Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » The-Ned-Rig » Weedless Ned Rig

Weedless Ned Rig

By Justin Willmer

The Ned Rig just got even deadlier with the addition of the TT Lures NedlockZ EWG jighead. After fishing prototypes of this jighead and now fishing the finished product for a few months, I thought it was time to run through how, when, where and why I opt to tie on and fish this jighead, along with the plastics that I team up with it to get the bite.

The Jighead

The NedlockZ EWG was originally developed for the crew at ZMan Fishing US as a continuation of the cool work they have done with the Ned Rig System, a mid-west finesse technique that is smashing bass in the states. Utilising ZMan's naturally buoyant ElaZtech plastics and the mushroom shaped jighead, you create a rapid stand up presentation that you can shake, drag and hop to represent naturally moving or fleeing prey, that when paused stands up off the bottom and moves with the water to represent prey that is feeding on the bottom or defending itself. This presentation is basically fishing for you throughout the whole retrieve, mimicking the movement and behaviours of natural prey.

Designs were discussed, prototypes made and I initially fished the prototype with the arrival of the ZMan 2.75" TRD BugZ, a creature bait with a chunky ribbed body and four appendages that create extremely lifelike movement in the water. It looked good rigged on the NedlockZ EWG and I sent the combo into a weedy drain that would be virtually impossible to fish with a standard jighead. Fish on!

It didn't take long and the presentation was crunched, rod buckled and I was into the first fish pinned on the NedlockZ EWG. I was here targeting flathead, however the first fish was a solid bream that had inhaled the TRD BugZ and NedlockZ EWG. The EWG stands for Extra Wide Gape, with the gape being how far the hook point is from the shank of the hook. The wider gape allows you to rig the plastic weedless, with their being enough gape (gap) for the plastic to move out of the way and clear the hook point for a solid hookset. This bream had no problem eating the plastic and the wide gape hook, clearing it easily and ensuring the hook was firmly in the corner of the jaw. All I could see was the mushroom head poking out of its mouth and I was stoked to christen a couple of new products.

A few more casts and another bream, soon followed by a flathead that was pinned securely in the top of the jaw and in the landing net. Only having the one prototype I opted to stop fishing it as it had proven itself quickly on multiples species. Fast forward a few months and a shipment of NedlockZ EWG was on the way to the US, along with a small quantity to kick us off with Australian stores... fail. When I sent the release out to stores that the NedlockZ EWG were now available, the stock we had was instantly smashed by the stores and we put the call out to the TT factory to fire up the EWG stock. The cool thing to see was the predominantly freshwater stores get on them for the bass and yellowbelly, northern stores for the jungle perch, sooties and saltwater, and the hardcore bream and saltwater stores saw the benefits when fishing the snags and weed. There was faith that this jighead would perform in a wide variety of environments for a mixed bag of species. Game on!

The Plastics

The final version of the NedlockZ EWG came complete with a custom, heavy duty #1 VMC black nickel chemically sharpened hook, that fit perfectly in a few of my ZMan Ned Rig favourites, including the 2.5" GrubZ, 2.5" Slim SwimZ, 2.5" TRD CrawZ and 2.75" TRD BugZ.

I would happily fish any of these plastics in almost any environment, however I often select the GrubZ and Slim SwimZ when I am fishing faster, covering ground quickly and rolling (winding) the plastic as well as hopping, shaking, dragging and pausing it. The lively and proven tail action of these plastics make them deadly, so if I am casting over the flats and slowly retrieving the plastic almost anything will eat it, then when I spot a cool piece of structure, drain, bait or fish, I can slow the presentation down and keep it in the strike zone longer.

On the other hand crustaceans tend to move slower and not cover as much distance, in which case I employ the services of the 2.5" TRD CrawZ or 2.75" TRD BugZ. These are perfect for focussing on structure and pockets in the weed, fishing slow and attracting those tougher bites. The TRD BugZ is a little more subtle, so I tend to favour it on the two lighter weight NedlockZ EWG (1/15oz and 1/10oz) when fishing shallower water, while the crazy waving claws on the 2.5" TRD CrawZ make it a winner in deeper water, dirty water and when I want to fish more aggressively.

