NED Rig Review

    The ned rig is a bait that many people have heard of but few have actually tried. Most people think "oh it's half a senko on a jighead, I can do that" and they proceed to stick half of a Yamamoto or Dinger or whatever on a jighead, fish it a couple times, and never think anything of it. That's where they are making a mistake.


    The ned rig is a bait/technique that was developed in the midwest (by Ned Kehde) where much of their bass fishing consists of finesse fishing. The "true" ned rig consists of either half of a Z-Man ZinkerZ (the Z-man senko) or a Z-Man T.R.D. (a bait specifically designed for Ned rigs so you don't have to cut baits in half). You rig this on a small jighead, typically from 1/16-1/8oz. The reason you have to use a Z-Man bait is because of the material they are made out of. The baits have very high salt concentrations, which causes them to sink at first. After either being stretched out and soaked in water for a while, or fished with, the salt dissolves and the plastics float. This is the most important part of the ned rig. When the bait falls it stays on a very straight path, doesn't twist or flutter or anything, and if you match your jighead weight to the water depth, you should have a nice paced fall in front of the fish you are targeting. The bait will then stand straight up when it is on the bottom and will move around quite a bit without much action being imparted from the rod tip. The baits are incredibly soft after they have soaked for a while, and will quiver when they are moved at all.
     I have fished the ned rig in lots of different places, under all sorts of conditions, and it is really surprising how effective it can be under the right circumstances. It's a really good bait for getting bites when it's hard to get bit on just about any bait. For me this is a) cold water, b) clear water, and c) pressured water. I have caught fish in all of those conditions on the ned rig. Recently I fished a tournament on Lake Anna with water temperatures in the 40s, I caught fish on the ned rig that I don't think would have been catchable on any other bait (definitely not anything the boat in front of me was using!).
     Typically I will use a 1/16oz head for the ned rig, this covers anything up to 7-8FOW, which is usually about the deepest I will go using the ned rig since it's hard to cover water. If I have structure I am fishing, I will sometimes go to the 1/10 or 1/8oz heads to target the 10-15' depth range. I have not fished deeper than that. It's not a hard bait to fish, I cast it, let it fall, and either fish it slow like a shakey head or pull it a few feet and let it fall to the bottom again, then repeat. You have to let the fish tell you what they want.
    I'm not sure if any of that made sense but hopefully it will help someone out. When I first heard about the ned rig I didn't really understand why it was different from any other bait (specifically any senko or worm), maybe this will clear it up for someone. Tight lines!