Alabama Rig

[bigbassctchr101]

Right there with you. This is just a fad, and will pass. Just like T-Tops and Bell-Bottoms.... Lets just hope they don't come back around

But...so was the chatterbait, right? It probably is just a fad, but that doesn't mean it won't catch fish. People will stop using it after they loose one, or get tired of not being able to catch doubles every trip (because that stuff just don't happen if you don't know how to use it). And after the majority of people stop using it, i think it will still play a role in many anglers tournament seasons.

I use the bait with 5 baits here in Tennessee but I only have 1 hook on the middle wire with a longer swimbait. I don't know how I could get the its not sportsman like argument from fishing it this way, but I still have. The rig works, not because its a fad or a magic trick. It works the same way a spinnerbait works. It mimicks a school of shad. Everytime you twitch your rod, or change direction you have multiple identical "minnows" changing motion as well. Just like a school of fish would do.

I still won't buy a senko, because I think its just a fad waiting to go out. lol I wouldn't even want to know how much money i've lost waiting for that to happen lol

[J Francho]

Oh really?

I don't sway off topic but I can think of and caught many species that pound for pound will give anyone an education how some fish can put up a battle. I'm not including or excluding a king( I'm sure the reference is not an ocean kingfish), we catch 30# fish that have to be run down to land them and that's on heavier conventional gear, not light light tackle.

You are swaying off topic. None of those fish coexist with bass. No one fishes for bass with conventional saltwater gear, so the point is moot. I can make a cast, catch an 8oz. perch. make another, and catch a 2 lb. smallmouth. make a third, a ten pound drum, make a fourth, and catch a 30 lb. king salmon.

[roadwarrior]

Too funny...I've read so many posts over the years from tournament fishermen

complaining about guys fishing a Senko. I guess the Alabama Rig is now in that

same category. However, I think multiple hooks really is an issue. I expect the

major trails will ban their use.

[J Francho]

I doubt it, Kent. They are a very specific tool. If you can't locate large bait balls with suspended fish feeding, you aren't going to get bit. I've read many reports from guys gung-ho to try the rig, and have blanked. They guys that do well up here, are usually guys that do well anyway - they're just doing even better.

[Bass Junkie]

But...so was the chatterbait, right? It probably is just a fad, but that doesn't mean it won't catch fish. People will stop using it after they loose one, or get tired of not being able to catch doubles every trip (because that stuff just don't happen if you don't know how to use it). And after the majority of people stop using it, i think it will still play a role in many anglers tournament seasons.

I use the bait with 5 baits here in Tennessee but I only have 1 hook on the middle wire with a longer swimbait. I don't know how I could get the its not sportsman like argument from fishing it this way, but I still have. The rig works, not because its a fad or a magic trick. It works the same way a spinnerbait works. It mimicks a school of shad. Everytime you twitch your rod, or change direction you have multiple identical "minnows" changing motion as well. Just like a school of fish would do.

I still won't buy a senko, because I think its just a fad waiting to go out. lol I wouldn't even want to know how much money i've lost waiting for that to happen lol

I am not saying you are unsportsmanlike by fishing an Alabama rig, and you have some very legitimate points. But anything that is thrown on 80lb. braid and has people worried about the fatigue of fishing it is not for me. I guess I'll just stick with all the lures in my confidence whelm that have suddenly been rendered ineffective....

But I would, just once, love to see someone rig up one of those things with some 8" Hudds......

[roadwarrior]

I fished the Make-A-Wish tournament last October. The winner was the inventor of the Alabama Rig,

Andy Poss. I was told he won every tournament he entered last year. The big boys clobbered them

with the rig at Guntersville. I'm excited to give it a try!

[JIGFISHERMAN.]

I am not saying you are unsportsmanlike by fishing an Alabama rig, and you have some very legitimate points. But anything that is thrown on 80lb. braid and has people worried about the fatigue of fishing it is not for me. I guess I'll just stick with all the lures in my confidence whelm that have suddenly been rendered ineffective....

But I would, just once, love to see someone rig up one of those things with some 8" Hudds......

Again, it will not wear you out if you fish it, and it wears you out, you desperately need to hit the gym.