How to Weedless Ned Rig

You will see a few images here stepping you through how to rig the NedlockZ EWG and many anglers find weedless rigging even easier than rigging on a standard jighead. Below I am going to step through the plastics and jigheads that have worked for me in a variety of different estuary applications. This is by no means the only way you can fish them, more just a starting point, and I look forward to seeing how you guys fish them in your local waters.

Creek Sessions

Fishing the mangrove creeks I predominantly fish a 1/10oz NedlockZ, teamed up with a TRD BugZ, and a 1/6oz teamed up with a TRD CrawZ. The TRD BugZ is primarily fished tight to the mangroves and snags on the shallower edges, making the most of the slow fall and more subtle presentation. Bream love this presentation, however most species will show interest. The weedless presentation is handy when your casts find the mangroves, and a slow wind will generally see them come back out of the branches and drop into the strike zone. It also minimises your chances of snagging on mangrove roots, timber and old crab pots, so that you can spend less time rigging and more time fishing.

The ability to cast without worrying about structure sees you firing casts deeper into the mangroves, timber, drains and other structure, which I believe sees more bites and more fish caught. Some believe the hook up rate decreases slightly when fishing weedless, however the super-soft and flexible ElaZtech plastic clears the hook well and the increased opportunities far outweighs any missed fish. I fish a Black or Green Pumpkin head when the water is clear or when I want a very natural presentation, switching to an Orange in dirty water or when looking to trigger strikes from active fish. This light presentation can also be fished deeper and slower on the slack of the tide.

In terms of colour I have only fished the Hot Snakes and The Deal colours in the TRD BugZ, with both catching, so I look forward to fishing more colours. I will generally mix up my casts between a couple of retrieves, firstly a tight cast to structure, allow the lure to fall to the bottom and then drag, shake and hop it back, and secondly a cast tight to structure, a few shakes  and winds, pause to sink to the bottom and then a slightly more aggressive retrieve. You will soon find which retrieve the bream want and then the mix of retrieves will also produce a mixed bag of species, including trevally, grunter and flathead.

The ZMan 2.5" TRD CrawZ I generally rig on a 1/6oz or 1/5oz NedlockZ EWG and I use it primarily to fish the deeper edges and when long casts are required, especially in wind. Again, weedless rigging is perfect in creeks loaded with mangroves, snags and old crab pots. I generally fish this plastic with a couple of hops and short pause to get back to the bottom. The hits are generally brutal from flathead, cod and trevally and I mix up the retrieve from subtle to aggressive. Black and Green Pumpkin heads again for a natural presentation and Orange or Chartreuse heads for a reaction bite or strike trigger, especially in dirty water.

Canals

Even in the canals the NedlockZ EWG caught the fish, with Sean and I fishing a short session in local canals. I thought I would give the Ned Rig a run and the NedlockZ EWG allowed me to fish without fear around the myriad of structure found in this environment. I felt the jighead slide over random bottom structure, old crab pots, ropes and when a cast landed on a carpeted pontoon, it easily slid back off and landed right beside the pontoon.

We fished 1-3 metres of water and I opted for 1/10oz NedlockZ EWG jighead, rigged with a ZMan 2.75" BugZ. This was cast to structure, into pockets and to the walls between pontoons. A solid clunk on the bottom produced a legal flathead and a tap as the lure sunk down a wall produced a nice bream. The bite wasn't crazy and the session short, however it convinced me that the NedlockZ EWG could get the bite and fish in this environment also. The same plastic was still tied on for the next session, after surviving the canals, and went on to catch a few more fish on the flats.

