I was out today for three hours on a metro lake looking for bass and was skunked for the first time this year. Tried ned rigs, suspending jerk bait, and a drop shot. Not even in a nibble.

Mr. Pike you could use a bell weight but they make specialized free rig weights that are skinnier like a drop shot weight and presumably less likely to hang up.

Just google “free rig weights” but for example:

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Matt_Luna_Fishing_Tungsten_Free_Rig_Weights_5pk/descpage-MLFR.html

Also Mr. Pike it is funny you gave up the drop shot; I took it up this year in an effort to quit relying on the Ned Rig, and that is what I threw most often for any finesse fishing all summer. I’m still Ned Rig Forever but I caught a lot of fish on the drop shot this year and it seems overall more versatile than the ned.

It is a super simple rig that (I think) originated in Japan and seems to be taking off like a rocket. You put a weight on your line (it is like a drop shot weight, but with an eye hook so it can ride “free” up and down your line.)

From there I’ve been rigging it on various EWG hooks with various plastics but so far no luck; maybe I’m doing it wrong

p.s. the closet corollary as near as I can tell is a non-pegged Texas rig, and to be honest I’m not sure why or how this is so different.

Not to hijack a good old fashioned Ned Rig discussion, but I also bought weights for a Free Rig in a couple sizes and tried it out a few weekends ago but could not get the feel for it all.

When I cast, the weight and my (Z-man) plastics ride out together, and I could never get the sense there was any separation between my weight and my plastic, which made it really feel like a Texas Rig.

I was fishing it on submerged weeds/drop-offs much like a drop shot; do I just need to trust that somehow down there my weight is separating from my hook?

The Ned does catch more dinks, but I can also say that my PB large mouth (22″) and PB smallie (22.5″) have both come on a green pumpkin Z-Man TRD.

Rich Men Earning North of a Million

I have also been fishing almost exclusively with a dropshot for the past few weeks with great success, dragging out over deeper weed beds and sometimes right up shallow.

My new confidence bait is the Zman Finesse Shadz — it has a slotted hook keeper in the bottom that keeps the hook completely hidden and free from snags. And in true Zman fashion, I recently caught about 30 largies over the course of two days on a single shadz including a 22″, several 18-19″ and ton of 16 inchers.

The other day I ran out and tried some of the Berkely Powerbait flat worms mentioned above and while they work great I found they last about 2 fish maximum. You also need to lightly skin your hook to keep it snag free, and yesterday I had something happen for the first time ever…

I fought what looked to be a 20+ inch all the way to the side of my kayak, and at the last second broke off. It turns out the hook never set, and was still fully skin hooked on my bait — they must really like the taste of those baits because all that old feller would have had to do was open his mouth at any point during our fight and he would have been free to go!

Thanks for the tip on mercury…I didn’t even think to check because I assumed getting out of the metro and up by the Big Lake would mean clean water

MOST topics are welcome. Posts of political or religious nature will be deleted.

If anyone is still in charge of this site, please delete this
mission statement from the header of the General Discussion forum, and let it be known that anything goes here.

Alternatively, please create a “Politics and Religion” forum and restrict all of this crap to there so I can continue to talk to other normal people about fishing, the outdoors, and other things that matter.

There are a million places and other cesspools for this kind of discussion, this doesn’t need to be one of them.

I was out on a lake near Lake Minnetonka on Monday when it was 90 degrees and full sun, and caught about 20 largemouth by dropping a weightless 5″ senko on an 2/0 EWG deep into the lily pads. Most were about 16″ but I did pull out two 18s and a 17 that were all fat and healthy. I got bass thumb so bad on both thumbs that my fingerprint reader no longer works on my phone.

Also, why is it a secret who the YouTuber is? I’d like to know because I love watching good videos of people out smallie fishing.

Is it the NDYakAngler?

I don’t see any recent ned rig videos on his channel so I doubt it, but he is the Bob Ross of fishing videos, and the best one out there as far as I’m concerned. He does have a recent video slaying smallies on a giant “bird” topwater.

