even low test braid is amazingly strong, and the thin diameter cuts through the water better for Finesse presentations. Try fishing a light hair jig Ned, 1/16 oz tube deep or in current with 20# braid and you'll have a have a five foot bow in your line. Less affected by wind too. I often use 6# braid with a 10-12# leader. The leader always breaks befor the braid. The only braid I run is 6-10# for Finesse, and 50-65# for Bubba fishing.

For me it depends where I'm throwing it and the size of the fish. Anything from a flipping stick to a short 6'3' medium light spinning rod. Some examples of rods I use for "traditional" open hook tubes, all spinning, without any brand shilling. Lots of companies make great rods. Lake Erie. 7'3" MHF for long casting. 6'8" MXF for more vertical presentations. Inland lakes. The 6'8" MXF or a 6'9" MLXF, depending on cover. 6' 3" MLXF for docks. Small creeks. 6'9" LF or the 6'3" MLXF if overhanging brush is an issue. Big Rivers. 7'6" MLXF. Braid and appropriate weght Flouro leader for abrasion resistance. As always I'm using true leader material, not flouro designed to be cast. It's much tougher and thinner per pound test.

Not me. I want the rod in my dominant hand. You're mileage may vary.

A-Jay nailed it. There are other good ones, and some other real good ones like Daiwa. But the to tell the truth other than maybe the top grade Lews and Abus most other casting reel are all the same. Over time, Junk.

Most of the Big Lake Erie Smallie seem to disapear in summer. Some hangon deeper structure but the easy 100 fish days with lots of 4-6 pounders come to an end. But walleye trolling you can suddenly have multiple hook ups of big Smallmouth...always big ones...suspended 45' 65' deep ove 85' to 100'+. Is is there a traditional bass method that would catch them better or at all? I doubt it. It seems like small pods of fish spread over hundreds of square miles of water.

It won't work. Don't try it Forget he even mentioned it.

If you like the Ned Rig try the original Midwest Finesse tactics Kedhe brought back from the past. . The commercial "Ned" is primary school stuff. The light jig small trailer "no feel" technique is never meant to hit bottom except for a few specialized retrieves. The light doll fly, slider, hair jigs, and small lightweight thin body tubes were original baits I fished using the system...40 years ago. Any one remember a bait called maybe the "little John"? 1/32 and 1/16 oz head with a hackle collar...three inch worm trailer...advertizized in Fishing Facts magazine in the late Seventies" I would say that was my first Ned. Warning: There is a learning curve: Unless you've fished it long before the half Senko type bait came along, it will take time to master. But it will be well worth it. No-feel is the key. Knowing exactly where you jig is and what it's doing is hard, but something anyone can learn. Magic!