The dirtiest water I have ever fished was green pea soup in the summer time and even then I had luck on black ned rigs and worms (my ned setup pic below), would these baits also work in chocolate water that is known to come with spring time or would I need something with more action to get those fish to bite? 

Pea soup green water and muddy water are two different animals. Only one way to find out what the fish will want on a given day. I never do well with muddy water and finesse presentations, zero vis green water, sometimes.

When fishing muddy or turbid water, you will do better with lures that give off vibrations. Paddle tail worms as opposed to straight, lipless crank baits and spinnerbaits.  Fish will be close to cover and won't chase your bait.  Make multiple casts to the same target.  Try different speeds until you find what works. 

I saw a video where KVD was talking about a particular tourney where he was paired up with a Japanese angler.  The water was chocolate milk so KVD was throwing baits with vibration like most people would and he caught some fish.  The Japanese angler was using a tiny translucent colored soft plastic on a DS and handily out fished KVD.  Point being our perception of muddy water is very different from that of the fish, which makes it really difficult to say this bait will always be better then that 1 in a given situation.  

Ive caught fish in frigid muddy water on trds with a rattle in them.  Not sure if the rattle made a difference or not.    

   My muddy water mantra (spring or otherwise) is "water displacement".  My junior varsity choice is "thump". Rattles don't make much difference to me.

   My idea of "finesse" is to downsize my spinners, spoons or spinnerbaits. ?               jj

I regularly catch bass in muddy water on small ned-type plastics. Chocolate milk? Not as much. Maybe try adding a blade to the back of your bait like this 

I like a neko rigged black senko.

Prey animals don't make themselves easier for the bass to find just because the water is dirty and bass still manage to find them.

 

That is a massive hook on that Ned rig too. That's the kind of head I imagine most people are using that complain about Ned rig getting snagged up all the time. A lighter head and smaller hook will snag less and get you more bites, especially in a pond fishing situation.

for me it’s not so much what i throw but where i throw it, and that’s tighter to cover.

Maybe try some Bitsy Jigs or micro jigs. Dark colors. Maybe a solid black or solid olive Bandit 200 or something like that. Maybe a black or black and blue spinnerbait. I don’t fish large spinnerbaits, SK and Booyah have smaller versions I throw. 
 

Or maybe don’t over think it and throw what you would on a normal day. Still a bit cold yet. You’re North Jersey?

I’ve caught a ton of bass on black and blue creature baits not much larger than a TRD in water with less than 10 inches of visibility. A menace is my go to and may actually be shorter than a TRD

20 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

I saw a video where KVD was talking about a particular tourney where he was paired up with a Japanese angler.  The water was chocolate milk so KVD was throwing baits with vibration like most people would and he caught some fish.  The Japanese angler was using a tiny translucent colored soft plastic on a DS and handily out fished KVD.  Point being our perception of muddy water is very different from that of the fish, which makes it really difficult to say this bait will always be better then that 1 in a given situation.  

Ive caught fish in frigid muddy water on trds with a rattle in them.  Not sure if the rattle made a difference or not.    

Yes. I do think every body of water is different, but I think that bodies of water that are consistently muddy in some ways shouldn't be treated the same as waters that are muddy that are normally clear. If the fish aren't used to the low visibility, then some help given to the fish to locate your bait can be useful. But if they are used to the low visibility, I think they need less help than we give them credit for. At the home pond in my profile photo, i do the best with natural colors and presentations.

12 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Prey animals don't make themselves easier for the bass to find just because the water is dirty and bass still manage to find them.

 

That is a massive hook on that Ned rig too. That's the kind of head I imagine most people are using that complain about Ned rig getting snagged up all the time. A lighter head and smaller hook will snag less and get you more bites, especially in a pond fishing situation.

Really? I tried the finesse shroomz and it seems kinda small for the profile of the trd. Maybe I'm wrong lol. Hook in the pic is a 1/10oz pro shroomz hook. Would the finesse shroomz work better? 

53 minutes ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

Really? I tried the finesse shroomz and it seems kinda small for the profile of the trd. Maybe I'm wrong lol. Hook in the pic is a 1/10oz pro shroomz hook. Would the finesse shroomz work better? 

