Ned's & Worms

Ned rig baits and finesse worms at Charlie's Fishing: Ned baits, straight worms, stick baits and pin tails for perch, zander and black bass

This page holds our Ned rig baits and finesse worms: short, buoyant baits for the Ned head, straight worms and stick baits for the wacky and neko rig, slim pin tails for the drop shot and longer soft plastic worms for the Texas and Carolina rig. They all do the same job in a different way. They move very little, they stay close to the bottom for a long time and they get bites from perch, zander and black bass that ignore a faster shad: in cold water, in clear water and on stretches that are fished every weekend. Below we explain which worm shape does what, why it matters whether a bait floats or sinks, how to rig each one, which Ned head, hook and weight to use, and which bait to pick for the fish in front of you. The baits come from DSTYLE, HideUp, Megabass, Rapala, PXS Pitch and Strike, Toppies, Westside Fishing and our own Charlie's Fishing label.

Straight worm, stick bait, pin tail or Ned bait: what each shape does

The shape of a finesse worm decides where its action comes from. A straight worm has no real tail: it lives on the fall and on the small vibration of its own body. The DSTYLE Torquee Straight Type HG 3.8" (9.7 cm, 3.2 g, 10 per pack) and the DSTYLE Torquee Straight Type HG 4.8" (12.2 cm, 4.2 g) keep moving on the drop and even while they lie on the bottom. Stick baits are fuller in the body, so the whole worm wobbles and darts a little to the side as it sinks: the HideUp Stagger Stick 4" (3 g, 7 per pack), the HideUp Stagger Stick 5" (12 cm, 10.5 g, 5 per pack), the HideUp Wapper 4" (10.2 cm, 7.2 g, 7 per pack) and the handmade Westside Fishing Willy The Worm (4 per pack) belong here.

A pin tail worm has a slim body that ends in a thin tail, and that tail keeps quivering at the slowest speed. The PXS Kagashi Worm 3" 7,5 cm (8 per pack), PXS Kagashi Worm 4" 10 cm (8 per pack), PXS Kagashi Worm 5,5" 13,5 cm (6 per pack) and PXS Kagashi Worm 7" 17,5 cm (4 per pack) cover every size from perch to zander, in a BPA free material with shrimp scent. The Megabass Hazedong 3" (7.5 cm, 10 per pack), Megabass Hazedong 4" (10 cm, 7 per pack) and Megabass Hazedong 5" (12.7 cm, 7 per pack) are slim baitfish sticks from the Japan Tour Edition that roll and dart on the lightest twitch. The DSTYLE D.S Kammer 2.5" (6.4 cm, 1.7 g, 6 per pack) and DSTYLE D.S Kammer 3" (7.6 cm, 2.3 g, 6 per pack) have a scythe shaped tail that pushes more water than a pin tail, for perch that need a little more to react to.

Then there are the baits built for the Ned head itself, short and buoyant so they stand up on the bottom: the Rapala CrushCity Ned BLT (10 per pack) and the Rapala CrushCity Salted NedRoll (8 cm, 4 g, 7 per pack), which has a ribbed body and a spade tail. The Toppies Wormius is a 9.5 cm curved worm in floating material (8 per pack). Charlie's Tube from our own label is a 10 cm hollow bait that is half tube and half craw (3 per pack, six colours), and the HideUp Coike Shrimp Magnum Softbait (8 cm, 23 g, 3 per pack) is the big, hair loaded finesse bait for cover. For crayfish and creature baits see Craws & Creature Baits.

Floating or sinking: why the material matters

Finesse worms are made from two kinds of material, and they behave in opposite ways. Floating baits rise when nothing holds them down. On a Ned head or behind a weight, that means the bait stands up from the bottom with the tail in the air, where a fish sees it and can take it easily. The Ned BLT is made of TPE that stands up straight on the bottom, the Salted NedRoll is made of floating Super TPE, the Wormius is made of floating material and the Coike Shrimp Magnum is made of floating elastomer that keeps it upright on the bottom. Floating materials are also tough, so one bait lasts for many fish.

Salted baits do the opposite: the salt makes them heavier, so they sink without extra weight and stay in contact with the bottom. The Torquee Straight Type HG ("High Gravity") has its salt content pushed to the maximum, so it falls faster than the standard Torquee and finds the bottom quickly on deeper spots; the D.S Kammer also has powder salt in the material. Use a floating bait when you want it to stand up or hover above the weight, on the Ned rig, the drop shot and the Carolina rig. Use a salted bait when you want it to sink by itself, on the wacky and neko rig or weightless. One practical tip from the Wormius product page: keep floating baits in their own box, because the plasticisers in ordinary softbaits can damage them.

Ned rig: rigging and fishing the Charlie's Tungsten Ned Rig

A Ned rig is a light, flat jig head with a short, buoyant bait. On the bottom the head lies flat and the bait floats up behind it, so it looks like a small goby or bug feeding on the bottom. It barely moves, and that is why cautious perch and zander take it. The Charlie's Tungsten Ned Rig is our own Ned head in tungsten, in one weight: 2.8 g (3 per pack). Because tungsten is denser than lead, the head stays small and you feel every stone and every bite. At 2.8 g it covers shallow to medium deep water for perch and zander, with a light rod and thin line. To rig it, push the hook into the centre of the head of the bait and thread it on straight, so the point comes out on top and the bait sits snug against the head. A bait that hangs crooked will spin and stops standing up.