Again, I'll reference Musky tackle.

http://www.muskyshop.com/modules/cart/products.php/keys/bulldawg/page/1/id/3019/name/MuskyInnovationsCustomExclusiveBulldawgs

Note the pounder Bulldawg at 15" and 13oz

[grimlin]

I don't know what you guys are worried about having 10 lbs. or more fish on your line... Up here, we run into some big fish that actually put up a fight while bass fishing. My little Pinnacle Perfecta "fairy wand" had no issue handling a couple kings that went 25-30 lbs. From what I've been told by my friend that has won a couple of events throwing an A-rig, there isn't much fight when there is a double or triple. Most everyone I've talked to uses a swimbait or heavy jig rod. A few have said, like Fluke, that a moderate taper works better with the open hook jigs.

That's my biggest issue with it...No fight. I live for the fight of a fish.To me that's the best thing about fishing.

I guess tournaments is where people are using this thing....I can see why,but if everybody is using this stupid rig on bass master classic,I'm not gonna watch it. It's plain retarded.....I rather see them catch em' on a T-rigged worm,rattletrap or crankbait of some sort.

This thing should not be in tournaments period.

[bigbassctchr101]

I am not saying you are unsportsmanlike by fishing an Alabama rig, and you have some very legitimate points. But anything that is thrown on 80lb. braid and has people worried about the fatigue of fishing it is not for me. I guess I'll just stick with all the lures in my confidence whelm that have suddenly been rendered ineffective....

But I would, just once, love to see someone rig up one of those things with some 8" Hudds......

Good point, although if you went out and threw some mann's 30+'s, saltwater spooks, and was stroking a 1ounce jig all day you could probably end up with the same fatigue at the end of the day. lol

I am more interested to try this rig in other applications, i've seen them with two buzz bait blades on the top two wires. And spread out like a rake and can only imagine fishing 5 creature baits along the bottom. Living here in Tennessee, i'm excited to try 3 single bladed big thumpin spinnerbaits at night. I think most people will put it up to dry once the newness wears off, while other guys will perfect it (just like any bait).

As for the original post. I am using a "guntersville rig" with 5 baits. 4 skinny dippers glued to 1/8 ounce jig heads with the hook snipped off at the bend. The middle wire I have a 3/8 ounce head with a 5inch basstrix. 65lb braid. 8ft APR "Striper Special" Heavy-Moderate Action -swimbait rod. E7 Curado.

I also have a couple of homemade units. One with only 3 wires. So, while i've been testing these guys out I am just tying to two snap swivels and connecting both of them to the A-rig so I don't have to take all the time in re-tying to another one.

As for flourocarbon-mono debate. My thoughts on that are:

1. If you have a rig with upwards of 30 dollars worth of baits, why not have strong braid on that can pull up a deadfall tree if you need to (or at least enough to straighten out the snaps

2. the rig has 5 pieces of metal wire coming from a minnow head... why camoflauge a semi if you can still see it comin thru the woods.

3. i fished this bait in virginia and tennessee in a lake that people swear by using light line so the fish can't see it because it is so clear. We caught fish all day long in 5-30ft of water. That convinced me enough that, even if fish don't like the braid, there shouldn't be enough of them scared to the point they stay away from the rig to really matter. (plenty of other people are using it and catching BIG sacks--they can't be that much better than me to beat me just by the baird/flouro debate)

As for doubles and triples and "the fight"... Before complaining about having no fight on the rig, try catching a double on a crankbait or topwater first. There is also no fight in that either. Its not the rigs fault, its the fact there is two fish on the end of the line and every motion counteracts the others. Thats why when you get a double it feels more like a turtle, or plastic bag being reeled in.

I also think you'll still see plenty of guys still be using the convential methods and only using the A rig as another tool, like a jig and crankbait.

[J Francho]

That's my biggest issue with it...No fight. I live for the fight of a fish.To me that's the best thing about fishing.

I don't bass fish for the fight. It's a much more cerebral than that. To me, it's about patterning and successfully tricking bigger fish. If I was in it for the fight, I'd target some of the larger, gamer species available to me. Most of the biggest fish I've caught, save for a particularly nasty 6-1 largemouth, were reeled in without much ado at all. Including my PB largemouth of 7-2 that felt like a waterlogged boot. Now some of smallies I've caught on light line, that's another story as well.

