The creation of the Ned rig resource thread has greatly reduced the number of questions regarding the ned rig, but there is still a fair amount of questions about it and there is a whole lot of misconceptions about the Ned rig. So I decided to put all of that info all on one page to make it easier to access. This is not a thread about all of the variants that get away from what the Ned rig really is, this is Ned rigging according to Ned kahde himself, the man credited with first using small soft plastics on a light mushroom jig. @Team9nine or @Bluebasser86, feel free to correct me or add to this. You both know more about it than I do.
The first thing I'm going to cover is the name "Ned rig". It was not originally called the Ned rig, nor did Ned kahde want it to be named after him, it was named that by the masses when the popularity of the Ned rig exploded. I and many other people continue to refer to it as the Ned rig, because there really isn't any other name for it. But It is not simply a zman TRD or half of a zinkerz on a mushroom head, there are many different baits that can be fished effectively on the Ned rig. Any soft plastic under four inches long is a possible canadate for use, but zman's plastics are prefered because of they're durability and pliability. A durable bait is important for the Ned rig, as it is common place to catch upwards of fifty bass in a single four hour outing (Ned's goal is to catch 101 bass in a four hour fishing trip), which could be very expensive using standard soft plastics, and one of the important aspects to Midwest finesse fishermen (a group of people that are devoted to catching as many bass as possible, often utilizing the Ned rig) is frugality.
In the original post I forgot to mention a little about the history of Midwest finesse fishing, and Brian reminded me of it. The late Chuck Woods started Midwest finesse fishing which inspired the "Ned rig", but before that Midwest finesse anglers used many other lures to allure countless scores of bass. Chuck used Beatle spins, marabou jigs with and without a fiber weed guard, eels, small 2.5 inch tubes, and many other small baits. If it was not for chuck woods the Ned rig would likely have never been created. Even today Midwest finesse fishermen do not exclusively use small plastics on mushroom jigs, they continue to use many other small baits also. Here's a quote from Ned Kahde (curousy of team9nine) "I began by telling the world about how Chuck Woods of Kansas city, who was as poor as the proverbial church mouse, taught us how to catch scores and scores of black bass on spinning rods with beetles, jig worms, jigs, and eels. Now, Chuck's genius has been forgotten, even by me at times.". Here's a link to an article detailing how it all started A short history of Midwest finesse fishing.
Many new comers are using the trd, but that is not the way it always was. Half of a zinkerz (or strike king zero, they are the same bait made by zman but marketed by strike king) is in my opinion a better option than the much newer TRD, once the salt has been soaked or stretched out of the zinkerz it is far softer than the TRD and has a better action in the water. Half of a green pumpkin zinkerz on a 1/16 ounce mushroom Jighead is the bread and butter bait, and is the most versatile. Other popular options that can at times be effective include but are not limited to, the hula stickz, the TRD tubez, the finesse shadz, zooms finesse worm which is sometimes cut down or left at full length, the finesse wormz, the batwingz, and the leachz. Popular colors include green pumpkin and green pumpkin sparkle, junebug, coppertruse, pb and j, and pearl. I keep it simple and use the green pumpkin color on cloudy days, green pumpkin sparkle on sunny days, and coppertruse when the water is abnormally muddy, and occasionally pb and j for something different. Ned swaps junebug out for coppertruse for muddy water conditions.
Next up is the jig head to witch the small soft plastic is affixed to. There are currently only two commercially made jig heads that fit the requirements (seibert pours one called the morel, but I have yet to use that model), the zman shroomz and gopher tackle mushroom jig. Ned kahde prefers the gopher heads, because they are more affordable, and unlike the shroomzs they carry 1/32 and 3/32 ounce heads in addition to 1/16, they come with better hooks, and you can choose the style and size of hook that you want. Zman only carries 1/16 ounce and some much heavier heads, and you should never have to use anything weighing more than 3/32 ounce. Many people are trying to use heavy heads and big hooks, but this takes away the effectiveness of the Ned rig. Ned uses 1/16 ounce heads with a #4 hook 85% of the time, 1/32 ounce head with a #4 or #6 hook 10% of the time, and the 3/32 head with a #4 or #2 hook the other 5% of the time. Elaztech is so elastic that a regular bait collar will not hold the bait in place (the shroomz has a wire keeper that does work for a little while but it always breaks off eventually) so a drop of super glue is used to secure the bait in place. If rigged with an appropriate size jig head under 3/32 ounce with a hook no larger than a #2 or #1, and used properly the Ned rig is surprisingly snagless, the light weight floats on and over snags and the small hook does not tend to hook into snags.
Now onto the line. Ned prefers brightly colored fluorescent braided line to aid in visually detecting strikes. He uses braided line from 6 pound test up to 10 pound test, usually with a fluorocarbon or monofilament leader of 8 pound test tied onto it. The lite braid increases casting distance and makes it easier to watch the line, and the eight pound test leader increases abrasion resistance around the line cutting zebra mussels common in Kansas, plus the small amount of stretch afforded allows the angler to utilize the bow and arrow technique to free a snagged lure.
