Alabama Rig !!!!!!

[Tennessee Todd]

The new electronics are so much better than what we had 10 years ago. If you can read the electronics and learn how the picture on the screen relates to the boats current position, you can find fish. You have to spend time looking at it to understand what it is showing you.

I remember the old flashers and graphs. They are like comparing the old Pong video game to the modern video games.

Yup. The other evening I was looking at a side scan over a group of baitfish and I could tell the fish were feeding. We were fishing in about 40 foot of water, but the fish were feeding in about 20. We backed off, I casted my A rig and counted it down to 20 feet and BAM, a fish murdered it. It turned out to be a 10 lb catfish but it was cool to actually know there was a feeding fish in that spot and know actually where to throw to catch him. I wish I could get better at determining what is bass vs. other fish, but I can't tell yet. The guys that are really good can tell what is bass and what is feeding etc. It's pretty cool to fish with someone who can pull up to summer holes, turn on the side imaging and electronics and tell whether the fish are biting or not. If not, they move on.

That's way above my experience at this point, but it's pretty cool to learn that stuff. As Kirk said, alot different from the old flashers. But I tell ya, some of the old timers were really dang good at the flasher and still use them.

 

[TN Larry]

Not sure I agree with everything Randy said, but most of it I do. Personally, I'm good either way. If they ban it, I'm fine. If they don't I'm fine. If I had a gun to my head and had to choose, I would say ban it. (except for the fact that I have $25,000 worth of the @#!$ things. )

The main thing I disagree with is the point that anyone can throw it across a secondary point and catch a big bass. That's just not my experience. Yes, it can happen, but as I've already said, you still have to be around the quality of fish that will win you tournaments when your throwing it.

Plus, this is only my opinion, but from experience, I can already tell that fish are becoming conditioned to the lure in areas where it's thrown day and night. That's what has made me tinker with different methods of throwing it and that has been fun. It will be fun to see how well the Elites fair next year on Guntersville's Bassmaster's Classic WITHOUT the A rig.

I'm also a little suprised that there hasn't been more controversy over the new electronics than the new lures such as the A rig. Wow, the detail of what the new electronics show is unreal. It's just suprising you don't hear much about that.

Agree.

 

[milkey]

I fished the paa as a coangler about a month ago on douglas ( i had used the a rig with a little success the past year) I was luckey enough to draw Timmy Horton, he caught 28 pounds that day and culled at least 21 pounds i never caught a fish using my set up. The next Tuesday i went to cherokee and used exactly the same set up that he had used and i caught 13 bass 11 being keepers I had a 18 pound sack. I have beeen killing them ever since( i have caught 2 doubles also) I said all this to say not every a rig is the same the fish will bite a certain setup better than others. I am hookeed

 

[TN Larry]

I fished the paa as a coangler about a month ago on douglas ( i had used the a rig with a little success the past year) I was luckey enough to draw Timmy Horton, he caught 28 pounds that day and culled at least 21 pounds i never caught a fish using my set up. The next Tuesday i went to cherokee and used exactly the same set up that he had used and i caught 13 bass 11 being keepers I had a 18 pound sack. I have beeen killing them ever since( i have caught 2 doubles also) I said all this to say not every a rig is the same the fish will bite a certain setup better than others. I am hookeed

I agree and have seen the same. So what was his set up?

 

[milkey]

He did not use swim baits he used grubs. Also he used the fl;ash mob jr.

 

[Tennessee Todd]

He did not use swim baits he used grubs. Also he used the fl;ash mob jr.

Would you hush please sir......

 

[tophat]

He did not use swim baits he used grubs. Also he used the fl;ash mob jr.

Would you hush please sir......

x2 lol

 

[TN Larry]

He did not use swim baits he used grubs. Also he used the fl;ash mob jr.

Would you hush please sir......

x2 lol

x3. Shouldn't have asked.

 

[Winchester]

LOL This thread is a perfect example of how much difference just the type of a-rig makes, let alone where and how you throw it. I too am on the fence in the battle of allowing or outlawing the rig?? I dont think its the end all of fishing and dont think it will do much harm to the resource, reason being within a few years its effectiveness will definitely drop off some, just as many other new baits over the years have done. I think Blaukat is overreacting just like many other pros because this lure can definitely level the playing field some for wknd anglers vs the pros and they dont like it!
I also agree that Electronics have played a BIGGER role than ANYTHING else in recent years and increased catch weights! Its simply amazing what you can see with a good HDS unit and a properly set up structure scan!!!