Riverrat wrote:

Does the plastic need to float, I have a bunch of yum dingers that I could cut in half?

Technically, no, it does not need to float. But practically, I’d say you will see a noticeable difference between something like the Z-Man TRD/Tickler etc. compared most other plastics.

If you search YouTubes of underwater finesse/ned fishing, you’ll find lots of videos that show just how effective that floating little TRD is while the mushroom jig hops along the bottom.

Since I started learning the ned 3-4 years, ago I’ve caught more fish of all species (and so many river smallies) on it than any other lure and I now have to force myself to try out other stuff instead sometimes.

My number one tip is to relax and let the rig do its work; so many of my catches have come while I just let it sit there, followed by a quick drag/hop or two all the way back to the boat. I also put out several feet of extra line after my cast to make sure that it can float down to the bottom entirely naturally, and only then do I start working it.

p.s. I also usually avoid bed fishing, but earlier in June I had a rare opportunity where the water was so clear and shallow that I could see the fish, the bed, and my ned rig in real-time. If I dropped it down right off the bed, they would sit at stare at, even if I wiggled it around. But the second I started it dragging it away with a little hop they would charge at it. It was obviously not a perceived “threat” to their beds at that point, but proved to be an irresistible snack nonetheless.

Hard Water Fan wrote:

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/education

This link, first one that came up in a search, ranks our “well above average public education system” at number 21.

You got me. I used the words “well above” when I should have just said “above average.” Those dang adverbs. That same ranking lists MN as the #5 state overall, which was only kind of my point.

We have it pretty great here, and always have.

And there was a time when our education system was “well above” average and not just “above average.” Maybe investing in solutions to solve some of these other systematic issues and giving hungry kids a free lunch could help.

Did you know that the surplus also increased public school funding by $2.3BB with a heavy investment in early childhood eduction, and paying our teachers better?

What a tragedy.

Wow.

I’m not on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media for a reason and one of things I’ve enjoyed in my few years here is that (mostly) this kind of nonsense has not been part of the equation.

We all have our own opinions, and I think we all pretty much want the same things.

But I can’t remember the last time another angler started ranting to me about funding free tuition for “illegals,” paying for prison sex changes, “stealing” and other over the top rhetoric. If I ran into that out on the water I’d back away quickly, so I hate to see it here.

That said I would only ask some of you to consider a few things:

We live in arguably one of the greatest states in the nation, with good health care, a well above average public education system, one of the best state parks systems in the country, above average infrastructure, a decent collection of Fortune 500 companies, and millions upon millions of acres of protected and well maintained wilderness that rivals anywhere in the world.

Is that in dispute, or something we can agree on?

We have gotten here, historically, through a (mostly) sensible set of elected officials and decisions from both parties, most of whom have had the same general goal regardless of approach. I didn’t agree with or vote for Arne Carlson, but he was one of our most effective governors ever as far as I’m concerned.

Our current administration and legislature found themselves with a once-in-a-lifetime $17BB lottery ticket (this is due largely to Covid, and the overall madness that a global pandemic brings about; there was no evil, secret plot to overtax us all.)

So now there is a choice:

We can give it all back, or even most of it back. Heck, how about just a little? These are otherwise known as Jesse Checks. I bought my first kayak with my Jesse Check. If they sent it all back, and said “oops,” we could all upgrade our fishing gear or get that new lithium battery we’ve been eyeing.

Or, we could make an unprecedented, historical investment into this already great state that not only sets us up for the future but also strives to help solve some of the inequalities and institutional problems that are destroying the lives of vast portions of society that are not “you.”

Free lunches for poor kids? Free college tuition for those making under $80K a year? Providing (subsidized, not free) health care for all humans who live in this state? Voting rights expansion?

The horror.

