Since its rise in popularity amongst bass anglers, the Ned Rig has become one of the most reliable finesse tactics that can be fished year-round for all species of bass. Today, Omnia Fishing's Jacob Bros goes over how to fish the Ned Rig effectively for smallmouth bass during the fall. While using a ZMan Hula StickZ rigged on an Outkast Tackle Perfect Ned Head, give the bait a cast away from the boat and allow slack in your line until the bait reaches the bottom. From there, begin with slow drags, moving the bait back to the boat. As you feel rocks along the bottom, give the Ned Rig a pause, which allows the ElaZtech plastic of the Hula StickZ to cause the bait to stand upright on the bottom, giving the Ned Rig its signature appearance to draw strikes. From there, continue using slow drags with light shakes and pauses all the way back to the boat - this is one of the most effective ways to fish a Ned Rig when the bite gets tough. In closing, Jacob wanted to highlight that the Ned Rig is one of the best baits when deadsticked or moved very slowly along the bottom, allowing it to imitate one of a bass' favorite foods, a bottom-dwelling crayfish!
