Dock Talk: Alabama Madness
- Published on Monday, 16 January 2012 10:05
- Written by Super User
- Hits: 62
When US Pro Brian Snowden smashed a huge tournament limit on the little known Chatterbait, anglers sat up and paid attention, and when Steve Kennedy broke B.A.S.S’ 4-day bag total of 122lbs 4oz on a new bait termed a swimbait, anglers all across the world rushed out to get their hands on one. But when Paul Elias recently won the FLW Walmart Tour event on Lake Guntersville on a completely new application of an umbrella rig, some anglers frowned in dismay.
The rig Elias employed at the FLW Tour event, more commonly known as the Alabama Rig, is nothing multi-specie lure anglers have never seen before, but it’s the freshwater application thereof that is causing quite a stir. And (perhaps) rightly so, because when other competitors were only scraping 12lb limits together, Elias was dominating the field with 25lb bag limits, sometimes catching two or more quality bass on the Alabama Rig at one time.
The rig essentially involves five flexible wires attached to a round jig head with heavy-duty swivels attached to the end of the wires. Anglers have been experimenting with baits since its inception, yet most fishing has been done with hollow-bodied swimbaits and swimming grubs.
Umbrella rigs have always been considered a trolling technique, but the Alabama Rig has taken this style of fishing to a new level, with anglers now casting this rig and bait combination that weighs in at more than 5oz. It is definitely not a “chunk and wide” technique, and according to its inventor, Andy Poss, “ the rig is something bass have never seen before, imitating a small school of bait swimming around helplessly. Bass have become conditioned to single bait presentations when feeding on schools of bait – now the school comes to them. It really works great when bass are suspended.”
The Alabama Rig has been met with just as much resistance as it has enjoyed fanfare, with US Pro and FLW Walmart Tour angler Dave Lefebre passing comment on his Facebook Page as to the morality of using this rig. “Who's going to start the ‘Ban The Alabama Rig In Professional Tournaments’ petition?” he asks. “Do I really have to do it?”
But its not only tournament anglers who have been questioning the legality of this rig - state laws in Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska outlaw the use of more than one rigged bait attached to the end of a line in freshwater, which makes the use of a five-bait Alabama Rig illegal, unless you live in Alabama. The most important factor that concerns conservationists is fish mortality, given the rig’s ability to foul hook bass, which apparently is very common. During Elias’ flurry of bass at the FLW event, bass were hooked in both the mouth and the side of their body during the event.
Locally the Alabama Rig has also caused a few ructions, with forums abuzz with questions about its legality. Provincial legislature stipulates that you cannot use more than two hooks , with the exception of KZN where you can get away with throwing a three-hook version with two stinger baits. The rules of major tournament trails that were drafted earlier this year also do not exclude the use of a modified version of the Alabama Rig, and many anglers have voiced the opinion that if its use was to be legalized on the competitive circuit, they would consider throwing the rig in order to be in contention.
The verdict is still out on whether the Alabama Rig is here to stay or not. Nobody really knows, but here’s the rub: the Mann’s bait company has concluded a deal to mass produce the original Alabama Rig, and it has even got the rod manufacturers getting in on the action. Trey Kistler debuted the first technique specific Alabama Rig rod in the ZBone range a mere days after Elias won, and had Shimano USA Product Manager Robby Grant testing prototypes - just in case!
Simply put, the Alabama Rig has caused the biggest stir in bass fishing in the past 10 years.
Catch you on the water.