Oh, and top of it we have the largest environmental/DNR budget in the history of Minnesota by a wide margin, one that will never been seen again. This is in large part (and probably wholly) due to that budget surplus. Our park infrastructure, fish hatcheries, access, and wildlife protection will only get better, not worse.

If none of that is worth the small increase in DNR fees, or your inability to cash a $1K payback check, or the idea of continuing to pay “even more” taxes into this great state is offensive there are plenty of other states.

Before you take the leap you might want to take a look around at the education systems, the natural resources, the overall poverty, and the quality of the state parks and boat landings in most other states, and balance that with how much you’ll be saving from with your one-time refund, and how much less you’ll have to pay-in over time.

Minnesota is not perfect, but it is pretty close.

You are not alone, dirtywater.

And to crappie — your attitude is a good one, but sometimes it is important to care and to speak up.

p.s. Also, I can smoke weed without being treated like a criminal for the first time in my life

As a frequent paddler on the Upper St. Croix I typically see one on most trips. I’m generally not a fan for obvious reasons, but I get that the river doesn’t belong to just one type of visitor.

The other weekend I happened to be putting in at a landing at the same time a jet boater was taking out and he was a super nice guy.

He explained how he has almost zero steering control under 5-6 mph, so when he comes across a paddler he will often speed up to get out of their way. Most paddlers take this as an act of aggression and he gets a lot of middle fingers while he says he is just trying to safely get out of the way, and that these boats actually produce less wake at higher speeds.

I also asked him how far up the river he could get and his answer was “all the way,” which as somebody who often tries to move upstream with a paddle and a small trolling motor sounded pretty awesome.

Rick Janssen wrote:

I have used the ThermaCell devices for many years. I first discovered them on a canoe trip to the BWCWA. Bugs can be pretty bad there and the ThermaCell worked great. I bought my own right after that trip and love them.

Nice! I have never heard of these and assumed that after a lifetime of companies selling failed skeeter gadgets and candles that nothing really worked.

Question:

Did you ever try this IN your (slowly) moving canoe?

I do a lot of skinny water river fishing from a kayak where I’m often right up against the bank, often near some kind of slack water and man, I tell you what.

This past weekend I hit both Rum River, and Beaver Islands on the Mississippi and I swear to god it felt like I was in a South American jungle.

I see they have a specific “outdoor adventurer” model and if this thing would create a shield around me while I cast and paddled around in eddies or nestle into a shoreline it would be a game changer.

I should have clarified that I am on a kayak fishing shallow/skinny water, so no worries about GPS keeping up at speed.

In any case, I decided to buy the iPad Mini 6 paired with Navionics app and so far it has been great. I have not had it out in high-heat/extreme sun yet, but polarized glasses actually seem to make the screen better when outdoors.

Running the Navionics app with the screen on continually drains the battery right quick, but I’d estimate ~6 hours of run-time based on my experience so far. I’ll probably add a lightweight charger with some velcro to the back of my submersible case at some point.

Overall, it is exactly what I wanted. Extremely lightweight, no extra battery or wires required, and it allows me to follow ledges, drive directly to humps, and weedlines and so on.

p.s. I got the 5G model which is the only option that includes true GPS so that may help the Boating app work smoother, not sure but no complaints so far.

Actually, I take that back. I forgot about Curly, which is the name I gave to the LarvaZ pictured below after catching almost every single crappie and other panfish I caught this spring. (I even caught an accidental, out-of-season 19″ lmb on him, and a small but healthy Northern. I didn’t keep count, but I bet it was over 100 fish all told.)

Due to some combination of physics and plastic science, it seems to be permanently attached to this 1/32 oz (formerly chartreuse) jig head. The jig head itself has become detached from the hook shank, and is somehow permanently embedded into the head of the bug.

The only reason I’m not still fishing curly is that the the eyelet is so dented I can no longer get a piece of 6 lb flouro through it so he has been retired and I now keep him as a pet.

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mahtofire14 wrote:

If you have a hook or ned rig with a hook keeper plan on using scissors to get the plastic off if you want to switch colors.

