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for a lot of my regular Ned Rig fishing, I realized this head would really shine for ‘video-game’ fishing—

working individual bass on sonar, vertically, playing cat-and-mouse. It’s versatile enough that you can
cast the bait to suspended fish, too, just letting it glide and pendulum as you work it back to the boat.”

A 1/10- or 1/6-ounce NedlockZ HD, says Nania, melds perfectly with a Z-Man StreakZ 3.75, a bait he calls
“one of the best small shad imitations ever. And because it’s made from ElaZtech, the bait’s super
buoyant. When you pause and let the Ned-Miki soak, the bait maintains a natural horizontal posture.
Similar fluke-style baits aren’t buoyant, making them ride tail-down, rather than hovering horizontal like
a live shad.”

Northern anglers fish a similar method, keying on suspended or rock-hugging smallmouth bass. The
Ned-Miki has even evolved into a superlative substitute for a dropshot rig, which isn’t quite so precise
for big sluggish smallmouths hunkered down between boulders.

“Watch the bait drop on the sonar screen until it’s about 1 foot above the fish’s head,” Nania explains.

“Hold the bait still. When a bass begins to rise and chase, lift the bait to take it away. Sometimes, a bass
will chase the Ned-Miki up 15 or 20 feet, absolutely crushing it on an intercept course. Other times, you
have to entice them a little, using the bait’s super-soft, high-action tail to close the deal. Almost like a
dropshot, but even more dead-on.”

All-Terrain Ned

Going where no Ned Rig has gone before, Nania is ecstatic when he mentions another new finesse
device. “What can I say about the Finesse BulletZ, man? This jighead is off-the-charts cool. Rig one with

a Finesse TRD, MinnowZ or TRD CrawZ and fish simply can’t tear it off. I’ve had the same bait on the
same jighead for the past week, and dozens of bass later, it’s still going strong.”

Made to snake Ned Rig style ElaZtech baits through the thickest cover, the Finesse BulletZ sports a
subtle bullet-shaped head and a slender keel weight molded precisely onto a custom, heavy-duty size 1
VMC EWG hook. “People look at this jig and wonder how the heck you rig a bait without tearing it. It’s

funny because it’s actually a non-issue with ElaZtech, which is pretty much tear-proof. And once the
bait’s in place, it’s there until you take it off.

“Goes without saying that the bait’s weedless,” says Nania. “But I’m also just discovering how well the
little jig skips under docks,” he adds. “Regardless of the cover— rocks, brush, grass, manmade
structures, etc.—this is one incredible jig-bait combo for finessing big bass in places you couldn’t