Was watching a show on youtube and the host kept saying the ned rig imitates a dead worm perfectly... 

TO ME. The ned rig mimics a DRAGON FLY LARVAE perfectly.

I catch quite a few bass slip bobber fishing for walleye during the summer months, unfortuantely with walleye you have to let them "take the bait" when fishing leeches so when a bass hits instead of an eye they can get gut hooked easily. Quite a few years ago I started noticing a common forage in the stomachs of these accidental bass catches.. dragon fly nymphs. Bass (and all species) LOVE them. Now, since most of you are looking at this going "no.. it looks like a worm or a minnow", hop on youtube and look up some underwater footage of how dragonfly nymphs move on the bottom. Its a ned rig. 

 

I can tell you what it mimics -----> it mimics food, doesn´t matter which kind of food. 

Overcomplicating things. 

What Raul said.....

Could be that, or a dying minnow too.

It kinda looks like anything and everything.  

       Here's a good quote from the late great Tony Dean (courtesy of T-9).  "If you've come around to realize that the exact imitation isn't nearly as important as coming up with something that kinda looks like the real thing and put it where it should go, you've pretty much figured out what it takes to be called a good fisherman."  

The Ned was meant to mimic a small crawfish flipping away. 

LOL, and the winner is.....

Ned has stated all of these as possible items at some point, but the majority of the time, you'll find his answer as the following:

"Most of our lure presentations are focused upon replicating invertebrates," (such as crayfish and immature aquatic insects).

But I agree with Raul and IndianaFinesse, don't overthink it. There are 6 retrieves in Midwest Finesse that can easily replicate anything and everything.

-T9

3 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

It kinda looks like anything and everything.  

       Here's a good quote from the late great Tony Dean.  "If you've come around to realize that the exact imitation isn't nearly as important as coming up with something that kinda looks like the real thing and put it where it should go, you've pretty much figured out what it takes to be called a good fisherman."  

Now that's a really very smart quote.

17 minutes ago, Raul said:

Now that's a really very smart quote.

LOL - Hmmm, not sure where he found that one     

-T9

10 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

LOL - Hmmm, not sure where he found that one     

It was just to good to not share, most people don't read signatures.

I've always thought of it as a very short injured Senko.

A-Jay

18 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

I've always thought of as a very short injured Senko.

A-Jay

Now that is funny. 

To tell the truth, I really don't know what it suppose to look like, I do know bass like it !!!

Big Mac combo?

 

Ned rigs mimic real fishing rigs, except that they are smaller and lighter.   Seriously, I think that the "short injured senko" is the best answer.

If I fished in areas where there was a little less cover, I would fish the ned rig more, but I just got tired of buying jig heads.   Even though the hook is smallish, it gets hung up too often for me.

For all I know, it imitates.............to a bass................a water logged, sunken cigarette butt...........maybe bass love cigarette butts. 

13 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I've always thought of it as a very short injured Senko.

A-Jay

Ok, now let´s begin splitting hairs: how, when and where that short senko was injured ? 

39 minutes ago, Raul said:

Ok, now let´s begin splitting hairs: how, when and where that short senko was injured ? 

 Hey, what happens in Mexico ~ Stays in Mexico.

A-Jay

 

IMO the ned rig looks like a big ol' water worm. probably a larva of some sort. looks like an elongated goose turd.  dark gray about 1 1/2" long or less. a bit thinner than a pencil. eastern ky. creek fish will bite til it won't stay on the hook.

They should add a few really thin legs onto those ned rig plastics.

1 hour ago, blckshirt98 said:

They should add a few really thin legs onto those ned rig plastics.

There are skirted grubs with tiny legs on the sides, cut off the head and the tail and voile, there you have, a hairy ned rig. 

2 hours ago, blckshirt98 said:

They should add a few really thin legs onto those ned rig plastics.

It's called a hula stickz.

I was thinking more those little legs on the Berkley Havoc Back Slide!

I ended up with a few bags of GY hula grubs that IU have never had much luck with.  I am going to try them this year with the legs cut off and rigged like a Fat Ika.  A "Skinnyfat Ika" maybe? 

Cool video . Dragonfly nymphs are bad .