Painter1 Posted May 9, 2015 Report Share Posted May 9, 2015 The hottest thing going here in the Ozarks (clearish water impoundments) is the "Ned Rig", a 1/16 - 1/8 oz worm nose jig with #2 hook. Put 1/2 of an Elaztech Zinker Z on this and fish it as a Do-Nothing with a bow in the line. I cut the keeper off the jig so the bait snugs up to the back of the head. A drop of Locktite Gel Control Superglue holds the bait to the head. The jig's lead keeper actually inhibits holding the Elaztech bait in place, so removing that helps. Elaztech has so much salt that hooks will rust badly so pre-rigging too many ahead of time can end up being wasteful. I have making these for a couple guides and as requested from friends. I can hardly make them fast enough. My mold is modified to use wire weed guards. Some like those & some don't. I found that my home poured stik-baits work just fine, but that Elaztech is almost indestructible and will catch a LOT of fish without replacement. In my experience, this little thing catches every type fish, but an inordinate number of small ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted May 9, 2015 Report Share Posted May 9, 2015 We've been doing that for a long time for river smallmouth but it was with a small round head or ball jig. I do like the worm nose jig but I hate the Z-man plastics, and one nice thing about the double barb on the worm nose is that it really holds a 3" stick worm really well. Some guys stretch the Z-Man TRD out and let it snap back and they do it a bunch of times to break up the salt and make it float better but to be honest I do better with sinking baits. My friend poured me a floating 3" stick worm and I fished with it side by side with the sinking bait and the sinking bait was better on average but I did have a few days that the floating worm was better. I love the 3/32oz head, I love it in the walleye head and I love it in the worm nose or mushroom head, to me it is the perfect balance but we all have our preference and thee thing we have over people that need to buy there stuff is is is a lot cheaper for us to lose a few jigs compared to others that don't pour their own heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted May 9, 2015 Report Share Posted May 9, 2015 The Ned has been producing for me lately. However, the lake has a lot of algae on it and the only jig head that is going thorough it is my 1/8 Poison Tail. Everything else is getting lots of algae. I can't fish tubes or swing jigs because of all of it getting on the heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincyFisher Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 how do you modify the mold to accept wire weed guards? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Hahn Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 how do you modify the mold to accept wire weed guards? I have modified a couple molds to accept wire weedguards. I just took a small triangular file and cut a small groove in the mold in the position where I wanted the weedguard to be. I only bothered cutting the groove in one side of the mold, as the wire can be bent slightly to put it dead center of the jighead. File a little and then try the wire weedguard, then file some more, if need be. Don;t cut the groove any wider than necessary, espeically at the point that it enters the jighead or lead will creep up the wire when you pour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincyFisher Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 thanks for the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painter1 Posted May 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 You can make your owns wire guards or order a couple varieties from LPO. They carry the Wacky guards that are very thin and they carry a twisted wire guard that is much heavier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdsaw Posted May 17, 2015 Report Share Posted May 17, 2015 (edited) I wasn't aware of the "Ned Rig" at the time, but now I know what you are using this modified mold for I've been experimenting with a single strand of .024 nylon weedguard and also 30-50lb. fluorocarbon as weedguard material and it seems to do it's job at a local city park lake. I'm gluing them in a 1/16oz ball head that I too have cut the collar off and supergluing it on half of a z-man senko I'm going to have to give the Ned Rig a try in my local saltwater bays and harbors. We have a natural worm that's called an Innkeeper Worm that the Ned Rig resembles perfectly This is the twisted, stiffer wire Painter1 is referring to Edited May 17, 2015 by sdsaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted May 17, 2015 Report Share Posted May 17, 2015 What size wire are you using in the worm nose mold? .012 or .015? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
