I have never caught a bass on a Ned rig. Not sure what I’m doing wrong or if I’m working it wrong.

It would be helpful to post what you’re doin and how you’re doin it.

Mike

I normally throw a Strike King Perfect Plastics ned Ocho on a 1/4 mushroom jighead. I fish them on rocky bottoms to downsize if fish won't commit to jigs.

The Ned rig is all that I can catch fish on right now. I am using trds on 8# fluorocarbon. I fish the Midwest finesse jig heads. Most of the time I use 1/16 or 3/32. If I need to go deeper I can use the 1/8. I am late for an appointment but I will try to post more later.

Some details on how you're fishing it; tackle, location, retrieve, ect, would help.

I fish a Ned a lot and catch a lot of fish on it all times of year. I fish mine on 10lb braid with 8-10lb flouro leader to a 1/16oz head. A majority of the time I fish a TRD or Big TRD. Occasionally, I will fish it slowly on the bottom, but most often my most productive retrieve is the swim-shake-glide Midwest Finesse retrieve. My most productive colors are Hot Snakes, Coppertruese, Green Pumpkin Goby, White Lightning, Hot Craw, and The Deal.

For me, the key features of a Ned Rig are light weight and a short, floating plastic for a slow fall. Using a jig that allows the bait to stand up when it hits the bottom is also an important feature. Fish it slow. The absolute most important part, is putting it in front of fish. Even dynamite won’t get anything if you throw it where there’s no fish.

just with the little info we have i would say lighten your weight and tackle.1/16 and 3/32 are the most productive weights for me. no more than 8 pound leader. and dont be afraid to swim it off bottom and let it glide back down as bluebasser said.

Honestly there are times when it's not effective anymore here. The ned is basically my last attempt to catch fish. If they are not willing to bite that, it's time to go home and try another day.

I tend to do better with it when there isn't a lot of vegetation around. The exposed hook gets hung up frequently. I know there are ways of trying to mitigate that like a weed guard or rigging it differently. Those were more of a gimmick when I tried them.

I fish a Ned a lot on riprap. It almost always catches some bass. I either lift it then let it sink straight down by lowering my rod tip as its falling, or lift it and keep my rod tip high and let it pendulum toward me on a tight line.

I used to catch a bunch of smallmouth and rock bass on the ned. I feel like everyone and their brother has thrown it, so it has lost some of its effectiveness. Green pumpkin and peanut butter and jelly are my favorite colors. Z man baits. 1/16 oz jig head most of the time. Most of my bites are on the fall or dragging it painfully slowly. Like however slow you're retrieving it slow it down to .5 or .25 that speed. I used to throw it all the time, but anymore I find it to be my last resort. It used to be the first lure off the boat. My fishing has changed. TBH I'd rather throw a tube all day in the same water I'd throw a ned in the past.

Rob

Thanks fellas! I really appreciate the info, I’ll take the advice and try it out.

All great answers above. Fish light and don't fish too fast!!!

48 minutes ago, jitterbug127 said:

TBH I'd rather throw a tube all day in the same water I'd throw a ned in the past.

I've been gravitating that direction.

I'd ask if you catch fish with others lures instead? I can go places and NOT catch fish on ned rigs all I want- because they fish just aren't in those places. Then I also have a few places that the fish go in cycles. Last year I couldn't get bit on my 'home' lake on a ned rig. Year before it was 20+ fish evenings. The Neko made up for it this year. Who knows what next year will be. Same home lake 2 years ago, if it was green pumpkin you'd catch a fish or two. If that same lure was tipped chartreuse it was every other cast in the same spot (literally spotlocked and making the same cast). All that is to say that #1, make sure there are fish there in the first place. #2- follow the rules above to fish the lightest head you can and put a bait where the fish are. And #3- if you're catching but not very well don't be afraid to change up the profile or the color just a little bit. Those same fish above wouldn't eat a craw profile but would eat a stickbait profile (floating or not didn't matter). They would eat a green pumpkin stickbait but really ate that chartreuse tipped one. Of course these fish were eating small bluegills so that all makes sense but YMMV.

If you haven’t already seen this video it will be well worth your time. I believe that Ned mentions as many as 6 ways to fish it. I only fish it 3 ways.

The last time out I had 18 all on Ned green pumpkin.

5 hours ago, gim said:

Honestly there are times when it's not effective anymore here. The ned is basically my last attempt to catch fish. If they are not willing to bite that, it's time to go home and try another day.

I tend to do better with it when there isn't a lot of vegetation around. The exposed hook gets hung up frequently. I know there are ways of trying to mitigate that like a weed guard or rigging it differently. Those were more of a gimmick when I tried them.

I fish them on laydowns, light vegetation, rock, etc. I exclusively use the weedless ewg version. I know at times an exposed hook is better, but weedless keeps me efficient.

Have you ever tried fishing it on trick worm or small creature bait? That helps me out on tough days when the regular trd doesn’t work.

But technically once you rig it with an EWG hook that’s weedless, is it really still a “Ned rig?”

I think it’s a Texas rig at that point.

Gim- I’d call it a Texas rigged jig if you want to get technical since I’d class a Texas rigged as having a separate weight (or no weight). But if you’re throwing a 3” plastic on a light jighead (weedless or not) and fishing it like a Ned then I’m just going to call it a Ned.

Ned is a game changer here in the clear water mountain reservoirs that I fish.

I throw them on ML rod, 8# flouro leader, 1/16 - 1/15 , Nedlockz EWG heads.

GP, GP red flake, the Deal.

They work on a dead stick and slow swim.

Plus they can be thrown anywhere on the weedless head which eliminated my biggest complaint..... hanging.

I have completely given up on it. I fish in windy conditions most of the time and I am terrible at controlling light presentations in any wind. In all the years I did fish it, I only remember catching one bass over 3lb. It will put dinks in the boat, no doubt. And lastly, I am rarely in the mindset to be patient enough to fish very light, relatively slow offerings.

18 hours ago, Jig Man said:

If you haven’t already seen this video it will be well worth your time. I believe that Ned mentions as many as 6 ways to fish it. I only fish it 3 ways.

The last time out I had 18 all on Ned green pumpkin.

Ol' Gardner Lake in that video, about 5 minutes from my house.

15 hours ago, gim said:

But technically once you rig it with an EWG hook that’s weedless, is it really still a “Ned rig?”

I think it’s a Texas rig at that point.

I feel like a T-rig is a sliding or pegged weight and a hook rigged weedless, not a weedless jighead. Maybe more of a shakyhead, but again, I rarely fish my weedless Ned heads on the bottom either.

to be honest i fish more 4inch senkos or dingers on a ned style head than i do a true ned rig anymore. i also fish it on a light1/8 head or less in vegatation.So is it really a ned or is it a jig worm?Call it what you want it gets bites and decent size ones.

Similar to @gim , if the fish are not biting on NED, it is likely time to go home.

I have good success with a 1/15 oz. NED head in Green Pumpkin.

I fish a lot of standing timber and mossy vegetation. Tossing the NED out and letting it free-fall gets me snagged quite a bit. Got tired of breaking off and tying on new...so I modified my approach. I toss in to thick areas near timber, and instead of letting it free fall...I hold the rod tip up and let the NED pendulum back towards me, keeping tension on the line. Been a pretty productive technique.

On 1/14/2026 at 8:45 AM, Flukeflicker said:

on a 1/4 mushroom jighead.

Try going lighter.

The ned catches all. It will catch six inchers to six pounders.

Ya, Ned catches decent size bass