Pro tip: If you only use green pumpkin, you don’t need to ever change colors, and it can save a lot of money and thinking time.

p.s. to add some value to my joke I’ll also say I don’t find that to be true at all; I primarily use the og ned heads from Gopher Tackle with the old-school keepers, and then the z-man micro finesse jigs with the wire-style keep and in both cases have no problem removing my worms. In almost all cases, I end up bending out the hook long before my worm is ready to die so I frequently pop them on to new rigs. Eventually, I reverse them, giving them another new lease on life.

tim hurley wrote:

Have some just have not had a good bite on them in years, think they are a bit too bouyant, maybe don’t swim in the water as naturally, regular plastics will hit the bottom then slowly fall to a flat position, think that might be a good trigger for LMBs.

I honestly think most plastics work just fine if you know how to fish them.

That said, I have reliably caught more fish on a z-man TRD than any other plastic combined (including 5″ senkos or anything else.) I have caught giant Brown trout in Montana, Rock bass in WI, Rainbow trout in northern MN, Brookies in Colorado, millions of Smallies on the St. Croix, Pike in Ely, as many LMB as I can handle, large crappies, and even one accidental muskie all on a green pumpkin TRD. (I’ve never caught a walleye on a TRD, but I’ve never really tried.)

I’m just sayin’ — it looks like the stupidest worm ever but I will fish it anywhere anytime (never tried it through the ice but I bet it would work.)

This weekend, I was on a metro lake that shall-not-be-named.

The water clarity and emergent weed growth around the sailboat buoys provided an extremely rare opportunity where I could kayak directly over each individual buoy, and see the hard rock/sand bottom and the concrete blocks or tires below each boat (each surrounded by healthy, new green milfoil.)

I’m not exaggerating when I say there was a single 17-20″ bass sitting directly under almost every single one of those buoys, usually within inches of the rope or the concrete block. Often, the bass in charge had a smaller group of soldiers patrolling the area.

They were completely undisturbed by my presence, so I could back up a few feet, count to 30, and drop a green pumpkin directly in front of their faces.

I could then sit and watch as they left their post to investigate; it was 80 degrees and high sun so they were not active. They would stare at that dumb little worm, sometimes for as long as 15 seconds. Then I’d give it a little pop or wiggle, and 9 times out of ten, the second it started to move away I had an 18″ bass on my line.

It was honestly one of the cooler fishing experiences of my life, sort of like an in-person version of the underwater Youtubes everybody is putting out these days.

I’m not saying other lures/presentations would not have worked, but I saw with my own eyes how the TRD worked and how irresistible it proved.

Oh man, this is a thread I’m looking forward to.

My first (and only) Z-man bait was the original green pumpkin TRD when I first learned to fish a Ned rig. I have caught so many large/smallmouth on that dumb little worm on both rivers and lakes that I won’t go on the water without it any conditions/any season.

It is no exaggeration to say I’ve caught 30 or more fish on a single TRD, and it is absolutely true that the more they wear out the better they get. I cry when I finally lose or have to otherwise retire one. They become like pets.

Over time, I started buying more Z-man stuff, including their new-ish micro finesse line, and some of their bigger baits. You really have to learn how to rig them, and find the right style of keeper to hold them (or even a dab of super glue, but I’ve never needed it) but once they are on, they are on.

They now have a drop-in replacement for almost all styles of plastics (with some notable exceptions) and this season, I went a little crazy and converted virtually all of my plastics to Z-Man, from the teeniest bugs to creature baits to worms and swim baits.

I haven’t had a chance to use most of them but I’ve been breaking them out slowly as the fishing changes. I caught at least 60-70 crappie/gills over the past few weeks on a single LarvaZ rigged on a 1/32oz z-man ned jig.

There are two key things to know:

1. You can not get them near any other type of plastic. They will start to melt in globs when exposed to the chemicals in other plastics.

