Shaky Head vs Ned Rig 2025
badgerboyng reply :
When/where do you use each one? Is one more effective than the other? I know that Ned rigs generally have lighter jig heads and smaller worms than shaky heads. I fish natural lakes in Wisconsin, so I'm thinking that I'd be better off using small Ned rigs. What do you think?
RoLo reply :
They have a lot in common, but they're also quite different.
The shaky head is a "lightweight" lure usually around 1/8 oz, that tends to be fished on bottom.
The Ned Rig is an "ultralight" lure usually around 1/16 oz that demonstrates more mobility.
Roger
kickerfish1 reply :
With shakeyheads I am able to fish the deeper, slower and they are always fished on the bottom. Ned rigs can be fished on the bottom but I tend to swim them somewhere between just barely off the bottom to the middle of the water column.
eyedabassman reply :
They are both great rigs. But for me the Ned will catch alot of numbers and a biggin every now and then and i think the shaky will get numbers too but more biggins. That is what I have seen when I fish them!
IndianaFinesse reply :
Shaky heads are generally better in tournament situations, and shaky heads can effectively fish deeper water. Shaky heads are also a better choice when fishing around more cover, as the bait is usually tex-posed and somewhat weedless. The Ned rig is better for sheer numbers of fish, less cover, shallower water, and arguably can be fished in colder water.
The Ned rig is a small soft plastic bait under four inches long(usually from zman because of the extra durability and softness) attached to a mushroom jig head weighing either 1/32 oz, 1/16 oz, or 3/32 oz, with hook between the sizes of #6 and #2. The most versatile and popular combination is half of a zinkerz on a 1/16 ounce head.
The shaky head is a soft plastic bait usually four inches or longer on a shaky head jig, which often has a screw type bait holder attached to the head in such a way to allow easy texposing or Texas rigging. The hook is much larger, roughly between the sizes of 3/0 and 6/0, and the jig head can weigh anywhere between 1/16 ounce and over half of an ounce, with the most popular weight being 1/8 ounce.
Both rigs have there strengths and weaknesses, so it is best to utilize both of them, and the conditions (and a bit of personal preference) dictates which rig is the best choice.
cgolf reply :
Personally on our WI lakes I use slider rigged worms. I sometimes use the Ned, but find most lakes either to heavily weeded or it is to windy to cast to cover with it, the line gets blown all over the place. To me it is not a good bait to cast to visible cover, it is just too light.
The slider spider pro heads have a very stout hook. I do use the Ned a lot on the river, just have not found it to be very efficient on lakes. I have caught WI bass on 10" worms and the KVD 8.0 squarebill, so you don't really need to use micro baits.
BaitFinesse reply :
I fish the two completely different. My shaky heads are cast to targets like docks, fished on the bottom and are moved a feet from where they touch down. My ned rigs are cast and retrieved with a swimming retrieve and rarely, if ever, allowed on the bottom. Bass will ****** that thing right out of the water column.
badgerboyng reply :
Thank you everyone for the replies! So far it seems like shaky heads should maintain bottom contact, whereas Ned rigs can swim just above the ground if needed. It makes sense that shaky heads are better in tournaments, since the trailer is larger.
Cgolf, that's a good point about it being difficult to use a Ned rig in Wisconsin lakes, since many of our lakes are so weedy. My friend slayed a 5lb smallmouth on the Wisconsin River with a Ned rig last year, though. I think I'll reserve these rigs for river situations.
cgolf reply :
On 2/26/2017 at 11:01 AM, badgerboyng said:Thank you everyone for the replies! So far it seems like shaky heads should maintain bottom contact, whereas Ned rigs can swim just above the ground if needed. It makes sense that shaky heads are better in tournaments, since the trailer is larger.
Cgolf, that's a good point about it being difficult to use a Ned rig in Wisconsin lakes, since many of our lakes are so weedy. My friend slayed a 5lb smallmouth on the Wisconsin River with a Ned rig last year, though. I think I'll reserve these rigs for river situations.
Seeing where you are at, the chain can be ridiculous, except very early in the year. I do like tossing a Sled rig at docks, 1/2 Zinkerz on a slider head. Looking to try the Big TRD to get more bait behind the hook. Purple haze was good around docks in that lovely green water;)
My PB 20" Smallie came on the Ned rig last year.
