I recently lost a really good bass while fishing with a Ned rig. I fought it all the way to the boat but the fish freed itself. I lost a second small one the same way but farther from the boat a few minutes later. Both came off underwater.

Any ideas on the cause? Am I possibly not setting the hook enough?

I use the Z-Man Ned rig jigheads and expose plenty of the hook. I'm new to fishing with Ned rigs but have been amazed how well fish bite them.

Any other Ned rig tips?

What is your set up? Rod, line etc. you may be bending the hook out if you’re not careful.

Yeh. I had the same problem. I solved by not using a Ned rig any longer.

I wish I had the answer for ya.

Not ideal I know... but I was using a medium/medium rod on 15lb P-Line copolymer (12lb). The hook wasn't bent afterward. The bigger fish was draggling line off my reel at times. I assumed the fight had the hook imbedded enough.

I am getting set up to use my spinning reel with 8lb line and a medium rod.

Fish the Ned a lot. Spin rig on 10lb braid to 10lb fluoro. I like the Zman Ned lock heads. The hook is a little beefier. I generally think you can keep more upward pressure on the fish with the spin rod vs the bait caster especially if you’re right handed and reel left with spinner like I do. Have I lost fish, yes for sure but I’ve landed some good ones on the Ned.

I too fish the Ned quite a bit. Landed a 4.89lb smallmouth a couple of weekends ago, at Belton, on the Ned. I use a SJ841 blank (7' Light Fast), 6lb fluro, and the lightest head I can get away with. Don't loose many fish on this setup. I personally think you need a lot of rod flex to keep that small hook pinned especially given the size of the barb.

Shouldn't have to set the hook with a ned. A simple bend of the rod should suffice. With that being said I have noticed that neds get thrown during the jump often. Not sure why but I attempt to minimize that issue by having my rod high while the fish is low and having my rod low while the fish is high. It works. I use 10#braid to 7lb fluro. Have caught hundreds of bass on a ned including 6lbers. Look for a ned with an owner or gama hook and you should be fine.

This was my solution to the ned as well. With that said it's a finesse technique so finding the exact right rod to fish it is key. I suspect that is where your problem lies. I don't fish it enough to know exactly what rod setup is best for it, but I suspect a little online research could get that data pretty fast.

I’ve had similar problems, I prefer a longer (7’-7’3”) rod, with a medium light action. For the Ned head itself I try to go with the biggest hook I can get away with. I think the longer shank and bigger gap results in better hookups. Hope this helps

Have same issue. Use L and ML rods. I am with MWBASSER. I think the issue is the hook. The Zman hooks have minimal barbs on them and I think a larger hook throat might help as well.

I agree with Owner hooks. My landing ratio went way up when I switched to the Morel Ned head from Siebert Outdoors.

https://siebertoutdoors.com/products/ols/products/morel-jig-head

I think the issue i has the big diameter headed weight ON a short shank small hook. Lots of leverage for the fish to pull the hook and the large sized weight also prevents the hook from getting a deep penetration. A bait that gets a lot of bites, but has a poor hookup/landing ratio.

I’d rather wacky rig a Senko. I get almost 100% of the fish landed.

I fish my Ned rigs on a Diawa Tatula spin cast reel with a medium heavy rod, fast action tip. I do not set into the fish but do a sweep set which is not very hard.
What I have learned when I was losing fish was the original Ned rig head from Z-man were just to thin and they were always pull straight out if I had any fish with weight on I had caught one of those nice Coosa Spots that fought like the devil all the way into the boat. I moved over to the pro series Z-man Ned hooks and that solved that problem, they are much beefier and will handle those type fish. Nonetheless you still have to allow the fish to wear itself out some and not try to horse it into the boat. It is a finesse type lure and you should always be aware of that.
After I made that change I cannot remember losing any because of me not being dumb about bringing it into the boat.

Yes I think your setup may be the issue. I use a 7' md/lt rod, 2500 spinning reels, 15lb braid to a 8-10lb flouro leader. You don't want to set the hook, just reel into the fish. The hook is exposed, it's not necessary to set the hook. I've used all brands of ned heads without issue. Most ned fishing issues are a result of incorrect rod/reel/line setup.