The Ned rig has quickly ascended into the winner’s circle of best ways to catch bass, but when put in snaggy environments, traditional half-moon Ned heads don’t always make their way back to the boat. Canadia bass pro Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson has lost his fair share of Ned heads over the years and has found that football-shaped heads consistently outshine regular jigs in the right circumstances. Gussy shares his top 3 reasons why a football-shaped Ned head is ideal for fishing around rocky cover in this video. * Boat setup at the bottom.
TACKLE USED
- FOOTBALL JIG HEAD – Z-Man Finesse Football NedZ Jighead, 1/4-ounce
- BAIT – Z-Man Hula StickZ, color – Green Pumpkin
- LINE – PowerPro Spectra Braided Line, Yellow, 10-pound
- LEADER – Seaguar AbrazX Fluorocarbon, 10-pound
- ROD – G. Loomis NRX+ Spin Jig Spinning Rod, 852S JWR
- REEL – Shimano Twin Power FD Spinning Reel
3 Reasons to Use a Football Jig Head for Ned Applications:
- Gets to the bottom and stays there. Gussy explains that Ned rigs are made to fish on the bottom, and a football head is successful at doing just that. Ned rigs are excellent at imitating crayfish, goby, and other bottom-based forage. “Get it to the bottom and let it do its thing.”
- Crawls over rocks better than traditional Ned heads. Nobody likes to break off and retie constantly. Gussy says that using a football head has drastically improved his efficiency on the water by fishing cleaner. The football shape head rolls over rocks rather than wedge between them.
- Props your bait up. A finesse football head jig, especially when paired with your favorite ElaZtech soft plastic, positions the plastic in an upward direction — this triggers more bites by making the lure more visible up off the bottom while also representing defensive prey such as a crayfish.
FISH FINDERS & BOAT CONTROL
- FISH FINDER – Humminbird HELIX 12 CHIRP GPS G4N
- FISH FINDER – Humminbird MEGA 360
- TROLLING MOTOR – Minn Kota Ultrex, 60”, 36v (112 lbs)
BOAT SETUP
- BOAT – Lund 2075 Pro-V Bass
- MOTOR – Mercury Pro XS 250hp