The best Ned baits are the ones that float: the Ned BLT and the slightly bigger Salted NedRoll, which Rapala also lists for cautious pike that feed on gobies and small baitfish. Cut the Willy The Worm in half and each half becomes a slow falling, quivering Ned bait, so a pack of four gives you eight. For a longer profile and bigger perch or black bass, the Wapper 4" and the Stagger Stick 5" also fish on a Ned head. Fish it in three ways: drag it slowly with the rod tip low, hop it a few centimetres over hard ground, or swim it just above the bottom with a very slow wind. Pause often, because the bait stands up during the pause and that is when most perch take it. For deeper water, current or wind, where 2.8 g no longer reaches the bottom, step up to a heavier head from Jigheads. Our article Rapala CrushCity Softbaits: Which One to Fish and When shows where the Ned BLT and NedRoll sit in the CrushCity range.

Wacky and neko rig: a worm hooked through the middle

For a wacky rig you put the hook through the middle of a straight worm or stick bait, so both ends bend and flutter as it sinks. It is the simplest way to fish a worm and one of the most effective in shallow, clear water: cast, let it sink on a slack line, give one or two small lifts and let it fall again. The Willy The Worm is made for this when fished whole, and the Stagger Stick 4" (hook #1) and the Wapper 4" (hook 3/0) fall with a small panic movement that pressured perch and black bass find hard to ignore. The Hazedong also works weightless when you want an even slower fall.

A neko rig is a wacky rig with a small nail sinker pushed into one end of the worm, with the hook a little towards the weighted end. The weighted end touches the bottom and the other end waves up with every shake of the rod tip, so the worm stays in one place and keeps moving. The Toppies Wormius has a channel on both sides for a Toppies Nail Sinker (0.45, 0.9, 1.3 and 1.8 g) and the hook, so you can add weight without tearing the bait. The Torquee HG 3.8" (neko or wacky hook #6), the Torquee HG 4.8" (neko hook #3) and the D.S Kammer (neko hook #2) are also made for it. A wide gape finesse hook such as the BKK Predator WG (#1, 1/0 and 2/0) suits both rigs, and its micro barb makes unhooking easy. More wacky, neko and weedless hooks are in Hooks and Rigs.

Drop shot with worms: nose hooked and shaken in place

On a drop shot the worm hangs above the weight on a short leader, so it never touches the bottom and you can shake it in front of a fish without moving it forward. Hook a pin tail or scythe tail worm through the very tip of the nose, so the body hangs horizontally and the tail can move freely. The D.S Kammer 2.5" and D.S Kammer 3" were designed by Japanese pro angler Daisuke Aoki for the drop shot and take a drop shot hook #4; the Kagashi Worm 3" and 4", the Hazedong 3", the Stagger Stick 4" and the floating Wormius and NedRoll also hover well. For a heavier drop shot with a bigger bait, HideUp lists the Wapper 4".

The leader length decides where the bait swims. Keep it short, 10 to 25 cm, when perch and zander lie tight on the bottom in cold water, and longer, 40 to 60 cm, over weed or when fish hang a little higher. Use a drop shot weight that just keeps contact with the bottom: lighter in still, shallow water, heavier in depth, wind and current. Once the weight is down, keep the line tight to the weight, shake the slack line rather than the weight, and wait. Many bites are just a little extra weight on the rod tip. Drop shot weights are in Weights and drop shot hooks in Hooks and Rigs.

Texas rig, Carolina rig and cheburashka for worms

Around weed, wood and stones you rig the worm weedless on an offset hook, with the hook point just under the skin. How the Texas, Carolina and cheburashka rig work is on our Craws & Creature Baits page; with a worm the main thing is to rig it perfectly straight, so it does not spin on the retrieve. Match the hook to the worm, as the product pages advise: an offset hook #4 for the D.S Kammer 2.5", #1 to #2 for the D.S Kammer 3", #2 for the Torquee HG 3.8", 1/0 for the Torquee HG 4.8" and 5/0 for the Coike Shrimp Magnum. The Kagashi Worm 5.5" and Kagashi Worm 7" are the longer worms for a Texas or Carolina rig on open sand and gravel. The floating Wormius has a weedguard on its back for an offset hook and hovers behind a Carolina weight. The Wapper 4" also fishes on a Texas rig, and the Coike Shrimp Magnum is the bait for murky water and cover, with dense hair strands that keep vibrating when it rests.

On a Texas rig with a finesse worm, a light bullet weight is usually enough; go heavier only for depth, wind and current, and to punch through weed. The D.S Kammer is also listed for a light Carolina rig and the cheburashka, a quick way to change weight without retying. Bullet weights, cheburashka weights and nail sinkers are in Weights, and offset hooks in Hooks and Rigs.

