Eight mushroom-head and weedless jig heads for the Ned rig, sorted by hook style, with the head weight to buy for the water you fish.
A Ned rig is about the simplest bass rig there is: a short, stubby soft plastic on a small mushroom-shaped jig head, cast on light spinning gear and left nearly still on the bottom. On The Water traces it to Kansas outdoor writer Ned Kehde, who on October 12, 2006 cut a 5 inch stickbait in half and put it on a 1/16 ounce mushroom head. The head does more work than it looks like. Its flat back is what lets a buoyant plastic stand up off the bottom instead of lying flat.
So the head is the thing to get right, and there are only three real choices. Weight, which decides how fast it sinks and how well you feel the bottom. Hook style, exposed for rock and gravel or weedless for grass and wood. And material, standard heads that come by the dozen or tungsten heads that are smaller for the same weight and cost a lot more each. Our pick for most people is the Z-Man Finesse ShroomZ, because Z-Man designed it around its own Finesse TRD bait and it carries 4.7 stars from 2,285 Amazon ratings, the deepest review count here.
These rankings come from each listing's published specs and from Amazon buyer ratings, not from Tom fishing every head on this page. Ned rig heads are cheap, and you will lose some on rocks, so read the hook style column before the brand. A perfect head in the wrong hook style is a head on the bottom of the lake.
The jig head is the part this page ranks, but it only works with the rest of a light setup. Here is everything, in order of importance.
The flat-backed mushroom head is what stands the bait up. Buy at least two weights so you can match depth and wind.
About 2 to 3 inches. Z-Man's Finesse TRD is the bait the ShroomZ head was designed around, and its listing calls for fishing it on those heads.
A medium-light or medium spinning rod around 6 to 7 feet. Kehde fishes a 6 foot medium, per On The Water.
6 to 10 pound braid with a fluorocarbon leader, or straight 6 to 8 pound fluorocarbon or mono.
For grass, wood and docks, where an exposed hook snags on every cast.
Worth it only if you lose a lot of standard heads in rocky water.
Every pick on this page is one of these. The difference is where you can fish it, not whether it catches bass.
Flat-backed head, exposed hook, wire or barbed keeper. Cheap in bulk, which matters on a rig you will snag.
Smaller for the same weight, so it slips through rock and telegraphs the bottom. Several times the cost per head.
An offset hook whose point tucks back into the plastic. Fewer snags, slightly harder hooksets.
The hook hangs from a loop on the head instead of being molded in, so the bait moves more on its own. Often weedless, as on the OJYDOIIIY swing head.
Short on time? Start with these top-rated ned rig jig heads picks.
Z-Man Finesse ShroomZ Ned Rig Jig Heads (1/10 oz, Red, 5-Pack) is the #1 pick here, on 4.7-star Amazon buyer ratings (2,285 of them) and one clear job: z-man trd and other ned baits.
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Harmony Fishing Ned Rig Kit (Finesse TRD 8-Pack + Finesse ShroomZ 1/10 oz 5-Pack, Green Pumpkin) is the #2 pick here, on 4.6-star Amazon buyer ratings (585 of them) and one clear job: your first ned rig.
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Harmony Fishing Tungsten Offset Weedless Ned Rig Jig Heads (1/8 oz, 5-Pack) is the #3 pick here, on 4.5-star Amazon buyer ratings (708 of them) and one clear job: grass, wood and docks.
Check PriceDetailed picks with verdicts, strengths, tradeoffs, and the situations where each one makes the most sense.
Quick verdict: Z-Man Finesse ShroomZ Ned Rig Jig Heads (1/10 oz, Red, 5-Pack) is the #1 pick here, on 4.7-star Amazon buyer ratings (2,285 of them) and one clear job: z-man trd and other ned baits.
Quick verdict: Harmony Fishing Ned Rig Kit (Finesse TRD 8-Pack + Finesse ShroomZ 1/10 oz 5-Pack, Green Pumpkin) is the #2 pick here, on 4.6-star Amazon buyer ratings (585 of them) and one clear job: your first ned rig.
Quick verdict: Harmony Fishing Tungsten Offset Weedless Ned Rig Jig Heads (1/8 oz, 5-Pack) is the #3 pick here, on 4.5-star Amazon buyer ratings (708 of them) and one clear job: grass, wood and docks.
Quick verdict: Reaction Tackle Mushroom Ned Rig Jig Heads (1/8 oz, Black, Standard Hook, 25-Pack) is the #4 pick here, on 4.6-star Amazon buyer ratings (250 of them) and one clear job: stocking up for rocky water.
Quick verdict: Reaction Tackle Tungsten Ned Rig Mushroom Jig Heads (1/15 oz, Black, 5-Pack) is the #5 pick here, on 4.6-star Amazon buyer ratings (169 of them) and one clear job: shallow rock, light and compact.
Quick verdict: MadBite by KastKing Ned Rig Jig Heads (1/8 oz, Green Pumpkin, 24-Pack) is the #6 pick here, on 4.4-star Amazon buyer ratings (540 of them) and one clear job: cheap green pumpkin heads in bulk.
Quick verdict: OJYDOIIIY Ned Rig Mushroom Jig Heads (Assorted Weights, Unpainted, 20-Pack) is the #7 pick here, on 4.6-star Amazon buyer ratings (426 of them) and one clear job: trying several weights cheaply.
