Jd_Phillips_Fishin Posted March 1, 2014 Posted March 1, 2014 OK, what's the hottest lure in bass fishing the last few years? The A-rig. Me and my dad have been trying like crazy to catch a fish on it and we haven't got nothing. The answer we usally get when we ask on other forums is fish with it more and you'll get bit, well today we fished it on ledges, drop offs, under docks, around docks, and in huge schools of bait fish etc. And we didn't get any bites, what are we doing wrong? Quote
Super User Paul Roberts Posted March 1, 2014 Super User Posted March 1, 2014 Dunno. But my guess is most people excitedly report the catches and forget to mention the zeros. That's the stuff you've been hearing about and had high expectations? After all, it still is a real world down there. 1 Quote
Jd_Phillips_Fishin Posted March 1, 2014 Author Posted March 1, 2014 IMHO I didn't have high expectations when I first tied it on last June. And I still don't have high expectations when I throw it now. 1 Quote
paul25 Posted March 1, 2014 Posted March 1, 2014 i'll tell you the problem i had with it last year when i was throwing it i was so scared of losing it i only threw it too places i knew for 100% i wouldn't get hung up. I fish cherokee lake alot in TN and once i started getting a little braver with it the first fish i caught was a striper and after that i gained more confidence in it and started catching a few bass, the only place i really ever fish it though is on offshore humps. 1 Quote
jhoffman Posted March 1, 2014 Posted March 1, 2014 Most of the tournaments ive seen won with it were on bridges 1 Quote
TorqueConverter Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 OK, what's the hottest lure in bass fishing the last few years? The A-rig. Me and my dad have been trying like crazy to catch a fish on it and we haven't got nothing. The answer we usally get when we ask on other forums is fish with it more and you'll get bit, well today we fished it on ledges, drop offs, under docks, around docks, and in huge schools of bait fish etc. And we didn't get any bites, what are we doing wrong?  The Rig is not something you typically get bit with frequently. It's a tournament bait in that it gets very few bites but the fish are typically larger than average.  I've had the same experience as you with the rig and I've grown to despise it as a rec angler. Quote
Volboy Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 The key is to find the fish suspended near big wads of bait. Most of my success on it has been over 15-35 ft right in the creek channel, usually near a major bend or neck down area. The key to the rig is to find the fish and bait on your electronics. Spend a lot of time idling and looking at your graph, and only throw it around the right stuff. 2 Quote
Fish Murderer 71 Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 Only in the deep and have to find bait fish then its 50-50 chance. Â I've seen people catch catch fish in the shallow creeks between flats with it. Â I have yet to catch anything with mine, but then again I've only had a set up for it for about a month. Â Keep on keepin on and sooner or later it will happen. Quote
B_Gilbert Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 A-rig is mostly a suspended fish bait without a doubt...  If you find suspended fish, you can catch them on an a-rig. 1 Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted March 2, 2014 Global Moderator Posted March 2, 2014 I would be willing to bet about anything you're fishing it too fast. Every time I've done well with the rig I've been reeling so slowly it almost hurts, sometimes it's even hitting bottom occasionally. I usually let it sink to the bottom before I being my retrieve also. It sounds like you're fishing it in the right locations though. 4 Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted March 2, 2014 Super User Posted March 2, 2014 The key is to find the fish suspended near big wads of bait. Most of my success on it has been over 15-35 ft right in the creek channel, usually near a major bend or neck down area. The key to the rig is to find the fish and bait on your electronics. Spend a lot of time idling and looking at your graph, and only throw it around the right stuff.  Perfect description of where to fish The Rig. The main reason pros are pros is their ability to find fish. As Rick Clunn would say, "Catching bass is easy, finding them is the challenge". As a result the top tournaments don't allow A Rigs to be used. What does that tell you about the effectiveness of this tool? 1 Quote
BuckMaxx Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 I would go out on limb and say your thowing it when you should probably be throwing something else like a crank lipless or swimbait. Quote
tbone1993 Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 The Rig is not something you typically get bit with frequently. It's a tournament bait in that it gets very few bites but the fish are typically larger than average.  I've had the same experience as you with the rig and I've grown to despise it as a rec angler. Debatable.  I've seen it catch fish after fish and also double up fish as well.  They key to fishing it is understanding its place in the water column and your arsenal. Quote
tbone1993 Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 The key is to find the fish suspended near big wads of bait. Most of my success on it has been over 15-35 ft right in the creek channel, usually near a major bend or neck down area. The key to the rig is to find the fish and bait on your electronics. Spend a lot of time idling and looking at your graph, and only throw it around the right stuff. Bingo. Fishing on KY lake you know that it can catch the fire out of the fish when its on. Quote
AQUA VELVA Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 I don't think I would want to fish with anything that looks like it should be pulled behind a Russian trawler. Quote
