More Banning Of The Arig..

[J Francho]

I've probably caught over 100 fish on various umbrella rigs. I've never had a problem foul hooking them. In fact, longer jerk baits do more damage.

[200racing]

pros carried a-rigs to far.  had guys throwing double a-rigs in flw, just crazy.

 

i feel the main reason for a-rig bans is image. hard to air a big bass being boated with 4 hooks in her head and side but none in his mouth and the pros just yanking them out. 

[roadwarrior]

I've watched numerous shows, tournaments, and youtube videos of a rigs.

A large number of bass brought in are snagged from trying to bust the bait ball. Simply not sporting or ethical.

 

That's never happened to me or anyone I fish with. In fact, I have never caught a fish on an outside

arm.  Every fish I have caught has been on the middle main arm.

[Montanaro]

So it doesn't happen?

[Catch and Grease]

When you have 20 hooks on a rig it stops looking like an Alabama rig and starts looking like a chandelier.

[slimshad]

Ditto...a cheap and lazy way to fish leaving little to the imagination...

 

Old school basser...

Cheap and lazy?  They cost a small fortune and you have to be strong and halfway fit to throw it allday.  A lazy person with no imagination would never throw one of these baits.  I do hook some bass on the outside sometimes.  I never once thought it hurt the fish.  The hook was in them but no bleeding or tearing of the skin.  I have done way worse with big crankbaits or spooks. 

[J Francho]

Apparently, I was the only one imaginative to run the river for deep smallies. Everyone else that day fished the shallows. Only two limits brought in that day. Funny, everyone threw them the next week. I didn't, came in third with jig fish. No one caught a thing on the rig. Who's unoriginal there?

I suppose it's the same as way I feel about C-rigs.

And Kent, I have caught a few on the outside baits. Both singles and doubles.

[Raul]

Man, I dunno how many times I´ve said that there´s no such thing as magic bullet, A rig fishing is not just rigging a bunch of baits and casting them idiotically all they long just as trolling is not just idiotically dragging a bait behind the boat.

 

Then when, as usual, people go with the hype and flow come here and ask "Why this or that didn´t work ?" and scratch their heads, man in YouTube I saw this dude ketchin a 5 lber on each bait ! duhhhhhhhhh, cuz you weren´t fishing it in the right location with the right presentation.

[J Francho]

That rig draws them like seniors to bingo night. LOL.

[Brian6428]

I think one of the most interesting arguments brought up in the article is that they are taking innovation away from the sport. 

[J Francho]

From a rules vs. local laws standpoint, it seems like it's easier just to say, no to spreader rigs. No trying to enforce confusing laws - a treble is a hook, and three hooks per bait, one bait per rod, one rod at a time.  It doesn't really affect me, and my fishing, so I don't care what they allow/restrict. However, that does have an impact on what everyday anglers choose to fish with.

[Jay Ell Gee]

So it doesn't happen?

I think before making such a statement in a post, you should throw the thing yourself and form your own opinion instead of basing it on YouTube videos.

[J Francho]

I've watched numerous shows, tournaments, and youtube videos of a rigs.

A large number of bass brought in are snagged from trying to bust the bait ball. Simply not sporting or ethical.

 

 

So it doesn't happen?

 

Sounds like you answered your own question before asking.  I bet one can dig up a good amount of evidence for other baits foul hooking bass.  Are trailer hooks unethical?  What about suspending slash baits?  Large, deep diving cranks?  Big topwaters?  Swimbaits?  All these baits pose a great risk of the second (sometimes third) hook catching the fish outside the mouth.  Heck, I've foul hooked smallmouth on a dropshot.  I think you have to draw line at intent, when it comes to ethics here.  You're trying to draw a strike, the fish attacks the bait - wait, isn't that what we want with every bait?  I think I actually foul hooked a bass once with an umbrella rig once.  Maybe twice.  But it was also hooked in the mouth.  I do quite a bit of jerk bait fishing, and I've been known to remove the rear treble on three hook baits when the bite is aggressive, to keep from having to perform surgery between catches.  I'll also put the umbrella rig down when the bite is on - it's not the tool for that.  It works on those days, when bass are schooled up, suspended, and in a negative feeding mode.  It ignites them.

 

 

What the pros' rules allow and restrict has little influence on my fishing.  If you don't like to use them, then don't use them.  If you are fishing against me on Oneida in the fall, really don't use them.  Throw out your red traps, too.  They don't work either, lol.

 

I think questioning the ethics in fishing is an important discussion, but a flame war, with anglers pointing their fingers at other anglers serves no purpose.  So let's try to keep this educational and informational.

 

Videos of snagged fish?  Let's see them.

[T-Rick]

I have yet to hook up on an A rig...im tryin though!

 

I am glad I am not the only one.  I was excited to use a A rig this past summer and never caught a fish.  I need to catch one using it next season.

