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The Ned Rig


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I've been reading quite a bit about a bait called the Ned Rig which was conceived and brought to mainstream attention by Ned Kehde, an avid angler from Lawrence, Kansas. Kehde’s small jighead and plastic combo may look unassuming on the surface, but its slow fall and darting action are astonishing, almost always eliciting strikes in even the toughest conditions. It is considered a finesse bait that can catch numbers of bass.

Ned_rig.jpg

 

Basically, it is nothing more than a jig and a 2 1/2" piece of plastic that looks like a short senko. Almost any similar combination will work, but the ideal set up is a light mushroom head jig typically 1/16oz.to 1/5oz. The Z-Man Finesse ShroomZ jighead has a custom wire keeper welded onto the hook shank that keeps the plastic worm in place. The companion worm from Z-Man is the TRD which is made of an extremely durable plastic they call Elaztech which is also very buoyant that causes the bait to stand up when at rest on the bottom. The light jig combined with the floating worm causes it to fall slowly. While regular ball head jigs will work, small jigheads typically use small hooks which can be too small to hook decent size bass and the barb on regular jigs does not hold on to plastics as well as the wire keepers on mushroom heads.

 

I was recently on vacation on a northern Wisconsin lake know for being a numbers lake for large and smallmoiuth bass. I used the Ned Rig quite a bit and was very impressed. The reviews from other forums on the Ned rig considered it to be a small fish bait at times, but we caught our biggest bass of the trip on the rig. The Ned Rig will definitely be part of my tackle box from now on.

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Good review. I have had good results with this plane Jane nuthin' bait too. It is not hard to find light jigs with large hooks. You may already have some, besides the Mushroom heads we commonly see.:

 

Slider or Sled Heads

Weighted Keeper Hooks

EWG weighted worm hooks.

 

In their Bass Jig Heads, Arkie Jigs has a few good jigs including an economical mushroom.

 

http://cdn3.volusion.com/ufyzk.uhmky/v/vspfiles/photos/TIHK-2T.jpg?1434433075

http://www.arkiejigs.com/ARKIE-BASS-TUBE-AND-GRUB-HEAD-p/tihk.htm

http://www.arkiejigs.com/ARKIE-WEEDLESS-TUB-AND-GRUB-HEAD-p/tihw.htm

 

 

There is another wrinkle to this. Guys use a Hitchhiker to attach a swivel and spinner blade to the rear of the worm. (Borrow the blade from a jig spinner.) This also works on a Senko. I have not tried this. It should work when fish want more flash.

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The problem with the jigs you listed is that the molded keeper on the jig head will not hold on to the plastics very well or at all, especially the elaztech baits. This style;

jig.jpg

or

VMC.jpg

These have a wire that will not allow the bait to come off.

 

I must have gotten 50 bass on the same plastic before I snagged and broke off. I almost never had to reposition the bait because it slid down the hook.

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A long time ago when I was mainly into pond largemouth fishing, a bass grabbed and pulled off most of my Texas-rigged worm. I still had the little 3" piece that spanned the Owner wide-gap worm hook and proceeded to catch about a dozen more bass on it. Definitely something to be said for a small, straight piece of soft plastic. I think it's so unassuming that bass are willing to try it, and in some cases fight over it.

 

Thanks for the Ned Rig tips.

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Paul Trybul Sr. was with me on my trip. After I was doing very well on the Ned rig, we went to town so he could get some. The tackle store we were at was selling the mushroom jigs for outrageous prices and did not carry the Z Man TRD, so he bought some 1/16oz jigs with a decent sized hook and some 3" Yum Dingers. The next morning, he outfished me with that set up so I know nearly anything similar will work just fine. He did have to fiddle with the bait that kept sliding down and the Yum Dingers did not last as long, but they caught fish.

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The problem with the jigs you listed is that the molded keeper on the jig head will not hold on to the plastics very well or at all, especially the elaztech baits. This style;

jig.jpg

or

VMC.jpg

These have a wire that will not allow the bait to come off.

 

I must have gotten 50 bass on the same plastic before I snagged and broke off. I almost never had to reposition the bait because it slid down the hook.

 

No problem Scott.

 

With the Arkie Mushrooms that cost $2.60 for 5. I cut off the molded lead keeper and then wrap on a wire keeper made of #5 stainless with my fly tying thread. Here's the concept on a swim jig head. I leave the collar on so I have a place for the skirt. Wurks gud!

