Glaucus

Personally, I've noticed that the bigger they are, the darker they are.

It's probably harder in real life to tell your friend on the boat that they can't use any of your stuff. Easy to say on here, harder to do face to face because friends are people you care for. I think it says more about the character of a man asking how to go about it than it does about a man saying tell him to bug off. Asking how to do it implies feelings and humanity.

Went a different route on the rod. Placed my order for a decent Ned Rig setup.

Yep. I'm happy to do it. Not so much if it was simply a bum pattern.

My fishing buddy is less experienced and much further behind on the tackle he owns, being that this is his third season ever. He'll sometimes ask to use this or that lure. If he liked it, the next time we go out, he's bought his own of whatever lure or plastic. He also pays for lunch and beer. He's not using my stuff because he doesn't want to buy his own; he uses my stuff to determine what he likes and needs to buy - and he does it.

Just checking in. No pics of today's adventure due to being directly in the water (phone, water, bad). Buddy and I have been wading for 7 miles. Taking a break at the moment. I'm sitting at 61 Smallmouth and 4 Largemouth, as well as a couple Crappie and Rock Bass. Been slaying it with the Ned Rig. Not that I'm counting, ha!

And nothing of value was lost. Pizz poor politically correct decisions and a pizz poor selection.

Ditto. That infamous fall feed happens a month earlier than what is talked about around these parts.

They don't have the Eagle. How is FishUSA? They have it. P.S. First time ordering rod and reel online. Always gone to the store. My local DSG fishing department has gone to being absolute trash, I now live 2 hours away from BPS, and the local mom and pop tackle shop doesn't carry any rods I'm interested in at the moment.

Sometimes it's not possible. I'm talking about rare cases. But there are some cases where the hook is removable and I've caught such fish and removed the hook. Fully alive, fully healthy.

Not always. I've removed gut hooks that have caused massive bleeding and tearing, only to have them die soon after, as I find them floating shallow. Then I caught some with gut hooks, fully alive and healthy. Stopped removing gnarly gut hooks like the kind that killed fish. Can't really say, but when I've caught fat gut hooked fish, and when I don't see floaters in small ponds after gut hooking fish, I'd say in some cases leaving the hook prevents death. Key words being gnarly and sometimes.

I realize my specifics aren't specific at all. That's just the Ned. Anywhere bass are located, there's nothing special you have to do. People use it as a last resort. The past month, I've used it as my start and kept using it because it works. Check out the Fishing Report forum and the Latest Catch thread. Big Smallies, big Larries, it don't matter. It catches them all, catches the dinks,catches the bigs; it just catches them. The inspiration for my "has bass fishing become expensive and complicated for no reason" thread. There are some techniques that just "do it" but we dedicate 12 setups to other things any ways.

Anywhere you know has bass. It's the least complicated thing brother. Swim it, hop it Ned will get it done anywhere they are.

Ned is amazing at work, at home, at the gym, at the restaurant, at the bank. Ned is Ned and we all strive to be like Ned. He never fails. Ned wins at life

Let me tell you bout my best friend (Ned)

Why yes, yes there is. I've been looking into a $100-$120 setup for the Ned Rig, particularly for river Smallmouth, and I was about to settle on the Lew's Laser SG1 rod. Then I learned about the Fenwick Eagle rod, which they do not have, for $10 more. Apparently this is a good and famous rod for the price, and will do me very well, but they don't have it; instead they have the HMX which gets horrible reviews and it's $20 more than the Eagle. Welp, I was hoping to order a President 25 and a rod from the same place, but looks like I'll be ordering directly from each manufacturer.

Or if trebles have completely sewn their mouths shut.

I suffer from PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Fishing is by far the best therapy for me. Everything "goes away" when I'm on the water.

A couple of weeks ago I caught a river Smallie with a catfish hook in its throat and at least a foot of line hanging out of its mouth. The hook was rusty and the line was brown and green and black and all kinds of gnarly. It had been there awhile. That fish was still fat, still eating, still aggressive, and still very much alive.

Ok, so now that we have a consensus on this ML rod, my next question is, do you all think the lure rating is good, or should I get a ML with a lure rating of 1/8oz-X?

If it matters, according to my calculations, the total weight of a 1/20oz, 1/15oz, or 1/10oz head and TRD is roughly 1/6oz, 1/5oz, and 1/4oz. Earlier in the year I picked up a M/F 2 piece Pflueger Monarch combo to beat up at the river with the Ned Rig. It's now time to expand to something a little more suitable and durable.

I'm trying to decide on which rod to get for a dedicated Ned Rig setup. I can't decide on whether or not I should get the 6'6" ML/F (1/16oz-5/16oz) or the 6'6" M/F (1/8oz-3/8oz). Please note that I only want opinions on those two rods. Thank you. The rod is the Lew's Laser SG1: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Lews_Laser_SG1_Spinning_Rods/descpage-LSGS.html If I get the ML, it will get a size 25 President. If I get the M, it will get a size 30 President. I use the 1/15oz and 1/10oz ShroomZ jigheads and Finesse TRD plastics exclusively. I fish the Ned Rig in rivers for Smallmouth and the occasional Largemouth that hits it. I may use 1/20oz ShroomZ jigheads at some point.

Darn Russians interfering with our fishing.

Sounds like Ned Rig time. Get the right color and when you see him, be incredibly slow and dead stick even. Light fluorocarbon. He might not resist that easy morsel.

My shirt and since I don't wear sandpaper, I don't have that problem...