The rod and reel selection has been way over complicated by many, but Ned has been using the same simple tackle for years. Contrary to popular belief a sensitive rod is not needed for the Ned rig. If retrieved correctly the line should not be tight and bites are detected by line movement or straightening. Ned uses several old 6' Synergy rods that he purchased for a whopping $15, and cheap spinning reels with the bail arms cut off are mounted on them. He prefers reels with a large diameter spool to increase casting distance. 6' rods offer better control of the bait, but longer rods up to 7' offer increased casting distance, so picking a rod anywhere in that range will suffice. Generally speaking casts shorter than 50' are more effective, because they make it possible to have increased control over the presentation. Basically, any rod between 6' and 7' medium lite or medium powered, with a fast action will work for the Ned rig. And any spinning reel will work, but reels with larger spool diameters are preferred for longer casts. Sensitive rods and high quality reels are not necessary for the Ned rig.
Now I am going to talk about the retrieves or presentations that are most effective. This is probably the most key and most misunderstood part of Ned rigging, the "no feel retrieve" is vital to presenting it properly. You should not feel the lure directly, throughout the retrieve you should not be able to actually feel the lure at all.
There are technically six different official retrieves, but I am going to only cover three of them. The first is called the "swim glide and shake retrieve" and is the most versatile retrieve of all. I use this retrieve roughly 95% of the time. Start off by casting the bait out, and as soon as it hits the water start shaking the rod tip lightly all the way down to the bottom. Once it hits the bottom, continue shaking the rod tip with the rod at 10:00 position and slowly turn the reel handle a few times, the number of times and the speed should be experimented. The bait should be gliding above the bottoms bit within six inches or a foot of the bottom, and remember to avoid feeling the bait or having a tight line. After turning the reel handle a few times, stop shaking the rod tip and stop reeling, and allow the bait to glide back to the bottom on a tight line to establish bottom contact. This is the only time you should have the line tight or be able to feel the bait. Repeat until back at the boat.
The next retrieve is called the "drag and deadstick retrieve". This is usually used in place of the swim glide and shake in very cold water for inactive fish. Cast the bait out, and allow it to sink to the bottom while watching the line. Once it hits the bottom, let it sit for a few seconds before slowly dragging it across the bottom with the rod for anywhere between six inches and a couple feet. Vary the length and speed of the drag. After dragging it, deadstick it for several seconds while watching the line (always watch the line during all of the retrieves, this is how you will detect most of the bites). Vary the length of the pause. Repeat until it reaches the boat.
The last retrieve I'm going to talk about is called "strolling". It is basically drifting or moving slowly across a shallow flat with lines dragging behind the boat. Very handy technique to have when you're a co-angler and your boater is paralleling a bank with a crnkabit or something. Just cast the bait out behind the boat, pull off some more line, and let it drag across the bottom. Another bonus besides catching a ton of fish is getting to watch how frustrated the boater becomes when he's outfished by the co-angler that just front ended and gave zero places to cast to.
The Ned rig is designed to be fished in shallow water no deeper than 8-12 feet, and is best in slightly stained to murky water. It is not made to be fished in heavy cover, but is surprisingly snagless when fished correctly. It is best when used on nothing looking shorelines that have little brush or weeds, areas that many other anglers will pass up. The Ned rig also skips well underneath docks, which can be a good option on sunny summer days.
The hookset on the Ned rig takes a little getting used to, regular hooksets with the tiny Ned hooks don't work very well. Instead simply reeling quickly while raising the rod up higher will penetrate the thin hooks into a basses jaw easily. It is more of a reel set than anything.
Many people say that the Ned rig only catches small fish. I disagree with that statement, I say that it catches bass of all sizes! It catches more small fish than big fish simply because there are more small fish than big fish, but it will catch big fish if younput it in front of them. The Ned rig caught my pb last year of 8.2 pounds, and Ned kahde caught an unofficial state record smallmouth on it a few year back. Tell them that they can't eat the Ned rig because it's to small. And not only does it catch bass, it catches all kind of other fish to. I've caught 14.5 inch crappie, 15 pound channel catfish, ten inch bluegill, 18 inch white bass, 17 inch bullhead, eleven inch green sunfish, 9 inch pumpkin seed, a 38 pound common carp, and several other species of fish all on the Ned rig.
I hope I remembered to cover everything, if I realize that I forgot something I'll edit it in. As I mentioned earlier, I created this thread to make it easier to find all of the information to start out with the ned rig all on one page, and to clear up the abundant misconceptions. Brian and Clayton, feel free to correct me or add to this. This thread is not a copy and paste from one of Ned's articles, but everything in this thread was spoken by him in one form or another at some point. This is the basics of the ned rig, according to Ned Kahde.
