Late Sunfish On Ned Rigs

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Many anglers pursue larger sunfish in spring when they’re in pre- to postspawn, shallow, and easy to find with technology like Side Imaging, where the beds show up plain as day—and even without electronics, are often located with the naked eye or the help of polarized sunglasses, especially in less turbid waters.

Another good time for sunfish (the really big ones for photos and release and in-betweeners for the frying pan), is during mid-to-late summer–with fish moving deeper from weedy and weed-edged haunts to habituate in colder water with a food source, often below a thermocline in lakes where the water temp stratification sets up.

What are high-probability late-summer sunfish spots?

Depths can vary, but in a lot of upper midwestern lakes means the zones out deeper from the deepest predominant weedline. So, starting at about that 16 to 18 to 30 feet, typically areas of hard- to soft-bottom basin transitions not far from the weed bed and weed edge areas they inhabited earlier in the summer.

Investigate sloping edges off points—and general drop-offs and breaks—and right up on top of islands or humps in deeper water. But a lot of times late-summer sunfish will also set up on slowly sloping basin areas off from shallower weeds with bottom hardness transitions. You’ll have to look around. Use LakeMaster, Navionics, or C-MAP mapping to help you identify these areas—then use your 2D sonar, Down Imaging, or FF sonar in Down Mode to help you find fish—but know the fish can hold pretty close to the bottom.

If this sounds familiar … yes, look for the same places you’d be pulling rigs, spinners, or ‘crawler harnesses—or even throwing glide baits—for walleyes. Chances are, there will be some good-size sunfish there, too—as well as smaller nuisance panfish, especially tiny perch in alot upper Midwestern waters.

The movement of mid- to late-summer sunfish seems compelled by ample forage. Fillet a few in-betweeners, and you’ll find their stomachs full of food—everything from emerging bug life, mollusks, crustaceans, small minnows, etc. Yep, there’s food down there and that’s why they set up—sure there probably some good sunfish still in the weeds and weed edges, but with many bigger year class fish seeking out easy, bottom-dwelling food, there are often schools of larger sunfish out past the weedy areas we’d all typically hit first.

Husky Sunnies Love Ned Rigs

While you could certainly fish deeper during late-summer and early fall with a Lindy Rig, ‘crawler harness, slip bobber, drop-shot, or just about any live bait rig, ravenous sunfish go absolutely crazy over a vertically-jigged, pitched, or drifted Ned Rig and you don’t have to mess with re-baiting with leeches, ‘crawlers, or other live bait as you’re constantly attacked by pecking, younger year class panfish. Before hitting the water, slide the Z-Man Elaztech bait up the jig head shank, apply a dollop of Super Glue and you’re set for dozens of fish without putting on a new plastic. And, it seems, the more beat up the plastic gets, the more fish it catches.

Not only will big late-summer sunnies clobber a Ned, the rig is also an equal-opportunity employer bait, which means when you spot those deeper marks, you could also hook into bass, walleyes, and other species, too. The magic is in the material used—Elaztech has buoyance to it and when fished on a Ned style jighead, tilts at 45-degrees just like a small minnow or other critter poking around bottom. Outsized sunfish love ‘em.

Gear Up

For sunfish, my confidence bait is an original Z-Man Elaztech 2.75” Finesse TRD in green pumpkin or black, and occasionally, green/chartreuse, perch-imitating colors in darker waters. As far as jigheads go, TT Lures Nedlockz HD and Northland Nedster jigheads both work great, and you’ll want to make sure you have some of the heavier sizes like 1/5-, 1/4-, and 5/16-ounce on hand. But you might even be able to get away with a lighter 1/8-ounce jighead if using something like this new Northland Fishing Tackle Tungsten Short-Shank Stand-Up Jig.

Another option, too, is going even more finesse with a smaller bait like the 1.75” Z-Man Micro TRD and Micro Finesse ShroomZ Head, but remember, the original Finesse TRD filters out a lot of the smaller, nuisance fish, which could be a good thing if your goal (and your boatmates’) is simply to catch a lot of fish.

And you might run into bigger ‘gills in a neutral to negative mood for whatever reason, where a smaller bait might just do the trick on tough bites. The Micro Finesse baits—in the Ned shape and many other profiles—have a very loyal following.

Given you’ll be fishing deeper than usual for sunfish, I leave the true ultra-light rods and reels I use in the spring and early summer at home, employing two different set-ups: 1) a 5’ 10” medium-light power, fast-action rod specifically designed for Ned Rigs by Z-Man called Drew’s Ultimate Ned Rig Rod with a small Daiwa Tatula 1000 spinning reel spooled with 8-pound yellow braid and an arm’s length of 6-pound fluorocarbon or Sufix Copolymer Mono. I use the same outfit for fishing bass with Ned Rigs shallower, even when targeting bass.

The other outfit is pretty close to what I use for vertical-jigging river jigging walleyes—a 6’6” “Jig & Rig” medium-light, fast action St. Croix Legend Tournament Walleye Rod and the same reel and line mentioned above. St. Croix offers this power and action across most of its spinning rod families in a 6’6” like Premier and Eyecon, both solid, affordable options.

The key to whatever rod and reel you use is something shorter but not too light – like the medium-light you would use for vertical jigging walleyes with 1/8- to 1/4-ounce jigs—and re-spool from mono to superline and fluoro or copolymer leader to feel the bites.

The reel should be on the smaller size (1000 to 2000) to balance nicely with the rod. One thing I especially like about the Z-Man Drew’s Special rod is it available with a pure cork Tennessee-style handle, which with some electricians’ tape—really helps me feel every tap on that bait even if it’s over 20 feet down. Of course, the shorter rod also helps with that, and the combination of fluoro to superline. Add a tungsten jig head to the mix, and it might telegraph even better…

On smaller lakes and ponds, a kayak with a simple graph featuring sonar and mapping is a great way to approach these fish, often times overlooked and unpressured by shore anglers who are stuck on the bank or docks, especially on lakes with motorized restrictions. Late-summer sunfish can be easier to find with less acreage to cover and are generally somewhere just out into the basin.

Larger lakes present more of a challenge, but in a boat with today’s technology, this process is greatly sped up, especially with technologies like Mega 360 and forward-facing sonar.

But you can also rock old school and still do well. Find a fishy-looking area and drift or slow troll your Ned until you feel a tap, then Spot-Lock or anchor, presenting your bait vertically and make short pitches around the boat once you find them!

Prepare to hang on for some great action chasing late-season sunfish!

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