Ned rig is it working?

[Jig Man]

We fish highland reservoirs in MO and Northern AR.  Ned has been a good producer in the fall and winter.  We’ve been on Table Rock lake in the upper James River which is large mouth county, upper White River which is spotted bass country and lower Beaver lake in AR where smallmouth are predominant.  Shaky and jigs are working but Ned is terrible.

 

Most of our fish are coming on very rocky areas.

 

If it is working for you,  what kind of water are you fishing.

 

 

[TnRiver46]

Well since the entire US outside of FLA has thrown nothing but neds for several years, I can’t say I’m surprised 

 

that being said people are still catching with them here, fast shallow waters and deep slow waters 

[Bluebasser86]

It was basically cheating last time I went out. I stopped throwing it because it was catching fish so fast, but they were mostly smaller. Could have easily topped 100 fish if I had just stuck to the Ned. Switched to a small jig and jerkbait and ended with around 75 on the day with one nearly 6lbs on the jerkbait. 

[Susky River Rat]

I fish a very rocky river with some good current. The Ned rig is killer most days 

[Bankc]

I fish some pretty heavily pressured waters and find that the Ned rig isn't working all that well for me.  I think it's because too many people are throwing it.  And I've tried it in several different lakes, though generally only lakes that have largemouth and spotted populations.  Some rocks.  Some sand.  Some mud.  Ranging from stained to muddy waters in lakes ranging from 10-100 ft. max depth.  It works in all of them, which is good.  But I can usually catch about the same numbers, only bigger sizes, by switching to a shaky head and trick worm or regular T-rig worm.  

 

So yeah, it works for me.  And there's a lot of different ways to fish it, so it's pretty versatile.  But it's not a cheat code or anything.  The best thing about them, in my opinion, is those Elaztech worms last FOREVER.  

[TnRiver46]

41 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

It was basically cheating last time I went out. I stopped throwing it because it was catching fish so fast, but they were mostly smaller. Could have easily topped 100 fish if I had just stuck to the Ned. Switched to a small jig and jerkbait and ended with around 75 on the day with one nearly 6lbs on the jerkbait. 

We know everyone throws hard baits where you live cuz you find them all in the bushes 😂 

[RHuff]

All I can ever seem to catch on the ned are bluegills and catfish..

[MN Fisher]

1 hour ago, RHuff said:

All I can ever seem to catch on the ned are bluegills and catfish..

Need to find where the bass are hiding - both these caught on Ned.

[Boomstick]

The ned rig can be very hit or miss for me. Some days, I can't get a bite on it and others I get hammered. Sometimes I end up catching more trout on it than bass.

 

This fall, I found a shore spot where I could hit a dropoff right past a weedline and that produced well for me with ned rigs and T-Rigged baby brush hogs and caught this one on a ned rig.

[TOXIC]

I am a finesse fisherman first and foremost so a Ned is in my rotation most every trip.  That’s not to say it’s the only game in town.  Some days it works, some days it’s medocire and some days they just don’t want it.  For example 2 years ago on our annual trip to lake St Clair, the smallmouth tore up a Ned.  Best numbers and size in 20 years.  Last year the smallmouth were lackluster on the Ned and that was after rotating  through all the usual plastics rigged on it.  Years before the Ned the dropshot was king and still is a player every year.  Took me a while but I finally figured out the smallmouth were more interested in a dropshot but not with the usual Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm which for a few years was the bait of choice, but they wanted the old school presentation of a Pro Senko which has been my dropshot preference for years and years.  In the finesse world, staying flexible is paramount.  

[gim]

I caught a few plus sized smallmouth in May on the ned.  It was cloudy with a nice chop when I started, but after a while the wind died and the sun came out, greatly increasing water clarity.  They stopped hitting my jerk bait but I knew they were still in the area, so I switched to a ned rig.  Caught 5 more nice smallmouth on it.

 

Not my favorite technique out there, but effective at times.  Seems to definitely catch more dinks than other presentations.

[KSanford33]

The only body of water I find it doesn't work very well for me is when there's a mucky bottom or the bottom has that green slime on it. But any kind of sandy or rocky bottom, 100% the Ned rig has been successful for me. But like others have said, I catch quantity but not always quality on it.