 

[TN Larry]

LOL This thread is a perfect example of how much difference just the type of a-rig makes, let alone where and how you throw it. I too am on the fence in the battle of allowing or outlawing the rig?? I dont think its the end all of fishing and dont think it will do much harm to the resource, reason being within a few years its effectiveness will definitely drop off some, just as many other new baits over the years have done. I think Blaukat is overreacting just like many other pros because this lure can definitely level the playing field some for wknd anglers vs the pros and they dont like it!
I also agree that Electronics have played a BIGGER role than ANYTHING else in recent years and increased catch weights! Its simply amazing what you can see with a good HDS unit and a properly set up structure scan!!!

Couldn't have said it better myself. I think that he is over reacting but does make some valid points as well. The rig and the presentation are key, however, WHERE is a big factor as said above. I can go throw it in my pond stocked with minnows only, throw the right rig with the right presenation and still not get bit. I have done this btw just doing some testing after tinkering to see the results. I didn't catch one though, and had it right.

In terms of electronics, one tournament that comes to mind is I think that it was the KY Lake FLW tour tournament last year where most of the fish were caught on ledges. People used to have to rely on looking at maps, depth finders, etc to find the ledges and then fish them to find out what was there, etc, etc. (Yes, many I mean most got help from locals but theoretically speaking). Then GPS units came along which made finding the ledges easier, but you still had to fish them to find the sweet spot, etc, etc. Well, last year in this tournament, many pros that did well spent their entire practice hardly wetting a line. They went around with the Scan units marking schools of fish, noting the size, etc. They would then pull up during the tournament and scan to relocate the schools and fish or not fish based on what they were seeing on the screens. I don't really care either way on either subject, but it seems like this tournament was swayed more by the guys that were technology advanced with their units than doing the actual work to find the fish and catch them. They still had to catch them, but if you know how to read your unit good enough to identify the fish and know what they are doing, it is game on with a school of feeding ledge fish.

 

[Football Hunter]

Id rather throw an A rig,than a 10xd,have you seen them crazy things??????

 

[Tennessee Todd]

Id rather throw an A rig,than a 10xd,have you seen them crazy things??????

Yeah, those are some sweet cranks. Get you an 8' cranking rod and a Revo Wench and you can throw it all day. Time will tell this summer when that bite gets here, but Strike King hit a homer with that bait in my opinion.

 

[Tennessee Todd]

I don't really care either way on either subject, but it seems like this tournament was swayed more by the guys that were technology advanced with their units than doing the actual work to find the fish and catch them. They still had to catch them, but if you know how to read your unit good enough to identify the fish and know what they are doing, it is game on with a school of feeding ledge fish.

Yeah that's what I was referring to in my earlier posts. I'm just suprised that this issue hasn't been more heated than the A rig because at least for the most part, everyone can afford a $15 A rig but not everyone can afford the several thousand dollar Side imaging units.....

 

[milkey]

I did not tell everything....ha ha

 

[Winchester]

Id rather throw an A rig,than a 10xd,have you seen them crazy things??????

Yeah, those are some sweet cranks. Get you an 8' cranking rod and a Revo Wench and you can throw it all day. Time will tell this summer when that bite gets here, but Strike King hit a homer with that bait in my opinion.

Then let out 200 yards of line and start cranking!!! :grin:
These plugs will go DEEP and will open a whole new ballgame on some lakes!!!!

 

[TN Larry]

Here is one pro's (Randy Blaukat) perspective on the a rig.

http://www.bassfan.com/opinion_article. ... XRRbxzdnnc

And then Paul Elias's perspective. I wanna say, Paul, tell us how you really feel. He makes some valid points as well. I think that I agree more on his perspective than Blaukat's.

http://www.bassfan.com/opinion_article.asp?ID=197

 

[Unicam]

I sure like my sidescan. Took me awhile to figure it out and know where I need to be throwing. Baitfish are easy to figure out and I can tell a school of Crappie on it now. Still have lots of water time to figure out the rest. I have also used it to find certain spots that produce due to structure where you would never think any is. Sidescan in conjunction with sonar can really get you on the fish quick.

I have had pretty good luck with the Bama Rig, its one of the best tools in my tackle box when used correctly. I just wish I got more time on the water to play with it!