[bigbassctchr101]

Carp would be a good suggestion, or some freshwater stripers if you want a fight lol

[eyedabassman]

Do they make the A rig with 3 hooks? In Wisconsin you can have any combo of 3 hooks.! Where are you buying them?

[bigbassctchr101]

Do they make the A rig with 3 hooks? In Wisconsin you can have any combo of 3 hooks.! Where are you buying them?

A lot of people are calling them T-rigs or Tennessee Rigs. I say a lot, but I guess mainly only the guys that make the 3 wire rigs in tennessee lol Send me an IM if you'd be interested in a couple sites.

[deep]

Do they make the A rig with 3 hooks? In Wisconsin you can have any combo of 3 hooks.! Where are you buying them?

Pretty sure I've seen some homemade ones on ebay. But the point of the rig is simulating a school.. If I were you, I would use a 5 arm rig with two arms without hooks.

I don't want to post a link here, but check your PM if you're dead-set on a 3-wire version.

[JIGFISHERMAN.]

Do they make the A rig with 3 hooks? In Wisconsin you can have any combo of 3 hooks.! Where are you buying them?

You could always fish the 5 wire rig, only rig 3 of them with hooks. That way you get a bigger "schooling" effect.

[bigbassctchr101]

In TN you can't do that, so you may want to check state law. Here you can use ONLY 3 with all having hooks. Or 5 baits with 1 having a hook. If you use 3 with hooks you are not allowed any other "teasers"....

[grimlin]

I don't bass fish for the fight. It's a much more cerebral than that. To me, it's about patterning and successfully tricking bigger fish. If I was in it for the fight, I'd target some of the larger, gamer species available to me. Most of the biggest fish I've caught, save for a particularly nasty 6-1 largemouth, were reeled in without much ado at all. Including my PB largemouth of 7-2 that felt like a waterlogged boot. Now some of smallies I've caught on light line, that's another story as well.

I'm more of a smallmouth fisher than anything else...makes sense I guess.

Carp would be a good suggestion, or some freshwater stripers if you want a fight lol

Carps are more of a sit and wait type game fish...not really my cup of tea,but i have caught them before.You are right they put up one heck of a fight. Cat fishing can be fun at times as well and put up about the same type of fight.But nothing beats a fish that can clear 2 feet out of the water. I'll stick to my smallmouth bass for now.

[J Francho]

I'm more of a smallmouth fisher than anything else...makes sense I guess.

Perfect sense.

[NoBassPro]

To me, it's about patterning and successfully tricking bigger fish. If I was in it for the fight, I'd target some of the larger, gamer species available to me. Most of the biggest fish I've caught, save for a particularly nasty 6-1 largemouth, were reeled in without much ado at all.

Its been my experience that bigger fish of many species often don't have the fight of some their smaller brethren. They don't get fat by working hard lol.

[rubba bubba]

However, I think multiple hooks really is an issue. I expect the

major trails will ban their use.

This would be my guess as well. Not because people think it makes fishing so easy it's like cheating but more to standardize tackle use on a circuit - something like a 1 rod 1 lure type of rule. We'll see.

If it's not banned, I don't see why it would fade away as it's just another tool that works for a particular situation(s). The hype will eventually fade away; it has to.

[Wayne P.]

There another application for a miniture model of that rig. How about five 1/32 oz crappie jigs?

[JIGFISHERMAN.]

Only thing I would say about that though, is that if the fish are finicky enough to require baits like that, the wire/head of the rig itself may turn fish off.

With that said, I do agree that this can be used in many different ways. Not just fullsize swimbaits on jig heads with a total weight the size of a Musky jerkbait.

[roadwarrior]

I suspect just about anything works. I'm going with Lake Fork Tackle Live Magic Shad.

[J Francho]

I suspect just about anything works.

Yep. Another buddy of mine did well on Oneida with a bunch of Kalin's grubs.

[fishinkeebs]

Swimming hornet and Manns seem to the better A-rigs I've seen. Talked to a few guys that are rigging them to run on the bottom with craw style baits and doing good with it. Definately stoked about this bait and can't wait to try it out!