 

DSCF1731.jpg

 

DSCF1695.jpg

 

Use the same concept on a different jig. No skirt.

 

A reason to take up fly tying even if you don't use a fly rod.

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I too have been trying the Ned Rig, no luck as of yet, but I do plan to stick with it.

Scott, did you fish it with a constant twitch slowly pulled back to you, or did you twitch and pause?

 

Basically, no twitches. I swam it slowly or slowly dragged it along the bottom. I'm sure there are times when twitching it is the most effective.

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Guest rich mc

all you need is to use some bohemian chenille to make a short worm. article i submitted for the newsletter had a smaller version very similar called the glove bug its on a 1/64,1/32 or 1/16 jighead with a body of a nub from a washer mitt. rich

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I have been fishing the Ned Rig for four years now, starting with half strike king zeros super glued to Gopher Tackle mushroom jigheads. I have been fishing a long time and have never seen bass respond to anything like they do to this. I have seen neutral bass that won't respond to an unweighted worm chase this thing and hit it. The Z-Man system makes several improvements. First it eliminates the super glue. The trd also floats so if you fish it on the bottom it stands up like a feeding minnow or craw in a defensive posture. True you will catch more small bass as well as big crappies and gills but the big ones hit it just as well. If you have not tried it do it. It is the closest thing to a sure thing I have seen in 55 years of fishing.

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I have been messing with the Ned Rig some this spring and have had very good success with it. Seems to work when nothing else does. Fished a private lake today and it was lights out. Had all 39 acres to myself. Caught 12 largemouth bass 14 to 16 inches and 1 at 19inches. 12 crappies 10 to 12 inches. It is something that is definitely worth exploring. I have been throwing it on a 1/16 Gopher Mushroom jig and the TRD in the color they call The Deal. I have also had luck on the color they call PB&J. Try and you will surpised!

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  • 3 months later...

The sad part... They worked on the New River like magic. I was introduced to them by gremlins and Ray at the Yadkin river fishing fest, and was inspired to copy their success on the New.

 

The only day I used them was the day I caught 5 smallies... 4 on the ned rig, one on a brown grub on a jighead.

 

I bought the zman plastics... They will last until you lose them... not like Senkos which are dead after 2-3 fish.

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I picked up a bag of California Craw RTDs and Finesse Shroomz weedless green 1/10 oz. I tried them on a river I have never fished, the Elkhart river in Indiana. This was over the Labor day weekend. The first day was good with 3 dozen smallies caught and few largemouth and rock bass. The sizes were small but had a good time. I fished varies baits but the ned rig was by far the most productive. The second day I concentrated on types of spots where I caught the bigger fish. I caught 24 with most in the 13 to 14" range. Not big, but average size was much better than day 1. All fish were caught on the ned. The smallmouth were under overhead cover next to current. I would drop the ned next to cover and they would dart out and grab it. Usually only one fish per spot. I already have picked up more plastics and jig heads. The weed guards work great.

Rigged backwards after catching over 20 fish.

post-3501-0-21843600-1473821843_thumb.jpg

Typical location they were at.

post-3501-0-41006300-1473822517_thumb.jpg

post-3501-0-06682900-1473823112_thumb.jpg

post-3501-0-35069500-1473823170_thumb.jpg

post-3501-0-74334800-1473823201_thumb.jpg

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  • 1 year later...

So,  I bought some 1/10 ounce jigs and one of the finesse baits- Like a 4" Senko with a  shreded tail , I would not attribute catching a  bass in cold water to this lure, bur I will say it fishes really nice. and stays out of trouble. Pain in the ass to rig.  I would do a few at home. 

 

 38814606310_c1cf115a69_c.jpgFirst Fish 2018 by Mark Kasick, on Flickr

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This presentation reminds me of the original  Charlie Brewer slider worm. They make lots of different jig heads some you can work weedless so you can get pretty fearless and cast them into anything. I use the light wire spider wide gap that has a 2/0 hook for 3 1/2" bass pro tubes.This is my go to lure. The original slider worm and head is very good. The tube casts a little further and mimics a crawfish on the bottom and is pretty snag proof.

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I think slider fishing and ned rigging is a pretty similar approach. I won some ned rigs at the blowout so I plan to use the more. From what I've observed is the slider rig is more snag resistant however the plastic tends to tumble more versus standing up. A proper ned rig with the zman floating plastic really stands up from the bottom.

