Best Ned Rig Colors: Color Selection Guide

Ned Rig Bait Color for Clear Water

4 foot of underwater visibility or more

When fishing in clear water, your need to do everything you can to present your bait in as natural a manner as possible. Bass have good vision in clear water, and will be put off by anything that is too vivid or appears unnatural.

In clear water, stick to natural, more translucent colors to maintain a degree of subtlety in your presentation. Think classic natural colors like “Baby Bass”, “Natural Shad” or “Green Pumpkin”. In clear water situations we usually want to stay away from baits with too much color, or very solid colors that create unnaturally visible silhouettes.

Here are a few Z-Man Finesse TRD colors that would fall into this category:

Note: While I am providing examples of Finesse TRD colors for each category, these guidelines can be applied for color selection of any bait brand.

Ned Rig Bait Color in Medium Clarity/Stained Water

2 - 4 foot of underwater visibility

In cases where the water is a little stained/medium water clarity, I lean towards colors that sit on the “natural” side but have a little more color or flash to grab attention. While bass can still see pretty well in these scenarios, you may need a little bit of color to make your bait noticeable. Laminate baits where one half of the bait is a traditional natural color, and the other is something more vivid, like chartreuse for example tend to work well in these situations. Reds and purples can also do well here.

Here are a few Z-Man Finesse TRD colors that would fall into this category:

I have to make a special mention for the Coppertreuse color mentioned above. For whatever reason, this color gets an absolute ton of bites. It is without a doubt my favorite from the selection above.

Ned Rig Bait Color in Low Clarity/Stained Water

Less than 2 feet of underwater visibility

Bass, just like us, struggle to see well when underwater visibility is low. As a result, the best way to get them to notice your bait is to use solid, dark colors as they create the starkest profile/silhouette possible. We are not worried about appearing too natural or realistic here, we just want to create a presentation that creates contrast and makes its presence known to bass that aren’t able to see too well.

Black and dark blue baits create the strongest profiles in my experience.

Here are a few Z-Man Finesse TRD colors that would fall into this category:

Wrapping Up

It’s easy to overcomplicate color selection when it comes to the ned rig. Water clarity should always be your primary consideration when selecting your bait color and this does not change when it comes to the ned rig. Hopefully this guide gives you an intuitive system you can turn to when deciding which color ned rig to throw next time you are on the water.

It is important to note that while this guide is a good starting point, you should always be experimenting. Let’s say you are throwing a green pumpkin color in clear water and getting no bites. Don’t be afraid of trying something a little more vivid if none of your natural colors are working. Bass are strange creatures and don’t always play by the rules of color selection! It’s good to have a system, but its important to be able to adapt and innovate when necessary.