lmoore Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 StructureScan and Sidescan/downscan would provide more of a significant advantage for the average joe than an Alabama Rig when it comes to a tournament. Quote
Super User J Francho Posted January 9, 2012 Super User Posted January 9, 2012 Actually, SI is a big part of success with the rig. Locate balls of bait with larger predators, and deploy the A-rig. Quote
Super User eyedabassman Posted January 9, 2012 Super User Posted January 9, 2012 I don't see what the big deal is with this rig! Look, some top water baits have 3 treble hooks, there is a donkey rig which is two flukes on one line! I fish a double drop shot rig. And there is the crappie rig that has 3 or 4 hooks on one line! In Wisconsin we can have 3 hooks in any combo( 3 rods or 3 hooks one one line. So if you think the A-rig is unfair or unsports like, than all these other set up have been unfair and unsportsman like for a very long time. I am not trying to anyone mad just my 2 cents worth! 1 Quote
zip pow Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 StructureScan and Sidescan/downscan would provide more of a significant advantage for the average joe than an Alabama Rig when it comes to a tournament. That's why I have the big bird si di unit on my boat it took an average fisherman to a whole new level 90% of the deep water fish over five pounds I caught was because of it Quote
weezy109 Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 of course they are hitting it because they see a "school". That's my point and is the very reason they banned trolling multiple rods. I'd use it too if it is legal but I think it is hypocritical to allow it and ban anything else. Why not allow live bait if the point is just to catch big fish any way you can? Why ban trolling or anything else? Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted January 10, 2012 Super User Posted January 10, 2012 "I don't see what the big deal is with this rig!" Well, I have seen it in action. It is a HUGE deal. Quote
lmoore Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Actually, SI is a big part of success with the rig. Locate balls of bait with larger predators, and deploy the A-rig. Exactly my point. Throwing 3, 4, or 5 hooks in the water doesn't matter if you can't locate fish. Guys who have success with the Alabama rig are guys who would be successful anyway because they know how to find fish. The Alabama rig just offers them the potential to catch more of those fish faster. It's kind of a "rich get richer" type thing. I bought one this winter with 3 rigs. I can't use them in Iowa unless they only hae 2 hooks, but I might use it at a tournament this summer in WI if I find a school of fish. Quote
Super User eyedabassman Posted January 10, 2012 Super User Posted January 10, 2012 Exactly my point. Throwing 3, 4, or 5 hooks in the water doesn't matter if you can't locate fish. Guys who have success with the Alabama rig are guys who would be successful anyway because they know how to find fish. The Alabama rig just offers them the potential to catch more of those fish faster. It's kind of a "rich get richer" type thing. I bought one this winter with 3 rigs. I can't use them in Iowa unless they only hae 2 hooks, but I might use it at a tournament this summer in WI if I find a school of fish. Where did you buy one that had the 3 hooks?? Quote
weezy109 Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Exactly my point. Throwing 3, 4, or 5 hooks in the water doesn't matter if you can't locate fish. Guys who have success with the Alabama rig are guys who would be successful anyway because they know how to find fish. The Alabama rig just offers them the potential to catch more of those fish faster. It's kind of a "rich get richer" type thing. I bought one this winter with 3 rigs. I can't use them in Iowa unless they only hae 2 hooks, but I might use it at a tournament this summer in WI if I find a school of fish. You are completely neglecting the problem people have. Fishing 15 live bait rods aren't gonna do you any good either if you can't find the fish but would be a huge advantage if you can. But its illegal to do it. The point being if you can't fish multiple rods (the rule being there to stop you from having more than one bait in the water) then why would you allow this as it is clearly an attempt to bypass that rule. Sort of "yeah i got five lures but only one rod so you can't dq me haha" type thing. Very shady imo. In golf there was a big tado about a club that had won a lawsuit so that they could never ban its use, later the PGA banned square grooves on all golf clubs but this one had sort of a bye. So the guys put these old clubs into play and bypassed the rule. They eventually settled with Ping the manufacturer and banned the club. Same scenario here. I don't like the double fluke rig either. Quote
lmoore Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Where did you buy one that had the 3 hooks?? I got mine on Ebay from a guy making his own (and probably making a killing). Search for 3 arm alabama rig and it should bring something up. I think mine was $13. You are completely neglecting the problem people have. Fishing 15 live bait rods aren't gonna do you any good either if you can't find the fish but would be a huge advantage if you can. But its illegal to do it. The point being if you can't fish multiple rods (the rule being there to stop you from having more than one bait in the water) then why would you allow this as it is clearly an attempt to bypass that rule. Sort of "yeah i got five lures but only one rod so you can't dq me haha" type thing. Very shady imo. In golf there was a big tado about a club that had won a lawsuit so that they could never ban its use, later the PGA banned square grooves on all golf clubs but this one had sort of a bye. So the guys put these old clubs into play and bypassed the rule. They eventually settled with Ping the manufacturer and banned the club. Same scenario here. I don't like the double fluke rig either. For one, I don't really care how many rods people use. You can't use live bait in a tournament, so 