2. This is actually a good thing; they are non-toxic and contain none of the PVCs or other harsh chemicals that (almost) all other plastic lures are made of, and they are technically biodegradable (though it will take quite awhile.)

I’ll shut up now but let’s just say I’m a big fan and looking forward to trying out the long list of Z-Man plastics I bought for the season.

p.s. here is a good article re: biodegradable plastics and there is another recent I article I can’t seem to track down that explains exactly how much toxic plastic we are all leaving in the lakes, and its effect on all the critters.

Are Biodegradable Lures The Future Of Fishing?

Neither Z-Man (nor Berkeley Gulp, another option) are quite there yet but I hope this style of plastic takes off. If they can maintain even 50% of their current longevity but biodegrade at a rapid rate once out in the wild, I can't see why any thinking man would not choose that option.

p.s. that said I still carry a pouch of Senko, just in case

Thanks, that is my exact plan (a dedicated Navionics screen) but after buying a mount/waterproof case I started thinking about all of the potential downsides.

I’m not too worried about the lag (I run Navionics on my phone now, and it isn’t too bad) but I do really worry about visibility, and the dang thing shutting down on hot days.

I do most of my fishing in or near the metro, and I consider anything in the 3lb range (~17 inches) to be a really nice sized bass. My biggest out of a metro lake is 21.5″

Also, I realize it is a much smaller segment of anglers, but the growing kayak bass fishing world cares only about inches, not weight, and tournaments are won by 5 fish x total inches.

There are a variety of online charts/calculators that estimate weight based on length using millions of fish as historical data; some even add in a “fat/skinny/average” component to further dial in a good weight estimate.

For what it’s worth I downloaded the Audacy app based on this thread so I could listen to the Twins out on the lake. Sadly I left my trusty Sangean behind because when I tuned in the other night on a metro lake I was listening to whomever was on before pre-game show, and then boom: this app is restricted due to your location.

Maybe it is different once you are out of the metro but I can confirm that the best option in Minneapolis city limits is still paying a few bucks a month for the MLB app, or a trusty AM radio.

@walleyeyevision it is a brand called “Chins” I found in 2019 on Amazon after reading a lot of reviews and watching too many Youtube tear down videos. I own 4 of them (two 50ah and two 100ah) without a single issue so far.

I’m glad to see somebody calling them out, especially if they are ignoring you and not honoring the warranty as quickly as humanly possible.

I buy lithium batteries like candy, and as far as I’m concerned Dakota Lithium at this stage is a brilliant marketing company not a battery company.

As others mentioned, their cells come straight from China (just like virtually every other battery in the world) and at least some of their models are now entirely assembled in China in the exact same factories that make almost identical batteries that often cost 75% less than their amazing “Made in America” batteries.

I enjoy actual Made in USA products as much as anybody, and will often pay a premium (e.g. Redwing boots) but I also have no problem accepting that most of the world’s goods are made in China, and I’ve been ordering Life PO4 batteries from the same company for 5 years now without a single issue.

If I did ever have an issue, they would probably treat me exactly how Dakota Lithium is treating you, but that is exactly what I would expect. To pay 3-4 times the cost for the same treatment is pretty hard to swallow, especially when it is all based on bullshit marketing and image.

Same here (again) this time on Cedar Lake yesterday. I caught three large and healthy pike on a tiny Beetle Spin and an UL (that was fun) but I could not find the panfish shallow, deep, or anywhere in between.

I still keep my portable Sangean from the 90s for Twins/Vikings games when I’m out fishing or poking around. It has always been absurd to me that I can listen to any game for free on an AM radio but not on my phone.

If I understand the current rules, mlb.com blacks out local TV feeds but not local radio so I think you can also stream Twins for $3.99/mo which is not bad I guess.

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I was on Minnetonka/Grays Bay area this weekend and didn’t see any panfish shallow, although I did catch a nice (accidental) smallmouth who was lurking in some backwater reeds in about 2-3 feet of water near shore.