gobig Posted March 3, 2014 Posted March 3, 2014 I thought the A-rig made ten pounders jump in the boat  . Quote
Super User Hooligan Posted March 3, 2014 Super User Posted March 3, 2014 Perfect description of where to fish The Rig. The main reason pros are pros is their ability to find fish. As Rick Clunn would say, "Catching bass is easy, finding them is the challenge". As a result the top tournaments don't allow A Rigs to be used. What does that tell you about the effectiveness of this tool? A lot of the reason that they discontinued use of the Rig, though, is the fish care side of it. I'd say probably 80-85% of the fish I hook on the rig end up with a secondary hook somewhere in the body. That said, it's extremely effective for suspended fish, and for fish that are targeting baitfish on the whole. Fishing windswept points is fantastic with the rig. Anyhwere there is current it is effective as well. I would almost bet that you're not keeping it slow enough. The other thing is that often it isn't being fished deep enough. I've found the exact opposite of a few people here. It's a fantastic numbers bait, generally. It's not a bait that I really rely on to get big bites in tournaments. Yes, I've caught some big fish on it, but I'm far more likely to land a limit on the rig, initially, and then cull off either that presentation, or fish big fish baits. Very often, I'll follow the rig with a Hudd or larger swimbait and that is how I end up getting a kicker or two. Quote
JayKumar Posted March 3, 2014 Posted March 3, 2014 It's very effective but the bite has to be on in the right way. It's mostly a pre-spawn tool, and usually you have to be around bait but not necessarily. Size, type of swimbait, etc. also important. Pretty much have to throw it all day to get the bites...from what I hear because I don't! Quote
gobig Posted March 3, 2014 Posted March 3, 2014 All scarcasm aside, the a-rig can be very effective. I think fish have started wising up to it and that its not as much of a free for all as it was. A friend of mine fished for yammamoto when the senko came out and said the hype was similar. The effectiveness of the rig is becoming more and more conditional. What I mean by this is that you need wind, cloud cover, current, spawning shad ect... Just like any other bait, depth, speed and location are critical for success. The double speak around the rig cracks me up. You got pros saying the some guy off the street can now win tour level tournaments and people that are struggling with it are told that they can not find fish like a pro. I feel just as confident throwing an a-rig for a ten pounder as I do a hud. I have to respectfully disagree that its a not a big fish bait. I think its a numbers bait and a big fish bait. With the rig I have caught fish on flats and points in 3-5 foot of water. I have caught fish suspended in 30 ft of water in the middle of the channel. I have caught fish dragging the bottom up points and over humps. I have caught fish burning them on the surface. This all goes back to depth, speed and location. I fish the rig just like I do a swimbait. Personally 75% of the fish I have caught are in 10 ft of water or less. Quote
Super User Hooligan Posted March 4, 2014 Super User Posted March 4, 2014 Oh, don't get me wrong. It's a big fish bait, when big fish are on it. There's no doubt of that. However, under most circumstances, I've had more 3lb averages on the rig than I have anything else. That is to say, I don't choose to target solely big fish with it, because I KNOW I can put 15-16lbs in the boat in a hurry. If I happen to whack a biggun in the same phrase, well, that's just great. But when I've caught a limit on a point, or in open water or current areas, I know I am generally able to upgrade by following the rig with a different bait. Quote
Bass_Fanatic Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 I caught a 26.5lb bag with a 10.2lb kicker this past Saturday on the rig... 3 Quote
bassguytom Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 I caught a 26.5lb bag with a 10.2lb kicker this past Saturday on the rig... Time to change your PB. I never really tried it in fresh water. I heard the best time to use it is when the water is below 50. I will have to give it a shot after ice out in July. Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted March 4, 2014 Super User Posted March 4, 2014 It's very effective but the bite has to be on in the right way. It's mostly a pre-spawn tool, and usually you have to be around bait but not necessarily. Size, type of swimbait, etc. also important. Pretty much have to throw it all day to get the bites...from what I hear because I don't!  Spring and fall. The first BIG tournament win was at Guntersville: http://www.bassmaster.com/tips/its-new-its-different-its-alabama-rig Quote
Super User Raul Posted March 4, 2014 Super User Posted March 4, 2014 In this sport there´s no such thing as a "magic bullet" that will catch you fish everywhere every time, what´s said ?  90% of the fish are in 10% of the water and 90% of the fish are caught by 10% of the anglers  You going out and throwing an A rig ( in this case ) or a swimbait or X or Y without doing the homework of first finding the fish is what you are doing wrong.  First find the fish. 2 Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted March 5, 2014 Super User Posted March 5, 2014 Here is aanother aspect that is not necessarily unique, but is still facinating: Â The Rig itself represents a school of baitfish, but just as importantly, it tends to attract baitfish. You will often have a real school surround your immitation school. This is one reason you NEVER need to "work" The Rig. Count down to the depth you need and make a steady retrieve. When you feel a little bump it's probably baitfish, so keep reeling! Quote
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