15 live bait rods would only happen in a non-competetive scenario. I don't care how people fish in that scenario, assuming they can be responsible (following size and possession limits). I personally wouldn't get any excitement out of it, but I have no rational reason for wanting people to fish a certain way when they fish for fun. In a tournament setting? Of course I would have a problm with that, but moreso with the live bait than the 15 rods. Go ahead and throw 15 cranks out there and see if you catch more than I do working 1 effectively. The key to the Alabama rig is that nly 1 rod is being used. Size and feasibility will be limiting factors to use. You see people here already having trouble with using it effectively with 5 arm, you think adding 10 more will allow them to catch any more. Even if they can get it to work effectively, I'm not sure they would increase the number of bass caught. The key is that it's 1 bait searching in 1 area. The number of bass feeding simutaneously is generally limited. I have yet to hear of someone catching a bass on every single hook, so I don't feel like adding 3 more would increase the number of bass per cast. I'm sure that at some point, if someone had a bait with 10-15 hooks and they somehow got it into a school without killing themselves and could work it back effectively, that a fluke thing would happen where they hook 6 or 8 bass or someting crazy, but it wouldn't be a normal occurrence. Anyway, that whole argument is moot in the majority of states because there is a limit to the number of hooks that can be used. Whether it be 2, 3, 5, or 9, most states have a regulation which wouldn't allow 15. Quote
bigbassctchr101 Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 I have yet to hear of someone catching a bass on every single hook, so I don't feel like adding 3 more would increase the number of bass per cast. I'm all for the Alabama rig... But, there was a write up in Bassmaster magazine about a guy catching 19lbs of smallies on one cast. Think you can search youtube and he shows how he done it. Pretty cool. But still yet, no avg Joe could drop that thing off a dock and do that without knowing where the fish are. Quote
lmoore Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 I'm all for the Alabama rig... But, there was a right up in Bassmaster magazine about a guy catching 19lbs of smallies on one cast. Think you can search youtube and he shows how he done it. Pretty cool. But still yet, no avg Joe could drop that thing off a dock and do that without knowing where the fish are. Now that gives me some pause. However, the thought of being the guy who is bringing up 19 pounds of smallies on one cast in a tournament setting....I almost passed out from excitement I'll be looking for that viedo shortly! I think they key here is whether there is an unfair advantage for someone. Live bait is outlawed because it provides unfair advantages, especially over the fish. The Alabama Rig is an artificial lure and must be worked in such a way to trick the fish into biting, so I don't htink of it as an unfair advantage over the fish. As for other anglers, everyone follows the same set of rules, so the only advantage here goes to the guy who is willing to spend $10-$20 on the rig as opposed to the guy who buys 4 Bombers instead. I don't have a problem there. Quote
gobig Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 I have caught over 100 fish in a day on plastic worms, should they be banned? As long as bag rates and C&R are respected I have no issue. There is also a difference between multiple rods and one. With more than one rod you can fish different speeds at different depths at the same time. Besides other than tournaments it is legal to use more than one rod on most lakes out here and I don't find that to be unsporting. As far as in tournaments I don't feel it should be banned. If anything the number of hooks should be limited to two. This would put the rig on the same playing field as something like a double fluke rig which is already legal in tournaments and used for years. 1 Quote
bigbassctchr101 Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 As far as in tournaments I don't feel it should be banned. If anything the number of hooks should be limited to two. This would put the rig on the same playing field as something like a double fluke rig which is already legal in tournaments and used for years. The front runner has also been out for years and years. And I'm sure that someone has caught a fish on the front runner, front hook of crankbait and back hook of crankbait all at one time. I don't personally think there is anything wrong with 5 hooks on the bait. Don't think there is anything wrong with 3, or 2. and I personally use it with 1. I think peoples biggest issue is they may be afriad of it, or afraid they won't be able to learn it as good as someone else and that the person beating them will be able to catch fish like they see on youtube or FLW. Simple fact is, it just don't pan out to happen that good everyday. If people have seen the days that we've caught fish every cast on a Spro Deep Diver, or DD22 or have watched my buddies have 5 minute limits on Gunfish, then I think they'd probably want them baits just as bad as the A-rig. People just need to learn that its a tool and it can be used in certain conditions that make it unbelievable. 1 Quote