[RRocket]

8 hours ago, TOXIC said:

I am a finesse fisherman first and foremost so a Ned is in my rotation most every trip.  That’s not to say it’s the only game in town.  Some days it works, some days it’s medocire and some days they just don’t want it.  For example 2 years ago on our annual trip to lake St Clair, the smallmouth tore up a Ned.  Best numbers and size in 20 years.  Last year the smallmouth were lackluster on the Ned and that was after rotating  through all the usual plastics rigged on it.  Years before the Ned the dropshot was king and still is a player every year.  Took me a while but I finally figured out the smallmouth were more interested in a dropshot but not with the usual Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm which for a few years was the bait of choice, but they wanted the old school presentation of a Pro Senko which has been my dropshot preference for years and years.  In the finesse world, staying flexible is paramount.  

I too am finesse (ultralight only) and follow pretty much what you wrote.

 

Though instead of a traditional Ned, I use a modular Jika that I can change weights/hook in about 1 minute without a re-tie.

 

(I call the Jika the "improved Ned").

[Jig Man]

Today I used jigs shaky and Ned.  No jig fish at all, no morning Ned fish,   17 shaky fish with Ned bites in the mid day.  3 Ned fish so that’s a start.

[Susky River Rat]

3 hours ago, KSanford33 said:

The only body of water I find it doesn't work very well for me is when there's a mucky bottom or the bottom has that green slime on it. But any kind of sandy or rocky bottom, 100

I second this 

[TnRiver46]

19 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

Today I used jigs shaky and Ned.  No jig fish at all, no morning Ned fish,   17 shaky fish with Ned bites in the mid day.  3 Ned fish so that’s a start.

I’d be throwing nothing but the shakey! Then again that’s about all I do anyway 

 

my buddy has been killing it with a Texas rig finesse worm this year out the back of my boat. I just hate looking for a hook and sinker so I always reach for the jighead 

[A-Jay]

I am not a huge fan of the ned rig but I'll bust it out when the situation dictates.

To tempt the brown bass here, that usually means, flat water and a 'clean' bottom.

https://youtu.be/KuPRtdajOLU?feature=shared&t=117

A-Jay

 

[ChrisD46]

There are newer expansions / offshoots in soft plastics for the Ned Ned Rig from top manufactured … Experiment with different new Ned Rig soft plastics . Next , there are six different retrieves for the Ned Rig , so learn and rotate through the various retrieves to mix up what the bass are seeing . 

[rangerjockey]

On 12/14/2023 at 10:15 AM, Jig Man said:

We fish highland reservoirs in MO and Northern AR.  Ned has been a good producer in the fall and winter.  We’ve been on Table Rock lake in the upper James River which is large mouth county, upper White River which is spotted bass country and lower Beaver lake in AR where smallmouth are predominant.  Shaky and jigs are working but Ned is terrible.

 

Most of our fish are coming on very rocky areas.

 

If it is working for you,  what kind of water are you fishing.

 

 

I live on the James River arm of Table Rock. I don't think they bite it like they used to either. Really it hasn't been good for a few years. 3 or 4 years ago you could just go down a chunk rock bank and train wreck em.

I pretty much put it down last year and just throw a Shakey head. I would imagine down by the dam or Kimberling city in the clearer water it would still work.

[Jig Man]

I didn’t get to try it last fall because Nitro had my boat in the factory.  So I don’t know about last fall but up until then it was a good fall and winter bait.  
 

I will keep it tied on and use it sparingly until I see if it gets to working.

 

How far down the James do you live?  I normally stay above Butter Milk Springs.

[rangerjockey]

7 hours ago, Jig Man said:

I didn’t get to try it last fall because Nitro had my boat in the factory.  So I don’t know about last fall but up until then it was a good fall and winter bait.  
 

I will keep it tied on and use it sparingly until I see if it gets to working.

 

How far down the James do you live?  I normally stay above Butter Milk Springs.

my place is in Cape Fair. I keep my boat at the marina.

[Jig Man]

We probably have seen each other on the water.  I am there once or twice every week.

[rangerjockey]

17 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

We probably have seen each other on the water.  I am there once or twice every week.

Cool. I have a silver/red Triton now. I'm in the closest dock to the ramp on the gas pump side.

Holler if you see me.

[Jig Man]

Same here.  I have a Nitro Z20.  
 

[RRocket]

3 hours ago, Jig Man said:

Same here.  I have a Nitro Z20.  
 

 

Real nice rig!! 

 

Wish such a boat would work for my needs. A real beauty!