3dees reply :
sorry, but this old timer is totally confused by all these different rigs. plus special rods to fish them. I have never tried any of them. my go to bait when the bite is tough is a 1/8 oz ball head or football head with a four inch finesse worm. I have caught everything from bluegill to muskie. never needed to change to any other rig. yeah, I know I'm behind the times, but it's easier to just hook a worm on a jig and be done with it, instead of trying to decide which of the many rigs to go with. personally, I don't think the fish really care. put the lure where the fish are and you will catch. when I need to keep the lure off the bottom I will go with a drop shot. if you feel confident in a certain rig, great, but I think it's more about the confidence then the rig itself.
cgolf reply :
On 2/26/2017 at 11:12 PM, 3dees said:sorry, but this old timer is totally confused by all these different rigs. plus special rods to fish them. I have never tried any of them. my go to bait when the bite is tough is a 1/8 oz ball head or football head with a four inch finesse worm. I have caught everything from bluegill to muskie. never needed to change to any other rig. yeah, I know I'm behind the times, but it's easier to just hook a worm on a jig and be done with it, instead of trying to decide which of the many rigs to go with. personally, I don't think the fish really care. put the lure where the fish are and you will catch. when I need to keep the lure off the bottom I will go with a drop shot. if you feel confident in a certain rig, great, but I think it's more about the confidence then the rig itself.
Essentially the Ned rig is a small soft plastic of any brand on a jig head of a certain weight. You have been fishing almost that for awhile now. There are some on here that can clarify the plastic size and jig weight sizes for a true Ned rig, but what you do works great regardless of what it is called.
For me 75% of my plastics are fished on a slider head and the rest are on a jig head, follows the KISS logic, keep it simple stupid lol. Been that way for 15 years.
badgerboyng reply :
On 2/26/2017 at 11:12 PM, 3dees said:sorry, but this old timer is totally confused by all these different rigs. plus special rods to fish them. I have never tried any of them. my go to bait when the bite is tough is a 1/8 oz ball head or football head with a four inch finesse worm. I have caught everything from bluegill to muskie. never needed to change to any other rig. yeah, I know I'm behind the times, but it's easier to just hook a worm on a jig and be done with it, instead of trying to decide which of the many rigs to go with. personally, I don't think the fish really care.
I respect the simplicity of your approach. I was just wondering if one rig was noticeably better than the other, but it seems like bass love the sight of a worm on the bottom - period. There are many ways to accomplish this, and you might be right about the fish not caring much.
Mosster47 reply :
The pro, co, and college winners at Havasu a couple weeks ago caught all or most of their fish on a Ned.
I know it had been a staple in Jared Litner's arsenal for decades.
Fishin' Fool reply :
If you have a lot of weeds where you are fishing look into the Neko rig too.
Bluebasser86 reply :
Don't let the small size fool you into thinking the Ned rig is a small fish only bait. I won a tournament last year with a Ned rig, and I've even won big bass in a tournament with a Ned rig. 
tander reply :
I prefer the Ned Rig over the Shaky Rig. I catch just as big bass on it plus catch more on the Ned.
OkobojiEagle reply :
OP... I recommend you pick up a handful of Charlie Brewer's classic Spider jig heads in 1/8oz, 3/16oz and 1/4oz. along with a few of your favorite green pumpkin or black 4" finesse worms. Practice Charlie's suggested retrieves, find some of your Wisconsin smallmouth and enjoy. If need be you can pinch off an inch of the worm.
oe
badgerboyng reply :
@Bluebasser86 That is a beautiful smallie - nice work! I'm honestly surprised that something as small and simple as a Ned rig can catch bass that big. Thanks for sharing.
What's the best way to retrieve a Ned rig? Drag it, swim it just off the ground, high in the column, deadstick?
I'll look into slider jigs too.
3dees reply :
yeah, that smallie is a pig. I just wonder if he would have caught that fish with a shakeyhead or a plain round jig and the same bait? I would be convinced if I could see someone fishing using both of these rigs and one out fishing the other by a large margin. not knocking the Ned rig or any other rig. after seeing how fishing has evolved over my 67 years, I see us spending more time playing with our electronics, programing our trolling motor and rigging for that special technique. I just want to keep it as simple as possible and spend more time with my lure in the water.
padon reply :
someone will probably post a link but, get on youtube, type in ned kedhe Midwest finesse retrieves . he gives a whole tutorial
BassGirl71 reply :
On 2/26/2017 at 9:09 AM, cgolf said:Personally on our WI lakes I use slider rigged worms. I sometimes use the Ned, but find most lakes either to heavily weeded or it is to windy to cast to cover with it, the line gets blown all over the place. To me it is not a good bait to cast to visible cover, it is just too light.
