Favorite Hook For Ned Rig With Worm Nose Mold?

[Bruiserbeagle]

I recently purchased the worm nose mold for ned rig heads because the hook in the zman heads are garbage. I was wonder what is the strongest light wire hook for this mold?I need size 1 and 1/0. I was considering owner 5318 or the mustads. Any other suggestion would help...thanks

[smalljaw]

The Owner 5318 is a great hook but it is a light wire Aberdeen style. Personally, for NED rigs and hair jigs I prefer these hooks because I use 6lb line for those techniques and the hooks are so sharp they penetrate with ease. The biggest problem I've found is a lot of guys like using 10 or 15lb braid with a short fluorocarbon leader in 8lb or even 10 and that set up will allow anglers to apply too much pressure and end up bending the hooks as the hook is designed to bend under pressure to free from snags. Some guys know how to use the drag to compensate but a lot just want heavy hooks in small weights and those are the guys that struggle with finesse presentations because they have difficulty downsizing and even the way they play a fish. There is an alternative for that mold that is light and won't bend out, it is the Owner 5313 but you need to modify the mold slightly but it is easy to do. Simply put the size #1 5313 hook in the slot for the hook and close the mold, place a block of wood on each side of the mold and put in a vise and then tighten until the mold is closed, now you have your stronger hook. For me, my favorite hooks for that mold are the Owner 5318 and the Eagle Claw 500BP Lil' Nasty sickle style and I use the size 1 in the 3/32oz and 1/8oz cavities. I hope this helps.

[Bruiserbeagle]

The Owner 5318 is a great hook but it is a light wire Aberdeen style. Personally, for NED rigs and hair jigs I prefer these hooks because I use 6lb line for those techniques and the hooks are so sharp they penetrate with ease. The biggest problem I've found is a lot of guys like using 10 or 15lb braid with a short fluorocarbon leader in 8lb or even 10 and that set up will allow anglers to apply too much pressure and end up bending the hooks as the hook is designed to bend under pressure to free from snags. Some guys know how to use the drag to compensate but a lot just want heavy hooks in small weights and those are the guys that struggle with finesse presentations because they have difficulty downsizing and even the way they play a fish. There is an alternative for that mold that is light and won't bend out, it is the Owner 5313 but you need to modify the mold slightly but it is easy to do. Simply put the size #1 5313 hook in the slot for the hook and close the mold, place a block of wood on each side of the mold and put in a vise and then tighten until the mold is closed, now you have your stronger hook. For me, my favorite hooks for that mold are the Owner 5318 and the Eagle Claw 500BP Lil' Nasty sickle style and I use the size 1 in the 3/32oz and 1/8oz cavities. I hope this helps.

yeah i use braid with a leader because i tournament fish and want to get them in as fast as possible. i want a little stonger hook ill look into the 5313

Edited October 18, 2016 by Bruiserbeagle

[smalljaw]

You do understand that the NED rig really isn't a tournament technique don't you? I say that because when the bite is that tough that you have to use that technique, you are usually catching smaller fish, and as with anything you can and will catch an occasional big fish but most will be smaller.  I've been fortunate enough to fish with a lot of different anglers and using that technique I've beaten every single angler that used braid and a leader, by a lot, my one friend switched to fluorocarbon after I had 16 fish to his 1. The only way I've seen it work was with a guide that found a 20' leader seems to work best and he told me that at that length the braid is there simply to keep from having to respool line on the reel as the properties of the braid don't show up when using super long leaders. I tell you this because I've been making those heads for a while as well as hair jigs and guys that go heavy tackle on those techniques don't tend to do well, the braid tends to pull the bait away from the fish too fast and you end up having to use a heavy wire hook which ruins the action of the bait. Using the 5313 Owner makes life easier as not having to worry about bending out a hook while still staying light, but going to 8lb or higher leader will reduce the strikes you get, I think there are better techniques for tournament fishing than a NED rig.

[kayaksticks]

I've been trying out the Eagle Claw 500BP in 1/0 in that mold with good success this year and have been pretty happy with it. I've been fishing it with 15# braid to about 7' 8# floro leader.