There is no doubt the Alabama Rig (called “A” rig) is sweeping the bass fishing scene by storm and it”s especially popular at Clear Lake.
The last three bass tournaments held on the lake have been dominated by the A rig. For example, the winning team during the WONBASS team tournament on Saturday featured the father and son duo of Jose and Jackson Juarez of Kelseyville with 33 pounds, and all of that was caught on the A rig.
On Sunday, another father and son team, Frank and Joe Pomilia of Ukiah, won the American Bass team tournament with an incredible 36 pounds that included an 11-pounder and a 10-pounder. They said they caught their fish on the A rig and by casting swimbaits.
In fact, at least 75 percent of the fishermen during both tournaments said they caught their fish on the A rig. Some of the teams reported catching between 30-40 fish per day using the rig. One team caught 21 bass by 9:30 a.m. using nothing but the A rig.
The rig is so popular and effective that a number of fishermen are calling for it to be banned from both bass tournaments and recreational fishing. Four states – New Hampshire, Ohio, Tennessee and Minnesota – now ban the A rig completely from all waters in those states. Bassmasters, the largest tournament organization in the country, also prohibits use of the A rig in all its major tournaments.
The Alabama rig is technically not a lure, but an apparatus that allows an angler to attach and fish up to five lures on a single line. The possibility exists of catching more than one fish at a time. It is basically a castable “umbrella” rig, consisting of a hard body with a line-tie, followed by five wire strands in a fanned-out design, each with a snap swivel at the end. Anglers can attach a variety of lures to each swivel for a look that is meant to mimic a school of baitfish.
California regulations state that only a maximum of three lures with hooks may be used, however, teaser lures with no hooks can also be attached to the rig. The reason Bassmasters gave for banning the rig is because it claims the rig removes the skill from fishing in its megabucks tournaments. It”s basically just a cast-and-reel type of apparatus.
Whereas most of the attention on the rig is focused on bass tournaments, there are also fishermen modifying it for other types of fishing. During a fishing radio show out of the Bay Area aired Saturday, a fisherman said he was going to modify a rig for halibut fishing. Other fishermen plan on using it for albacore fishing and it is already being used for crappie fishing in Texas where fishermen report catching up to five crappie at a time. Trout fishermen also say they plan on using it to troll a variety of lures.
Several bass fishermen have told me it will be a killer with spawning bass. All you have to do is cast the rig with its three lures and two teasers in the shallows and drag it past bedded bass and it will be nonstop action. The big question is will harm the fishery? The answer is still out on that. The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) hasn”t taken an official stand on the rig with the exception of saying it”s illegal to have more than three lures with hooks on a single line.
I doubt many tournament organizations will ban the use of the rig in their tournaments because the organizations want as many fishermen as they can attract and the main attraction is being able to catch a lot of bass. That”s why Clear Lake is so popular among the tournament sponsors. As long as it is permitted the tournament fishermen will use the rig.
As one well-known tournament fisherman told me, “You have to use the rig to compete or you may as well not enter the tournament.”