The slider spider pro heads have a very stout hook. I do use the Ned a lot on the river, just have not found it to be very efficient on lakes. I have caught WI bass on 10" worms and the KVD 8.0 squarebill, so you don't really need to use micro baits.
Good info. I live in WI as well and was going to add the Ned rig to my list of things to fish more this year. But a lot of the lakes I fish, like you said, are heavily weeded. The ones that aren't I would be fishing pretty deep. 10" worm is one of my go-to baits for mid-summer fishing!
cgolf reply :
On 2/28/2017 at 3:20 AM, 3dees said:yeah, that smallie is a pig. I just wonder if he would have caught that fish with a shakeyhead or a plain round jig and the same bait? I would be convinced if I could see someone fishing using both of these rigs and one out fishing the other by a large margin. not knocking the Ned rig or any other rig. after seeing how fishing has evolved over my 67 years, I see us spending more time playing with our electronics, programing our trolling motor and rigging for that special technique. I just want to keep it as simple as possible and spend more time with my lure in the water.
The weird bit about this whole Ned rig thing, is this it doesn't feel much different then what we have been tossing for years. A light jig and small plastic equals Midwest finesse, which everyone wants to label and have rules for. As I posted earlier I have had two rigs for years slider heads and jigs, picking the weight by what the fish want and the conditions dictate. What drives me nuts, is with the same plastic, I am fishing a Ned rig only if the jig is light enough. If I am fishing in 2-3 footers and heavy winds, a Ned sized plastic may get the nod, but need a 1/4+ jig to do battle in those conditions and it is then a Shaky head lol
I guess from now on I just fish what works skipping all the labels it is just all to confusing:)
MikeWright reply :
What about a shaky head hook with a cut down senko on it texposed, would it be a shaky ned? Or just weedless ned rig?
IndianaFinesse reply :
On 2/28/2017 at 9:48 AM, MikeWright said:What about a shaky head hook with a cut down senko on it texposed, would it be a shaky ned? Or just weedless ned rig?
Neither, it would be a cut down senko on a shaky head jig.
IndianaFinesse reply :
@badgerboyng, there are several ways to retrieve the Ned rig, but the most versatile retrieve is called the swim glide and shake retrieve. I use it about 95% of the time. Here's a link to a post where I detail this retrieve and several others, plus other info on the "ned rig".
http://bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/186214-the-basics-of-the-ned-rig/#comment-2099456
And here's another link to another helpful article, http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/2016/03/a-ned-rig-primer-cutting-through-the-hype-misinformation.html
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 2/28/2017 at 3:20 AM, 3dees said:yeah, that smallie is a pig. I just wonder if he would have caught that fish with a shakeyhead or a plain round jig and the same bait? I would be convinced if I could see someone fishing using both of these rigs and one out fishing the other by a large margin. not knocking the Ned rig or any other rig. after seeing how fishing has evolved over my 67 years, I see us spending more time playing with our electronics, programing our trolling motor and rigging for that special technique. I just want to keep it as simple as possible and spend more time with my lure in the water.
Can't fish bottom contact baits in this particular lake thanks to the zebra mussels. Even before they were there, a Ned rig outfished a shakyhead by a wide margin 9 times out of 10. I've used a round jighead in the same weights with a TRD or 1/2 a Zinker, it works, but it isn't quite as effective either.
You state a desire to keep it simple, I promise it doesn't get much more simple than a Ned rig.
On 2/28/2017 at 9:21 AM, cgolf said:
If I am fishing in 2-3 footers and heavy winds, a Ned sized plastic may get the nod, but need a 1/4+ jig to do battle in those conditions and it is then a Shaky head lol
We were fishing in 25+mph straight winds that day, and I never use anything bigger than 1/16oz. Wasn't hiding from the wind in the least bit either if you'll notice the swells and whitecaps. It's a no feel presentation, so to me the wind doesn't change anything.
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