YUM'S Ned Minnow

Dainty soft-plastic minnows are becoming a feature in the repertoire of Midwest finesse anglers, and YUM recently introduced us to their rendition of this phenomenon. It is called the Ned Minnow.

Chad Warner of Fort Smith, Arkansas, who is the brand manager for BOOYAH Bait Co., YUM, and Bandit Lures, sent us several Ned Minnows to work with, thoroughly examine, and write a gear guide that describes its features and how Midwest finesse anglers can inveigle largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, and temperate bass with it.

Here is what we discovered about it:

It is three inches long. And according to Joe Tomelleri ‘s exquisite drawings in his book entitled “The Fishes of the Central United States,” the Ned Minnow exhibits the profile of a sand shiner.

Its head is three-quarters of an inch long, and near the junction with its torso, it has at its widest spot the width of five-sixteenths of an inch and circumference of 1 1/8 inches.

Its isthmus, which is situated between its head and pectoral fins, is significantly indented.

The pectoral fins are engraved tightly to the ventral portion of the torso.

A thin pelvic fin is situated upon its ventral at 1 1/4 inches from the Ned Minnow’s snout. It possesses somewhat of a triangular shape with the following dimensions: one-quarter of an inch by three-sixteenths of an inch by three-sixteenths of an inch. It is not quite one millimeter thick.

Three-sixteenths of an inch behind the pelvic fin is its anal fin. It has a triangular shape with the following dimensions: three-eighths of an inch by one-eighth of an inch by one-quarter of an inch.

A thin and somewhat triangular-shaped dorsal fin is located 1 1/4 inches from the tip of the head’s snout. The fin’s dimensions are seven-sixteenths of an inch by three-eighths of an inch by three-eighths of an inch. The thickness of this fin is less than one millimeter. The circumference of the torso at the front of the dorsal fin is 1 1/2 inches.

At the junction of the tail fin and at the caudal peduncle area of the torso, the Ned Minnow has a circumference of five-eighths of an inch.

It is adorned with a V-shaped tail fin. The inside edges of the V are embellished with a rim, which some anglers call a ridge and others call a flange. At the tip of each side of the V, the rim is about one-eighth of an inch wide or thick. The thickness of the other areas of the tail is less than one millimeter. The purpose of the rim is to accentuate the movement of the tail and the area of the Ned Minnow’s torso behind the anal fin.

The epidermis of the head, fins, and ventral is smooth. The sides of the torso and its dorsal area is embossed with scores of scale-like images. And there is a lateral line imprinted on each side of the torso.

It is manufactured in the following hues: Gray Pearl Black Flake, Green Pumpkin Copper, Pearl, Pearl Blue Flake, Phantom, and Soft Watermelon Red Flake.

It is not impregnated with salt, but it is infused with “a blend of enzymes and natural attractants.” It is exceptionally buoyant.

According to a press release, it replicates a small baitfish feeding on the bottom, and it was “designed so the tail floats higher so it is in a head-down feeding position” when it is affixed to a mushroom-style jig. And the field testers also found that it works well on a drop-shot rig, and affixed to a jig and presented to their quarries with a vertical presentation.

A package of eight costs $2.99.

Endnotes

1. Here is a link to YUM’s website: https://www.yumbaits.com/yum-ned-minnow.
2. Besides the bottom and vertical presentations, Midwest finesses anglers will employ several other presentation styles, and here is a link to a Midwest Finesse column that explains how to execute those retrieves: https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/six-midwest-finesse-retrieves/153946.

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