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20 hours ago, Philf said:

This presentation reminds me of the original  Charlie Brewer slider worm. They make lots of different jig heads some you can work weedless so you can get pretty fearless and cast them into anything. I use the light wire spider wide gap that has a 2/0 hook for 3 1/2" bass pro tubes.This is my go to lure. The original slider worm and head is very good. The tube casts a little further and mimics a crawfish on the bottom and is pretty snag proof.

 

2 hours ago, Paul Trybul said:

I think slider fishing and ned rigging is a pretty similar approach. I won some ned rigs at the blowout so I plan to use the more. From what I've observed is the slider rig is more snag resistant however the plastic tends to tumble more versus standing up. A proper ned rig with the zman floating plastic really stands up from the bottom.

 

Yeah.  The tail stand up completely because the plastic is buoyant.  I have become really skeptical about lures especially soft plastic.  Nothing is ever really new, it's just re-molded into a different angler attracting shape.  This think has different action than anything I have seen.  Check it out.

 

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As far as I can tell, they would be 100% legal in Sylvania too.  

Their jigs are beautiful. Nice sharp high quality hook.

The plastic is super soft and stretchy, but I think they are really hard to rig straight.  So much so, that I would rig' em at home.  Me thinks if one were to super glue to the jig one would have a bomb-proof jig.  According to the manufacturer they don't play well with Plano type boxes.

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1 minute ago, Mark K said:

As far as I can tell, they would be 100% legal in Sylvania too.  

Their jigs are beautiful. Nice sharp high quality hook.

The plastic is super soft and stretchy, but I think they are really hard to rig straight.  So much so, that I would rig' em at home.  Me thinks if one were to super glue to the jig one would have a bomb-proof jig.  According to the manufacturer they don't play well with Plano type boxes.

The hooks are good and sharp but they are brittle. They do break without a lot of force. I rig mine in advance.  I hold the bait next to the hook and use an o-ring to mark where the hook needs to come out of the plastic. I also super glue the heads to the plastic. The plastics are extremely durable but after a bunch of fish they do get loose so glueing them to the heads helps a lot. As long as the Plano box has never held normal plastics before, it works just fine. Mixed with other plastics, the Elaztech material melts.  I like throwing them into downed trees so the weedless 'shroom heads let you work through branches without snagging. I use straight braid and the braid will wrap around the wires of the weed guard though. 

There are a lot of ways to fish them. The traditional way the guy who came up with the rig does it is he slowly swims it along but dead sticking, hoping and dragging it along the bottom all work.

The first time I showed this bait to a number of fishermen, they all looked at it at and were unimpressed. Once they saw the success I had with it, they changed their minds. 

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That stand up video is great. It looked familiar so I looked up neko rig its a worm hooked in the middle with a weight screwed into one end so it stands up. I was messing with it in high water on the kankakee a couple years back picked up some fish but then snagged and lost all my rigs.I'll have to try a weedless or texas rigged ned or neko rig. Thanks for video and wire weed guard tip.

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It is also a killer bait rigged as a drop shot for deeper smallies on Lake Geneva. Also the Hula Z, fished like a Neko rig on the bottom if the eel grass is not too bad. B&P Jighead in Carlyle, Il. (618) 594-8469 makes a special jighead they designed to Texas rig the lure weedless. It works great, but you will need to use the super glue. I have a Plano 3500 box that I have been using for the Neds for at least 5 years. The top is warped, which would be a problem if it was not for the latches. Some other boxes not so stuffed with baits so that the lures do not come into contact with the top have not warped at all. Netcraft in Toledo also sells a mold, hooks and keeper wires if you want to defray the high cost of the Shroom heads and try better quality hooks. Last fall I was fishing Racine Harbor for brown trout. Nothing was happening, so for the heck of it, I tried dragging a goby colored Ned across the bottom, with a few hops.. Caught a six pound brown trout. Any place there are gobies, like in Door County, the Ned is becoming a go-to lure. Bill Schultz, who kayak fishes up there a lot, and was our featured speaker many, many years ago at the Blowout, when it was still in Wilmington, uses them first, even though he is sponsored by Kalins. Not to imp[y that the Kalins grub is a bad lure, but that should tell you something.

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