Weed Flats

I love fishing the weed flats because anglers don't like catching weed, so I often have them to myself. Standard NedlockZ and other non-weedless jigheads are fine on the broken weed and rubble beds, where you're picking off the occasional weed. When the weed gets thicker though it can be virtually impossible to fish without a weedless jighead, be it TT Lures ChinlockZ, ChinlockZ SWS, SnakelockZ or this more recent addition, the NedlockZ EWG. I still fish the other jigheads, however I was stoked with the weedless Ned Rig option as I have had great success hopping, shaking, swimming and pausing this presentation on the flats, and could now access more areas using the Ned Rig.

If fishing into the mangroves on a high tide it's the 1/15oz, fishing general flats and most commonly it's a 1/10oz tied on, and when fishing the edges of the flats or deeper drains it's a 1/6oz or 1/5oz. When fishing windy conditions it's also worth stepping up to the 1/6oz or 1/5oz to achieve longer, more accurate casts and better stay in touch with your soft plastic, allowing you to work it more effectively. The weedless jighead is even better when fishing weed as you can throw long casts and fish slower, where a standard jighead is all about shorter, more accurate casts, picking the pockets to avoid fouling the lure. This means more ground covered, more time with the lure in the water and hopefully this converts to more fish.

I have had success with all four of my favourite Ned Rig plastics when fishing the flats, landing bream, grunter, flathead, cod, trevally and a variety of random by-catch. If it's long casts and swimming lures across the weed and rubble flats, then stalling and dropping them in any pockets spotted in the weed, it's hard to go past the proven tail action of the ZMan 2.5" Slim SwimZ and GrubZ. If you're fishing slower and more focussed on the bottom and structure, then I like to switch it up to the ZMan 2.75" BugZ and 2.5" TRD CrawZ. Not saying you can't reverse the roles. Just remember that the BugZ and CrawZ don't have a lot of built in action, so swimming them any distance (slow rolling / winding) I will shake the rod tip to bring the claws and appendages to life, while also throwing in the odd pause to attract the bite from following fish.

Scent Up

I always scent up my plastics with Pro-Cure Super Gel Scent to attract fish and trigger strikes and this is especially important when fishing weedless. A more aggressive strike or a fish that holds on longer increases the chances of clearing the plastic and hooking up solid. Add scent every 30 or so casts, squirting a little toward the head of the plastic and then smearing it right down to the tip of the tail, claws or appendages.

Changing the Game

For me the Ned Rig System has changed the game in my local creeks and estuary system, with a weedless version stepping the game up even further to the point that I now have a small TT Deluxe ZMan Binder set up exclusively for the Ned Rig and it travels with me in the kayak, SUP or boat. This kit contains a small tray with an assortment of NedlockZ and NedlockZ EWG jigheads, 10 packs of my go-to ZMan plastics, a couple of Pro-Cure Super Gels that usually includes Sardine / Pilchard and Saltwater Yabby / Nipper, and Platypus Stealth FC Leader in 10lb and 15lb. It's handy to just be able to grab this kit and go, and I am now at a point where I am confident enough to fish an entire session using purely the Ned Rig.

Born in the US as a freshwater technique, the Ned Rig System has been a revelation for me in the salt and is also proving dynamite in the fresh on bass, golden perch, redfin and more. If you're keen to check out more on the Ned Rig you can visit our section devoted to fishing the Ned Rig at - http://tackletactics.com.au/Tips-Techniques/The-Ned-Rig where we will keep you up to date with our Ned Rig fishing adventures. Maybe it's time to invite Ned out fishing with you.

See you on the water...
Justin Willmer

Gearing Up:
ZMan 2.5" GrubZ
ZMan 2.5" Slim SwimZ
ZMan 2.5" TRD CrawZ
ZMan 2.75" TRD BugZ
TT Lures NedlockZ Jigheads
TT Lures NedlockZ EWG Jigheads
Pro-Cure Sardine / Pilchard Super Gel Scent
Pro-Cure Saltwater Yabby / Nipper Super Gel Scent