The hook I pour mine on is a #2, and I have some on #6s for certain baits. The pro shroomz is a 2/0 hook, that's a huge difference. I haven't used the Zman heads, but a good head with a good hook will hold any bass you hook with the proper equipment and fighting technique. I've landed flathead catfish over 20lbs with mine. I don't use a head heavier than 1/16oz except for very rare situations either.

23 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

The hook I pour mine on is a #2, and I have some on #6s for certain baits. The pro shroomz is a 2/0 hook, that's a huge difference. I haven't used the Zman heads, but a good head with a good hook will hold any bass you hook with the proper equipment and fighting technique. I've landed flathead catfish over 20lbs with mine. I don't use a head heavier than 1/16oz except for very rare situations either.

What would you recommend then for ponds/smaller lakes? The finesse shroomz? 

5 hours ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

What would you recommend then for ponds/smaller lakes? The finesse shroomz? 

I use owner blockhead 1/32 in ponds. 

9 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Yes. I do think every body of water is different, but I think that bodies of water that are consistently muddy in some ways shouldn't be treated the same as waters that are muddy that are normally clear. If the fish aren't used to the low visibility, then some help given to the fish to locate your bait can be useful. But if they are used to the low visibility, I think they need less help than we give them credit for. At the home pond in my profile photo, i do the best with natural colors and presentations.

I agree

7 hours ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

What would you recommend then for ponds/smaller lakes? The finesse shroomz? 

It might be a good idea to get some EWG ned heads, especially for ponds.  I avoided them thinking the EWG wouldnt allow a TRD to stand up as well, but surprisingly the bait stood up just as well.  You dont have to constantly clean nearly as much and snags are greatly reduced.  Ive tried the finesse bulletz, Flatlands EWG ned heads and Lifteds EWG ned.  I found the Lifted head to be the best for the TRD sized baits.  The Flatlands is a good head, but the 1/0 is a little big IMO for TRDs but good for hula stickz and other 4" baits.  

29 minutes ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

It might be a good idea to get some EWG ned heads, especially for ponds.  I avoided them thinking the EWG wouldnt allow a TRD to stand up as well, but surprisingly the bait stood up just as well.  You dont have to constantly clean nearly as much and snags are greatly reduced.  Ive tried the finesse bulletz, Flatlands EWG ned heads and Lifteds EWG ned.  I found the Lifted head to be the best for the TRD sized baits.  The Flatlands is a good head, but the 1/0 is a little big IMO for TRDs but good for hula stickz and other 4" baits.  

is it possible to fish the TRD around riprap? I have a lake near my place that has some on a dam.

I use a Trd on a Tokyo rig with 2 1/8 oz weights for noise. Works pretty well

My favorite bait to use in muddy water is a black jig with a black trailer.

3 hours ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

is it possible to fish the TRD around riprap? I have a lake near my place that has some on a dam.

Riprap is predominately what I fish mine around.

 

If you're snagging on rocks, you're letting it sink too long. It's not a bottom dragging bait like a shakyhead in the rocks. This is last spring and how I fish them on riprap. Let them do the initial fall to get close to the bottom, and then it never stops moving, unless a fish makes it stop like this one did. This is a 1/16oz head with a #2 hook and a 10,000 Fish Sukoshi bug, which is way bulkier than a TRD. Still had no issues hooking up.

 

14 hours ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

is it possible to fish the TRD around riprap? I have a lake near my place that has some on a dam.

Absolutely.  You can fish a ned rig anywhere and like a senko there isn't a wrong way to fish them.  You may lose some, but thats inevitable.  

11 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

how I fish them on riprap. Let them do the initial fall to get close to the bottom, and then it never stops moving, 

 

Explain the never stop moving part? How would that work from the bank then? Hoping it over rocks? I understand the concept from fishing on a boat though lol. 

Yeah I don’t have great luck with Ned from bank in rip rap. Lost more than some. I save my Ned rig for ponds or places I can get to that aren’t so rocky.