yesterday was the first time i used these Zman TRD baits, first thing i noticed is they are very hard to get over the barbs on the jig heads, they keep slipping off, any tricks to keep them in place on the jig

 

 

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You need a jig with a short wire keeper.  Long keepers won't work well and barbs don't work at all.  The Z man jigs are designed for them, and others work well too.  I am going with the pro series Z-man jigs now as the originals are pretty fragile, IMHO.  Other brands work well too, but the keeper has to be short and of sort of fine wire.   

Alternately, a dab of superglue on the back of the jighead where the plastic butts against it will help things stay put.

Superglue

 

You need to grab the TRD and literally pull/stretch it up over the keeper. See the 4:50 mark.

 

 

Use a different worm, all other kinds are more affordable too 

56 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Use a different worm, all other kinds are more affordable too 

Yep...and much less durable

If worse comes to worse you can heat a wire and melt a hole in them then they will push over the barb.  You may have to glue them in place.

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Use a different worm, all other kinds are more affordable too 

If you have discovered a productive bait, e.g., in my case the TRDs, then I wouldn't even consider taking them out of the rotation unless I found something even better in that bait category.  Given the time and energy most enthusiasts spend on fishing related activities, the incremental costs of TRDs are trivial.

7 minutes ago, QED said:

If you have discovered a productive bait, e.g., in my case the TRDs, then I wouldn't even consider taking them out of the rotation unless I found something even better in that bait category.  Given the time and energy most enthusiasts spend on fishing related activities, the incremental costs of TRDs are trivial.

Jigheads and worms are my main expense when it comes to fishing, it’s not trivial for me and there’s no way I’m paying double for half worms 

56 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

Yep...and much less durable

Durable enough to turn from solid to liquid 

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Durable enough to turn from solid to liquid 

I've been using them for 5 or 6 years and I've never had that happen. I had a bag of green pumpkin trds for 2 years that I fished with spring thru fall and caught probably 250 bass on that bag. Not bad for $4.

3 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

I've been using them for 5 or 6 years and I've never had that happen. I had a bag of green pumpkin trds for 2 years that I fished with spring thru fall and caught probably 250 bass on that bag. Not bad for $4.

I'm a fan of TRDs too simply because they catch more fish than the small stick baits I was previously using.  The only downside is that they don't play nice with other plastic baits, so store them in their original packaging.

18 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

I've been using them for 5 or 6 years and I've never had that happen. I had a bag of green pumpkin trds for 2 years that I fished with spring thru fall and caught probably 250 bass on that bag. Not bad for $4.

That works as long as you don’t get stuck and break off, which is impossible in some places 

 

I remember one of the bass elite pros practicing with a ned rig on pickwick and he said “I’m going to run out of jigheads if I do this”

 

durable worm doesn’t help if it’s not tied to your line anymore 

 

also a fella named ned cut zinkerz in half for his rig 

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

That works as long as you don’t get stuck and break off, which is impossible in some places 

Yep. I've been using straight braid so I get alot of my snags back.

This is the preferred keeper style of my buddies that use lots of TRD 

The sharp, short wire keepers definitely work the best on real TRDs.  Give the bait a little stretch and push as previously mentioned to get the wire to penetrate.

 

My only dislike with the wire keepers is that they sometimes poke a hole in my finger or thumb when I'm unhooking panfish that took it deeper in their mouth.

I have switched to the weedless Ned with the Victory hooks.  No keepers or glue needed.

1 hour ago, Jig Man said:

I have switched to the weedless Ned with the Victory hooks.  No keepers or glue needed.

X2...

9 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Jigheads and worms are my main expense when it comes to fishing, it’s not trivial for me and there’s no way I’m paying double for half worms 

Buy the Zinkerz for the same price and cut them in half. Double the baits. Loctite Super Glue Gel will be your best friend.

5 hours ago, Big Swimbait said:

Buy the Zinkerz for the same price and cut them in half. Double the baits. Loctite Super Glue Gel will be your best friend.

 

13 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

That works as long as you don’t get stuck and break off, which is impossible in some places 

 

I remember one of the bass elite pros practicing with a ned rig on pickwick and he said “I’m going to run out of jigheads if I do this”

 

durable worm doesn’t help if it’s not tied to your line anymore 

 

also a fella named ned cut zinkerz in half for his rig 

I don’t use any z man worms but that’s what the man himself did 

The "stretchy" tip at 4:50 in the video above should make it easier to use the genuine Z man TRD's with longer wire keepers.  Good tip.  I doubt if it will make them work well with barbs, however.  

I like a jighead with a little lead keeper on the shank. Add a tiny drop of loctite gel superglue and you're good to go until you lose it, or need to put it on a new jighead. Bait stays in place better, and gets twisted around the hook less, than with wire keeper jigs in my experience.