weezy109 Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 I got mine on Ebay from a guy making his own (and probably making a killing). Search for 3 arm alabama rig and it should bring something up. I think mine was $13. For one, I don't really care how many rods people use. You can't use live bait in a tournament, so 15 live bait rods would only happen in a non-competetive scenario. I don't care how people fish in that scenario, assuming they can be responsible (following size and possession limits). I personally wouldn't get any excitement out of it, but I have no rational reason for wanting people to fish a certain way when they fish for fun. In a tournament setting? Of course I would have a problm with that, but moreso with the live bait than the 15 rods. Go ahead and throw 15 cranks out there and see if you catch more than I do working 1 effectively. The key to the Alabama rig is that nly 1 rod is being used. Size and feasibility will be limiting factors to use. You see people here already having trouble with using it effectively with 5 arm, you think adding 10 more will allow them to catch any more. Even if they can get it to work effectively, I'm not sure they would increase the number of bass caught. The key is that it's 1 bait searching in 1 area. The number of bass feeding simutaneously is generally limited. I have yet to hear of someone catching a bass on every single hook, so I don't feel like adding 3 more would increase the number of bass per cast. I'm sure that at some point, if someone had a bait with 10-15 hooks and they somehow got it into a school without killing themselves and could work it back effectively, that a fluke thing would happen where they hook 6 or 8 bass or someting crazy, but it wouldn't be a normal occurrence. Anyway, that whole argument is moot in the majority of states because there is a limit to the number of hooks that can be used. Whether it be 2, 3, 5, or 9, most states have a regulation which wouldn't allow 15. Well yeah I agree i don't have a problem with using the rig at all but what i am saying is, there are rules and this is clearly designed to bypass that rule. In tournaments it is illegal to use more than one rod unless it is not a sanctioned tournament. Period. Having a problem with it or not is irrelevant it is against the rules to do it so using a rig that simulates that is at least shady to me. You could see the pros sort of half grinnin when they pulled that thing out at the FLW tournaments. Also you have to look at the possibility that if it is that good you may have tournaments where every single competitor throws this rig and this rig only and that would definitely take the technical skill portion completely out of the equation. Quote
weezy109 Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 The front runner has also been out for years and years. And I'm sure that someone has caught a fish on the front runner, front hook of crankbait and back hook of crankbait all at one time. I don't personally think there is anything wrong with 5 hooks on the bait. Don't think there is anything wrong with 3, or 2. and I personally use it with 1. I think peoples biggest issue is they may be afriad of it, or afraid they won't be able to learn it as good as someone else and that the person beating them will be able to catch fish like they see on youtube or FLW. Simple fact is, it just don't pan out to happen that good everyday. If people have seen the days that we've caught fish every cast on a Spro Deep Diver, or DD22 or have watched my buddies have 5 minute limits on Gunfish, then I think they'd probably want them baits just as bad as the A-rig. People just need to learn that its a tool and it can be used in certain conditions that make it unbelievable. Its got nothing to do with the number of hooks imo it has to do with the number of baits you got out there. One bait with 30 hooks isnt gonna do anything to make the fish bite it but having all those baits simulating a school seems shady to me Quote
zell_pop1 Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 How sporting is it to have 50 guys in a Bass/FLW tournament all throwing the same thing. Boring thats what. Not much skill in it either. I dont like double fluke rigs and the sort either, except for practice. Quote
Super User Wayne P. Posted January 11, 2012 Super User Posted January 11, 2012 How sporting is it for every FLW angler to be using the same jig/trailer. That would be just as boring. No skill with that either in comparison. If they aren't throwing them were fish are the results are the same. Quote
weezy109 Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 How sporting is it for every FLW angler to be using the same jig/trailer. That would be just as boring. No skill with that either in comparison. If they aren't throwing them were fish are the results are the same. 50 years of competitive bass fishing and that has never ever happened. Never even been a possibility. It is with this rig tho Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted January 11, 2012 Super User Posted January 11, 2012 Listen up boys... Whether the Alabama Rig is banned from tournaments or not, if you are a recreational fisherman, you HAVE TO TRY THIS RIG. The Floating Rapala was unique when it was introduced, the Senko still is...The Alabama Rig dwarfs anything that has ever been invented. Quote
weezy109 Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 Some states have regulated it so be careful, not everyone can us 5 hooks on this thing, even for recreational use if i'm not mistaken. Quote
stanlje2 Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 fished with it on 2 different occasions now and caught absolutely ZIP!!! I have to say its one of those things where I just lack confidence with at the moment though because it is still so new to me. Not to mention it wears me out to throw it all day! Quote
Super User Redlinerobert Posted January 11, 2012 Super User Posted January 11, 2012 I see many of you have drank the Alabama kool-aid. :-) I bought one. Looks ridiculous. Feel ridiculous casting it. Unless you're using a heavy swimbait rod, don't bother... I'm sure it catches fish. Its just no fun to cast. Weighes a ton and is about as aerodynamic as a brick. 1 Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted January 11, 2012 Super User Posted January 11, 2012 Being strictly a recreational fisherman I have no desire to even try this. I've used umbrella rigs trolling for ocean stripers and didn't much care for that. This is just me, but to throw that A-rig a heavier rod would be required and as far as I'm concerned heavy rods are for heavy fish, light rods for light fish. I don't care use anything heavier than a medium spinning rod for bass fishing. If I were a tournament fisherman I would use every option available to me. Quote
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