[buzzed bait]

Sounds like you answered your own question before asking.  I bet one can dig up a good amount of evidence for other baits foul hooking bass.  Are trailer hooks unethical?  What about suspending slash baits?  Large, deep diving cranks?  Big topwaters?  Swimbaits?  All these baits pose a great risk of the second (sometimes third) hook catching the fish outside the mouth.  Heck, I've foul hooked smallmouth on a dropshot.  I think you have to draw line at intent, when it comes to ethics here.  You're trying to draw a strike, the fish attacks the bait - wait, isn't that what we want with every bait?  I think I actually foul hooked a bass once with an umbrella rig once.  Maybe twice.  But it was also hooked in the mouth.  I do quite a bit of jerk bait fishing, and I've been known to remove the rear treble on three hook baits when the bite is aggressive, to keep from having to perform surgery between catches.  I'll also put the umbrella rig down when the bite is on - it's not the tool for that.  It works on those days, when bass are schooled up, suspended, and in a negative feeding mode.  It ignites them.

 

 

What the pros' rules allow and restrict has little influence on my fishing.  If you don't like to use them, then don't use them.  If you are fishing against me on Oneida in the fall, really don't use them.  Throw out your red traps, too.  They don't work either, lol.

 

I think questioning the ethics in fishing is an important discussion, but a flame war, with anglers pointing their fingers at other anglers serves no purpose.  So let's try to keep this educational and informational.

 

Videos of snagged fish?  Let's see them.

 

i somehow hooked a fish yesterday on a crankbait where like 5 of the 6 hooks of the 2 trebles were all sorts of fouled up on the in and outside of the fish's mouth.  i've hooked some fish bad before, but this was one odd hook up....  that said i felt like i did more damage than i should have trying to get him unpinned.  a "single hook" application (non trebles) like the rig wouldn't have this same problem. 

i'm not an a-rig fisher, but that's just because i don't want to dedicate the gear and or time to throwing it.  it just doesn't appeal to me personally.  i do not fish for money so i can't say how i would feel at that point.  my only thoughts are that the different fishing organizations should try to have the same or very similar rules.  that way as an angler, you wouldn't be confused about which rules/regulations apply for that organization.  just my opinions.....

[Montanaro]

Where did I ever say I never threw one or that I'm pointing fingers at people and trying to start a flame war?

Yall need to take a step back and reassess your own contributions to this thread.

A rigs can and do entangle bass. Yes you drew a strike. How often do trebles from a jerk bait get tangled in a bass's tail and you haul him in sideways without a fight? Outside of some dinks, that never happens to me. I still use a rigs and find them interesting...but there are questions surrounding it.

[J Francho]

 

my only thoughts are that the different fishing organizations should try to have the same or very similar rules.  that way as an angler, you wouldn't be confused about which rules/regulations apply for that organization.  just my opinions.....

 

Generally, small clubs make their own rules, and they're passed by a vote.  You usually need a quorum and rules changes are passed by majority or some percentage of the votes.  Unaffiliated clubs can basically use whatever rules they deem necessary for a level playing field.  Kind of the same as the FLW ruling in the OP.

[buzzed bait]

Generally, small clubs make their own rules, and they're passed by a vote.  You usually need a quorum and rules changes are passed by majority or some percentage of the votes.  Unaffiliated clubs can basically use whatever rules they deem necessary for a level playing field.  Kind of the same as the FLW ruling in the OP.

 

that makes sense..... 

yet another reason i'm reluctant to get into the tournament scene... it just seems so much more fun to do it on your own rules.

[J Francho]

Depends on the club.  I generally fish team format "opens" nowadays.  You see many of the same faces, and none of the BS you can get in club politics.  I'm gonna be fishing anyway, so it's just added bonus to throw some money on the table.

[GoDeep]

The PAA tourney on Douglas Lake here a couple years ago was a joke thanks to the A Rig. That tournament alone is why the PAA banned it. Glad to see its out in other venues as wel .

[J Francho]

The PAA tourney on Douglas Lake here a couple years ago was a joke thanks to the A Rig. That tournament alone is why the PAA banned it. Glad to see its out in other venues as wel .

 

I don't remember the details.  Elaborate?

[Catch and Grease]

The PAA tourney on Douglas Lake here a couple years ago was a joke thanks to the A Rig. That tournament alone is why the PAA banned it. Glad to see its out in other venues as wel .

Every tournament is won on a certain bait, should crankbaits be banned because every year alot tournaments are "dominated" by it?

[iabass8]

Every tournament is won on a certain bait, should crankbaits be banned because every year alot tournaments are "dominated" by it?

Do you honestly consider the Arig or any of its variants a "single bait"?

[J Francho]

It's a rig, not a bait. Donkey rig, drop shot, droppers all involve multiple baits when rigging. Semantics don't really matter, you like it or you don't.

[gulfcaptain]

I'm going to have to agree and side with J Francho.  Those who understand how to use them catch fish with them. I have caught a lot of fish with them.  It's a tool for a certain job.  Have I had one hook foul a fish?  Yep, That fish had all 3 hooks in it.....2 of the baits were in it's mouth and one on the side.  Did it try to eat the whole rig, I think so.  But it wasn't snagged and was hooked no worse then what I've seen with crankbait or jerkbait fish.  This post started out with the discussion of more tournaments banning the use of it.  Like I said before, their tournament, their rules.  Stop bashing the umbrella rig because it works for those who know when and how to fish it.  They put time and effort into using it and understand when to pull it out and get the job done.  If it's allowed in a Tournament and you choose not to fish it and get spanked by the guy who has mastered it.  You lost and he won.  He pulled more weight in within that tournaments rules regarding what can be used and what can't.