Everyone that lives here on Douglas just knew this was coming. Darn near everyone in the tourney was using umbrella rigs in the PAA tourney last week. Seems the PAA heads took notice, and now they are gonna decide whether or not to ban it from competition starting in 2014. What are your thoughts on the rig used in competition? I will say that Douglas Lake is flat out TOUGH to fish, so when everyone that lives here saw that they were slaying them on umbrella rigs, every store in the area was sold out. You gotta do what you gotta do, but I guess the fact that everyone was using them kind of raised a red flag. Here is an article I can't link to:
"Only one angler who finished among the Top 15 at last week's PAA Tournament Series opener at Tennessee's Douglas Lake did not utilize an umbrella rig during the competition. That's ignited enough of a firestorm within the ranks that the membership will be surveyed for a second time as to whether the multi-arm contraptions should be banned on the circuit.
PAA president Dave Mansue told another site that competitors in next month's event at Fort Loudoun/Tellico will be asked to give a straight "yay" or "nay" vote on the rigs, and the remainder of the organization's 300-plus Tour Level members will be polled via email. If the naysayers prevail, the ban would go into effect at the start of the 2014 season.
The determination to put the issue to a new vote was reached during a conference call this week among the PAA Board of Directors. The membership also weighed in on the matter last year, but "no opinion" was given as a third choice in that instance. The number of voters who selected that option, combined with the number who voted in favor of the rigs, was greater than the number who voted to outlaw them, and they were thus declared legal for PAA events.
Some think the results of the upcoming vote will be different with the "no opinion" option off the table.
"We need to do this while this tournament's still fresh on everyone's mind," said Mike McClelland, a PAA board member who's spearheading the move to rid the circuit of the rigs. "We need to find out one way or the other if a majority of the membership is for it or against it, and if it turns out there's more for it, I'll throw up my hands and say I'm sorry for the comments I've made.
"I truly believe, though, that given only those two choices, there'll be more against it than for it."
The Only Way to Go (Almost)
Carl Jocumsen, a 28-year-old Australian who's trying to forge a career in the U.S. pro ranks, was the lone non-rig-thrower to make the final-day cut at Douglas. He ended up 12th.
"I'm pretty sure I was the only one in the Top 25 or more who didn't use it," he said. "I went up the (French Broad) River and fished a jig (a Peppers Custom model with a Strike King Rage Tail trailer).
"I actually don't mind throwing the Alabama Rig and I've done well on it here in Oklahoma (where he's living this year with Elite Series pro Fred Roumbanis), but I didn't find that bite. A lot of guys who did well on it didn't even practice because they were coming from other tournaments and things like that, and the first 2 days of practice we had snow and wind and the temperature was below freezing. That's when I found that jig bite. Once it warmed up the rig got better and better, and the jig bite did, too."
He entered the event with high hopes, but knew he wouldn't contend for the top slot when his 15-pound bag on day 1 was barely more than half of what competitors such as Tim Horton and Brian Snowden caught on the rig."You catch fish on the rig that are impossible to catch on a jig," he said. "My fish were real mongrel and feral, but those rig fish were clean. You could look at them and see they'd never been caught before.
"Guys who didn't even pre-fish were throwing it around and catching big bags, and it's making a lot of us a lot dumber. That's the one thing I don't like about it and I'm glad it doesn't work all year."
Versatility Stifled?
The limiting aspect of umbrella rigs in particular events, such as the Douglas derby and the FLW Tour Open at Guntersville in October 2011 at which they were introduced to the country, is one reason why some pros like McClelland and Dave Lefebre are so dead-set against them.
"I'm not saying I would've won the tournament if the rig wasn't used, but I believe I would've competed at a very high level," said McClelland, who ended up 30th. "I had enough bites over the course of practice with a Wiggle Wart, a Spro McStick and football- and round-head jigs that told me those things would've definitely played, and I think you would've seen the finesse guys catch some strong limits on shaky-heads and dropshots.
"We could've showed how good and how versatile Douglas really is and there are six or eight different methods we could've promoted to the public and guys could've fished their strengths. Instead, we came away from the tournament giving the appearance that the only thing that anybody needed to be throwing was the A-Rig. In my mind, too many anglers have worked for a lot of years to become versatile bass fishermen and we've developed tactics that have become our so-called strong suits. Now we're put in a position where we're forced to throw something, knowing that if we don't, we won't be contenders.
"It's as close to a lottery as anything that's ever been," the three-time Elite Series winner continued. "We might as well take our entry fees and put them on black or red on a roulette wheel as go out and try to compete against the A-Rig with a traditional bait in this type of tournament. I really feel that Jerry McKinnis and the B.A.S.S. staff made an awesome decision in not allowing it to be thrown (on the Elite Series or in the Bassmaster Classic). Because of that, we're able to show our true fishing abilities."
Lefebre, who finished 48th in the 99-angler field at Douglas, competes on the FLW Tour, so he fishes against anglers throwing rigs on his primary circuit as well. He's been an outspoken opponent of them since their emergence 18 months ago.
"It doesn't belong in professional fishing and everybody knows it – even the guys who are throwing it," he said. "I'm in a league that allows it and it costs me thousands of dollars the longer it goes on. I want it to go away and it looks like the PAA's got a serious chance to get rid of it.
"People say it's legal and that I have to do it, but that's not how I live my personal life. Just because something's legal, does that mean I should go do it? I'm in a real pickle because I'm going to another tournament (next week's Beaver FLW Tour) where I know I'm going to get it handed to me going in.
"It's not a pride thing," he added. "Some people say my ego's too big, but I've gotten a lot of support from different people and organizations that want me to keep fighting it. People say it's good for the companies in the industry, but I have other companies telling me to keep fighting it and don't give in."
The Other Viewpoint
Snowden, like McClelland, sits on the 10-member PAA Board of Directors. Unlike McClelland, he doesn't view umbrella rigs as a bad thing for pro fishing.
"I really don't know why guys like Mike are so against it," he said. "It's like any other tool – electronics with StructureScan or boats that can run the distances they run now. It's just part of the evolution in lures, and I've learned how to use it and I'm enjoying it.
"It's not a miracle lure where every time you throw it you catch five fish on five baits. On 2 of the days (at Douglas, where he finished 10th) I didn't have a limit. It's an all-day process and it's difficult. You have to know how to throw it and there's still a lot of skill involved in finding fish and presenting the lure, just like there is with a crankbait or anything else."
Mansue, the PAA president, just hopes to get a solid consensus this time as to which direction the organization should go.
"We're going to make a concerted effort to find out how the membership feels," he said. "The great thing about the PAA is the membership has a direct impact on what we do – they do have a voice.
"I strongly urge each member to be a part of this process, whether they're for (using umbrella rigs) or against it."
