TOXIC

Haha. It became a staple for a lot of jobs. Drawbacks were that it smelled and you had to reapply if it got rained on.

You could use thicker but in my experience is that 12lb is a happy medium. Small enough to be a challenge and thick enough to be somewhat forgiving. ?

Follow up studies by DNR have dispelled the myth that they would decimate other species. Yes, they are invasive but so are the Blue Catfish and they have caused much more damage to the environment

In order to learn how to set up and use your baitcaster, I always recommended to my clients to start out with 12lb mono and to put a piece of electrical tape about a cast and a half deep on the spool. That way your backlash can only go so deep. Also, tighten your cast control down and use heavy baits while your learning curve improves. Then you can back it off and lighten up your lures.

Went out to the Rappahonock river here in Virginia to do some bass fishing. We had a really good day a couple of weeks ago. I’ve commented on my troubles with a chatterbait and how tough it is for me to catch anything on that bait. Well, yesterday cured that. I was the Northern Snakehead king for a day. It’s not unusual to pick up a couple when we go out but I boated 10-15 and got a few green fish as well. It was a good day and the bite totally hinged on the tide. Caught the snakeheads on chatterbaits, crankbaits, Ned and topwater. They were engulfing baits and jumping like tarpon! These are all different fish!

Haha. Reminds me of a guy that I used to work with who picked up a coke can and took a big swig before he realized it was another guys chew spit can. ???

In a past life I owned a pest control company. Wanna know what does work? Urinal blocks. Take ‘em, put them in a sock and smash them into bits with a hammer and spread them out wherever you don want Mr. Nope Rope. Had a client that couldn’t get rid of them out of a shale stacked wall, I threw about 3 handfuls into the rock and before I could get away it looked like a scene out of Indiana Jones.?

I can’t verify anything until I put in an order for some. I will be doing that soon. I’m sure someone here will get them before me. ?. As soon as I get some, I’ll give my honest opinion. At this point, I only know what I have been told and that is it is not the same. Different pour, same salt, air chambers in the bait for flotation.

If there’s on thing I have learned about the internet it’s not to take it personal. Your post wasn’t stupid.

I hate leaders but with that being said, switch to a mono leader. Setting the hook on a dropshot should never be hard enough to snap line. It should just be a sideways sweep. At least that’s how I fish it but I use straight mono.

No different than any other used boat. Meaning it all depends on how it was cared for. Biggest concern is the big motor as usual. Tritons are solid boats, they sit a little lower in the water and if you are going to be running a 19:footer on St Clair, you’ll need to keep a closer eye on the weather than if you were in a 20-21 footer. Make sure you check out all the switches live wells, bilge pump and gages and give the trailer a good going over.

The easiest way for me to remember it is if you are a pitcher you throw the ball. To pitch is to throw.

Here it is on a single console, I think it’s also on the dual consoles as well. The front pulls out (hinge in on the bottom) to deposit trash.

Exactly. When guiding, I stepped up to a 4.0 EWG hook from a 3.0 EWG hook because my clients were gut hooking too many fish. The 2 reasons that they were gut hooking them was they were uneducated and had a slow reaction time, I actually had to tell them to set the hook in some cases and the 3.0 ewg hook also went further in the basses mouth before making the thump that tells you to set the hook.

Newer Rangers have a built in trash holder at the passengers feet. My older Ranger I just use the cooler. I don’t put ice in it anyway. I just make sure the plug is in so that nothing gets into the bilge.

Agreed. I think as long as you use the same heads for all of the comparisons' you would get a fair comparison on durability.

Great write up. It will be interesting to see your comments on the new Ned Senko in comparison. I have a couple of comments/questions. I believe there was a post on here where someone quoted Mr. Ned himself and it was determined that the original/proper way to fish a Ned was a slow steady retrieve just above the bottom. Doesn’t that negate any “floating” requirements? Second, there are so many different Ned or mushroom head manufacturers now that durability can be different with the different bait holding methods. There’s straight shank, corkscrew, spike, spear and offset/weedless to name a few.

Had to laugh, the wife put out snake deterring powder around the front bushes against my advice and as I was standing there a baby black snake came right through it. ?

So what would you have thrown instead of the plastics?

Most of the guys that I know that target them with frogs use straight braid and lock down the drag. All of the ones I have caught have been on a 5 inch Senko or DShad and 8# mono. ?. We actually had to run down the big one pictured in my post with the boat.

It’s good to see you have an open mind. Those that feel durability is the only measure are missing a lot. The only thing I would disagree with is that your statement that the Ned and the Dropshot are one fish baits. Per new ownership, the new Ned Senko is more durable but I can’t tell you how much more until I try them out. I will say that my go to Ned baits, the 3 and 4 inch Senko and California Roll would catch multiple fish. The Ned heads I use are made by a friend and have a spear style bait keeper on them. I’ve caught multiple fish on multiple outings with the Shad Shape Worm on a dropshot and haven’t felt it having a durability problem. Make sure you report back on your impressions.

Since a moderator asked, I assume I won’t get reprimanded for giving out information. As soon as the bait was released, my inbox was blown up with inquiries and questions like many of you asked. I have not held this bait or seen it in person so to answer your questions, I had to pester the factory to get some more information. Here’s what I was told and I will verify everything as soon as I get them and fish them. First, many said the way they got a floating bait was to remove the salt. Per the new ownership, not true. Salt content is the same. Second, did the formula change from a Senko? Short answer is yes and it is for this bait only. How did they make it float? Answer I was given is that there are differences in the mold and formula that promote buoyancy. Is this just a cut down version of a Senko? No, it’s a totally new bait. Proper name is Ned Senko. Nothing to do with a TRD. Will it react with other plastics? I don’t know but will test it out. Is it more durable than a Senko. New ownership said it was more durable but still softer than other like baits. I am a Ned freak so I will be all over these as soon as I get mine. I promise an honest review after I use them. My current go-to Ned is either a 3 or 4 inch Senko depending on depth/current. The pros I have talked to pretty much agree that the stand up or floating characteristics of most Ned baits is overblown as most lay over in real world fishing situations. And as usual, I am not trying to sell this bait, if it works well, it will be obvious.

Yeah, why would anybody want to make a bait that works on one of the most popular fishing techniques out there right now? It’s not like anybody made a Senko style bait. ??

Depends on where I am fishing but it’s really easy for me to only fish plastics and there’s a lot of days I do. There’s so many rigging options for plastics, you can mimic most any hard bait. My 5 would be: 1. Senko 2. Dropshot 3. Ned 4. swimbait 5. fluke

Glad someone posted about this new bait. I tried and it was deemed “promotional” and my post was removed. I have a lot of information on this bait but won’t comment for fear of the thread being deleted. I guess it’s forum rules. Talk amongst yourselves?