I’ve always been under the impression lighter is better but saw a video with Gussy saying go with 3/16 in 10ft or less… 1/4 in 10-20ft and 3/8 or 5/16 for anything deeper than 20ft.. Just curious on what you guys think or if you guys agree or disagree with him..

We fish St Clair and for whatever reason we find the heavier ned heads work better on the smallmouth. We basically follow the Gussy recommendation and find it successful. I would say it out fishes the lighter set-up 2:1. If it's slick calm we might give the lighter weights a try but usually go back to the heavier side.

It depends on the body of water that you fish and the characteristics of the fish in it. Where I fish the bottom is so rocky that the heavier heads are hung up all of the time. I carry heads in sizes from 1/16 to 1/4 but rarely use anything heavier than 3/32.

You can’t rely on what someone from a different area has to say if it is different from your area.

I use a 1/8th ounce head 90% of the time and a 3/16th the rest of the time. I've never had any issue.

Fish 1/8 most of the time. Occasionally 1/16 or 3/16 just not often.

Allen

1/8 is my starting point for most any plastic down to 10’. But it depends on how you are retrieving them. If you are bottom dragging and on solid bottom then I can see his recco for sure. If you are trying to swim it slow-ish and not get bogged down in silt and slime on the bottom then I’ll drop to a 1/20-1/16.

Never more than 3/32-oz., but I’m an originalist mostly fishing originalist water. The recommendation to adapt to what you fish (water type and species) makes a lot of sense.

4 hours ago, Jig Man said:

It depends on the body of water that you fish and the characteristics of the fish in it. Where I fish the bottom is so rocky that the heavier heads are hung up all of the time. I carry heads in sizes from 1/16 to 1/4 but rarely use anything heavier than 5/32.

You can’t rely on what someone from a different area has to say if it is different from your area.

Valid point I’ve never tried to fish heavier usually a 1/16 or 1/8 i wondered if I was missing something because I have never really caught more than a handful of fish on neds..

The last time out my neighbor and I caught 75. All but 2 were on the Ned 1/16 oz head.

I'm a 1/16oz about 95% of the time regardless of depth or wind.

I think it depends on the water body and depths as others have said. But even shallow I will go heavier if the fish seem to prefer a faster action. How many times have I fast-reeled a ned in to change lure or color and had a fish chase it? Many.

I'm usually 1/16th, or 3/32 oz. for Neds. Rarely do I go to 1/8 unless it's deep and/or current.

If I need to go to 1/4 oz or more because of depth or current, then I switch to a finesse jig.

1/8 most of the time for this guy, occasionally will go slightly heavier if its windier out.

Giving you guys a report from yesterday.... I started off fishing a 3/16 and caught a really nice keeper and a small non-keeper... but noticed I kept digging up a lot of vegetation with it, so I dropped down to a 1/8 just to see if it made it through a little better and it did.... I think I caught another 15, both largemouth and smallmouth included on the 1/8 in about 4 hours... all came in 8-12 ft near main lake points and secondary points outside of spawning pockets.. I used the Berkley Half Head with a Crush City BLT in Green Pumpkin... That's definitely a better day than I was having throwing 1/16 and 1/10 oz ones.....

Main place I fish Neds is the river for SM. With elastic baits they are so buoyant that anything lighter that 1/8oz gets swept away by current. A 1/16oz will float 20- 30 feet before hitting the bottom in 8 FOW.

Allen

I agree with Gussy.

1/16 for our clear water lakes.

Fascinating. I've heard for years you should be throwing the lightest jighead possible, but y'all have me questioning that now. I'm going to play around.

I'll probably have to stay lighter because Southeastern reservoirs are just mud bottoms and old trees.

1 hour ago, Rucksack said:

Fascinating. I've heard for years you should be throwing the lightest jighead possible, but y'all have me questioning that now. I'm going to play around.

I'll probably have to stay lighter because Southeastern reservoirs are just mud bottoms and old trees.

Going slightly heavier sure made a difference on that day.... and I would have never thought about it... In fact, I never really fished a Ned Rig that much because I was sorta discouraged away from it.... I had always thrown a 1/16 or 1/10oz before today. I could see throwing a 3/16 or 1/4 now in 20+ feet this summer..

River fishing ( in current) is different from lake fishing and when gobies are the main prey, that plays an important role.

What I'm looking for when I fish a Ned rig in a river is a short drift every time I lift the rod ( about a foot).

Most time 3/16 will give you that. Sometimes when the river is low and slow, 1/8 is really good. Gobies never swim (move) far at a time.

I am usually 3/16 or heavier fishing current. Even if it’s less than 5ft

I fish a river and in the spring I like to fish with 1/16. It has some drift to it. Most other times fish 1/8 oz

For me it depends on the depth of the water and current and the depth of the fish.

If the fish are scattered throughout the water column I want a lighter jig with a slower fall. If they are on the bottom I use a heavy jig to get down faster and then there is the current which always comes into play.

Greetings and Happy Friday All,

I encourage exploration and to go with what feels right for you. Every location has influencing factors to consider. Just as you and your equipment may require certain configurations to be optimal for you. Like overall feel, timing, casting, and etc.

My experiences influenced my preference towards the lighter is better, for me. I use UL gear so snags are a bother with little forgiveness due to the thin line. The lighter package lowers the snag hazard by some amount, enough to make a difference to me.

The UL gear, rod and line, work well with the lower mass for greater sensitivity. It feels better overall to me. I am willing to trade off cast distance using the lighter package. I get better precision using the lighter presentation. I'm targeting specific locations rather than blind casting.

Those are just some of the rationale for my preference. The main one, I catch more!
I hope some of this helps. Be well, Cheers!