I've recently become a Ned rig convert, though I was pretty quick to call it a gimmick upon receiving the samples in a Mystery Tackle Box, like I'm some kind of fishing lure expert. After getting bit on the first cast in a spot where I had thrown a Senko and Chatterbait about a dozen times, with many more bites to follow, I started thinking, "whoever this Ned is, he's a dang genius." So I ordered a bunch more from Cabela's, green pumpkin all the way. Turns out it's a great finesse rig after all.

Z-Man's Ned rig trailer is called the Finesse T.R.D., which is supposed to stand for The Real Deal. Now, I might be the last guy to get to the party, but I found out this little setup is also known as the "Dookie rig" at which point it dawned on me that the folks at Z-Man have a sense of humor. First, if you have any, pick one up and look at it, then say Finesse TRD as two words. That's right. Dookie rig. If you still don't get it, you must be a TRD head.

So if you haven't tried it out, give it a shot. It won't take long before you set the hook. The one huge drawback is the hook on the ShroomZ jig head is like Velcro when it comes to fishing it around cover. It gets hung about every third cast when fishing around anything resembling cover. I'm afraid to try another jig head for fear of losing whatever action the shape of it gives this rig. The wire barb on the jig head also hangs on to the bait better than super glue. Also, I've read about folks using half a Senko to do the same thing, but it's not the same. Senko's sink, and the Z-Man's are floating TRDs. In the water, the butt end sticks up while the jig head points down. I think that's a key feature of the success of this setup. You can also grab the end of the bait and stretch it out for a mile, which is fun. You can't do that with a Senko.

On a second note, I dumped $25 into an umbrella rig to try it out. If you've never used one but want to know what it's like, tie three and a half pounds of silverware to the line on one of your rods and throw it. There you go. I was having a great workout heaving it with my flippin' rod until I went to set the hook for the first time and snapped it off. For a minute, I just sat there and stared at the water, like I was half expecting it to come shooting back out of the water into the boat with a fish attached to it. I was using the line I had on my rod at the time, which was 40 lb. braid tied with one of those good knots where you end up with three tag ends, but I clearly should have been using something stronger. Like anchor rope.

I bet hags tornados would work good. The tail floats

I've been throwing it since December. . .it catches fish, almost all the time. I'm surprised more guys aren't talking about it. Then again, since it's something new. I guess most guys have written it off as a gimmick. That seems to be the way it works around here.

shhhhh

What's the difference in that and a shakyhead? Besides the exposed hook

It's kind of like blending up a shaky head and a Senko, then downsizing it. So it stands straight up at rest like a shaky head, but has the fat, juicy profile of a senko. It must look like a baitfish feeding on the bottom or a crawfish in the defensive position. Also, the TRD is nearly indestructible. The exposed hook is the Achilles Heel of the design; I think they actually planted some electronics in the barb that makes it seek out things to embed itself into. Like the side of my hand.

Not a gimmick people have been fishing small jigs with small baits like that for decades just being marketed as something new thus not much excitement.

Garvin, thanks for the great feedback on the Ned Rig! You're spot-on that the buoyancy and durability of ElaZtech is what separates this from other small-plastics-on-jigheads setups. The number of bites it gets and its effectiveness in a variety of conditions amazes us every time we fish - we've used it with great success everywhere from Canada to Florida. To your comment about the rig getting hung up, we are currently working on a weedless version of the Finesse ShroomZ that we hope to have out this summer, so stay tuned. This should help solve a lot of your problems. In addition, several of our pros are rigging the TRDs on the Finesse ShroomZ like you would a Shaky Head with the hook point buried in the plastic with great results. Might be something to try to reduce snags until we get the weedless heads rolling. And glad someone get's the joke about the TRD name!

wonder why you couldn't bury hook like shakey head? seems like you would get snagged a bunch with exposed hook.

I'll try burying the hook, shaky-style. But I'll stay posted for the weedless ShroomZ to make its appearance. When that happens, the Death Star of finesse baits will be fully operational. They say you can't polish a TRD, but in this case, I think you can...

We were fishing Table Rock last month and the local marina had a lot of them for sale and said that's what was really working. I quietly laughed it off and I guess I shouldn't have.

Any Pic's?

https://www.youtube.com/user/g53H16

You can find it here.

The last thing I need on the lakes I fish is a lure that attracts multi species.