Quick verdict: OJYDOIIIY Swing Weedless Ned Rig Jig Heads (1/16 to 3/16 oz Assortment, 12-Pack) is the #8 pick here, on 4.6-star Amazon buyer ratings (218 of them) and one clear job: shaking a bait in light cover.
Lighter falls slower and stands the bait up more gently. Ned Kehde himself mostly fishes 1/32, 1/16 and 3/32 ounce heads in shallow water, according to On The Water. The heads on this page run from 1/20 to 1/4 ounce. Start light in shallow, calm water and step up to 1/8 or heavier for deeper water, wind or current, when you lose track of the bottom.
An exposed hook hooks fish more easily and suits the rock, gravel and clean bottoms a Ned rig was built for. A weedless head buries the point back in the plastic, Texas rig style, so it slides through grass, wood and dock pilings. Buy mostly exposed, and keep a few weedless heads for cover.
Tungsten heads are smaller than a standard head of the same weight, which helps them slip through rocks and makes bottom contact easier to feel. Harmony's listing puts tungsten at nearly twice as dense as lead. The catch is cost: a tungsten 5-pack runs about what a standard 25-pack does. Most anglers fish standard heads and keep tungsten for snaggy rock.
Ned baits like the Z-Man Finesse TRD are soft and stretchy, and they slide down the hook after a fish or two without something to grip them. Look for a wire, barbed or molded keeper on the shank; every exposed-hook head here has one. A light hook wire also matters, because a Ned rig is fished on light line and a thick hook is hard to drive in.
Buy the Harmony Fishing kit. It pairs five Z-Man ShroomZ heads with eight Finesse TRD baits in green pumpkin and a Ned rig how-to guide, so the head and bait match on your first cast.
Get the Z-Man ShroomZ or a Reaction Tackle 25-pack of mushroom heads. Exposed hooks stick fish better, and a 25-pack means a snag is a shrug, not a lost afternoon.
Get the Harmony Fishing tungsten weedless heads. The offset hook point tucks into the plastic so it comes through cover, and the small tungsten head drops through gaps a bigger head hangs in.
The hardest part of a Ned rig is doing less. These steps cover your first hour.
Thread the plastic onto the hook until it sits snug against the head, and bring the point out the top so the bait is straight. A crooked bait spins and twists your line.
Keep a little slack and watch the line. When it stops moving, the head is on the bottom.
Drag the bait a foot or two with the rod tip, then let it sit still for a few seconds. On The Water lists drag and dead-stick among Kehde's six retrieves.
Bites often feel like a tick or just extra weight. Reel up slack and sweep the rod. Do not jerk it hard on light line.
If you cannot feel the bottom, go heavier. If you snag constantly, go lighter or weedless.
Once you know which kit type fits your situation, dig into each gear category for in-depth picks and buying advice:
Want to browse beyond the ranked picks? Filter and sort the full ned rig jig heads listing below.
For most bass water, 1/16 to 1/8 ounce. Ned Kehde, who created the rig, mostly fishes 1/32, 1/16 and 3/32 ounce heads in shallow water, according to On The Water. Go lighter when the water is shallow and calm and you want a slow fall. Go heavier for deeper water, wind or current, when you can no longer feel the head touch bottom. If you only buy one weight, buy 1/10 ounce, the size the Harmony kit and our top pick come in.
Small. The Z-Man Finesse ShroomZ uses a size 2 hook, according to Discount Tackle's product listing, and the original 2006 rig used a size 4. A Ned bait is only about 2 to 3 inches long, so a small, light-wire hook sits right with it and drives in easily on the light line the rig is fished on. Weedless and EWG (extra wide gap) Ned heads usually carry larger hooks to make room for a thicker plastic.
Sometimes. Tungsten is denser than lead, so a tungsten head is smaller for the same weight, slips through rock more cleanly and sends more of the bottom up the line. It also costs several times as much per head. If you fish rocky water and lose a lot of heads to snags, tungsten can cost less over a season. In open water with a clean bottom, standard heads catch just as well.
Only where there is cover. An exposed hook is the classic Ned setup and it hooks fish more easily, which is what you want on rock, gravel and sand. Switch to a weedless head like the Harmony Fishing tungsten offset head or the OJYDOIIIY swing head when you fish grass, brush, wood or docks, where an exposed point snags on nearly every cast.
A light spinning setup. On The Water reports that Ned Kehde uses a 6 foot medium spinning rod with 6 to 10 pound braided line and a 4 to 5 foot fluorocarbon leader of 6 to 12 pounds. Straight 6 to 8 pound fluorocarbon or monofilament works too. Heavy line and a stiff casting rod keep a light head from falling and standing up the way it should.
Black or green pumpkin covers most water. The head sits right at the nose of the bait, so pick a color that matches or blends with your plastic. Unpainted heads, like the two OJYDOIIIY packs here, are the cheapest way to start, and you can always match a painted head to your favorite bait color later.
Reader-supported and free of paid placements. Every pick is ranked on published specs and Amazon buyer ratings, not on who pays us.
Each pick is compared on published specs, materials, design, and category fit across the major brands.
Rankings factor in how well each product matches common freshwater fishing needs, not just popularity.
Star ratings and review volume from Amazon buyers are factored in to reflect real-world satisfaction.
A pick earns its spot by delivering useful performance for the money, whether budget or premium.
A Ned rig is one finesse bait among many. The bass jigs guide covers finesse, football and swim jigs for the days a bigger bait is the answer.
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