Light jig head, tube and trailer

Slim worms also fish on a light round jig head with a slow, steady retrieve or small twitches. The product pages pair the Hazedong 3" with the BKK Predator WG #1, and the Hazedong 4" and Hazedong 5" with the BKK Hyperlatch Round Jig Hooks in 2/0 and 3/0. That jig head comes in 5 to 20 g, which also makes it the choice when you need more weight than a Ned head. Push a tube jig or an ordinary jig head inside the hollow Charlie's Tube and bounce it between stones where big perch and zander wait. The Kagashi Worm was designed as a pin tail trailer behind the PXS bladed jigs, and the D.S Kammer also works as a chatterbait trailer. All jig heads are in Jigheads, and more from BKK in BKK Hooks.

Ned rig and finesse worms for perch, zander and black bass

Perch are the main target for finesse fishing. Use 6 to 10 cm baits: the D.S Kammer or Kagashi Worm 3" on a drop shot along walls and drop-offs, a Ned BLT or half a Willy The Worm on the Ned head, or a Stagger Stick 4" wacky rigged in shallow, clear water. In clear water pick natural colours, in coloured water something darker or brighter. More perch lures are on Perch.

Zander feed close to the bottom and often at dusk, and they take a slow worm when they ignore a shad. Use 10 to 13.5 cm baits that reach the bottom quickly: the Torquee HG 4.8" on a neko rig, the NedRoll on a Ned head, or the Hazedong 5" and Kagashi Worm 5.5" on a jig head or drop shot. From late autumn to early spring fish slower than feels right and make long pauses. Where zander are in which month is covered in Zander Fishing for Beginners: the guide for catching zander, and more zander baits are on Zander and Zander and Perch Softbaits.

Black bass and big perch sit in weed, under jetties and around wood in summer. That is where the HideUp baits come in, as their product pages name black bass: the Stagger Stick 5" and Wapper 4" on a wacky, Ned or Texas rig, and the Coike Shrimp Magnum on a 5/0 offset hook when the fish need more presence. See Black Bass. Finesse on flowing water comes up in River Fishing: 9 Lures We Always Bring for Perch, Zander and Pike, and for the Stagger Stick, Wapper and Coike read HideUp Lures: Japanese Finesse Baits such as Coike, Stagger Stick, Stagger Craw.

Which Ned bait or finesse worm for which situation

• Perch that follow but do not bite: Ned BLT or a halved Willy The Worm on the Charlie's Tungsten Ned Rig.
• Cold water on deeper spots: Torquee Straight Type HG 3.8" or 4.8" on a neko rig.
• Perch schools along walls and drop-offs: D.S Kammer 2.5" or 3", or Kagashi Worm 3" on a drop shot with a short leader.
• Shallow, clear water: Stagger Stick 4" or Willy The Worm wacky rigged on a BKK Predator WG.
• Deeper water or current where 2.8 g is too light: Hazedong or Kagashi Worm on a BKK Hyperlatch Round Jig.
• Weed, wood and jetties: Wapper 4" or Stagger Stick 5", wacky or Texas rigged.
• Open sand and gravel: Wormius or Kagashi Worm 5.5" on a Carolina rig.
• Zander on the bottom at dusk: Torquee HG 4.8", Hazedong 5", NedRoll or Kagashi Worm 5.5".
• Murky water and cover: Coike Shrimp Magnum on a 5/0 offset hook.
• Big perch and zander around stones: Charlie's Tube on a jig head.
• Trailer on a bladed jig: Kagashi Worm or D.S Kammer. See also Perch, Zander, Black Bass and Zander and Perch Softbaits.

Why buy Ned rig baits and finesse worms at Charlie's Fishing

We picked these Ned baits and finesse worms to cover every rig, from Japanese worms by DSTYLE, HideUp and Megabass to Rapala CrushCity, PXS, Toppies, the handmade Westside Fishing worm and our own Charlie's Fishing baits, and we stock the Ned heads, hooks, nail sinkers and weights to rig them. Everything ships from our stock in the Netherlands with fast delivery across Europe. Not sure which worm or rig to start with? Send us your water, depth and target fish and we will help you choose.

What is the best bait for a Ned rig?

A short bait that floats, so it stands up on the bottom behind the flat head. The Rapala CrushCity Ned BLT and Salted NedRoll are made of floating TPE for exactly this, and a Willy The Worm cut in half also works well. Use a light head such as the Charlie's Tungsten Ned Rig (2.8 g) in shallow to medium deep water.

What is the difference between a wacky rig and a neko rig?

On a wacky rig the hook goes through the middle of the worm and both ends flutter as it sinks. A neko rig adds a small nail sinker in one end, so that end stays on the bottom and the other end waves up with every shake. Wacky is best on the fall in shallow water, neko when you want to stay on the bottom.

Which finesse worm for perch and zander in cold water?

For perch, a 6 to 10 cm bait such as the D.S Kammer on a drop shot or a Ned BLT on a Ned head. For zander, a longer, salted worm that reaches the bottom quickly, such as the Torquee Straight Type HG 4.8" on a neko rig, or a NedRoll on a Ned head. Fish slowly and make long pauses.