I'm usually right there when something new or unique hits the bass fishing news, but I missed checking the news yesterday and missed the breaking story of a new rig called the Alabama rig. It's been out for a while, but I have never seen it and I am like most of the field at the FLW Tour Open on Lake Guntersville who missed the news are are sitting behind four of the Top 5 in the Event who were using this crazy new rig. I saw the news stories on FLWOutdoors, BassFan and Rich's Bassin' Blog and had to post something.
So what is the Alabama Rig?
Photo: TheAlabamaRig.com
It's basically a rig where you can fish five baits at once. I have been using the "Donkey Rig" (the double fluke rig) lately and have been catching fish, but this rig makes the Donkey Rig look like a Donkey. I am just wondering how far this trend will go. Maybe I can rig up 10 flukes at once and catch ten fish at once and start culling after one cast of the rig.
What are your thoughts on this new rig? Check out the video below for some more info.
2 comments:
Its hella cool!
The Bass College
FINALLY!! SOMEBODY WHO IS IN CHARGE WITH SOME COMMON SENSE!! I AM BURNING MY BASS LIFE MEMBER CARD IN THE MORNING AND NEVER GOING BACK!!
FLW
20.Jan.2012 by Kathy Fennel
The Alabama Rig has taken the bass-fishing world by storm. Every discussion about its use seems to generate an emotional response unlike anything I’ve seen in my more than 30 years in the sport.
For every passionate plea that it be banned from tournaments, there is an equally passionate plea that it be allowed. No matter which side of the debate you are on, one thing is undeniable: The Alabama Rig has generated a level of excitement and interest in bass fishing unlike anything that has come before.
Since their inception, tournaments have been the spawning ground for lure, equipment and technique innovations that help recreational anglers catch more and bigger fish. It’s the reason fans tune in to our television shows, visit our websites, read our magazines and attend our events. There are millions of bass anglers out there with an insatiable appetite for cutting-edge information that will make them better at their sport. To argue that the Alabama Rig and other castable umbrella rigs be banned from tournaments is to believe that we’ve finally reached the end of innovation; that the great equalizer has been found; that the only thing separating novice anglers from the world’s top professionals is a weighted head with five wire leaders and swimbaits. There is nothing more to learn.
We believe professional anglers deserve more credit than that. We believe their skill and intuition will not be undercut by a baitfish-imitating technique that helps less experienced anglers catch fish when otherwise they might not. Will it force some pros to elevate their game and adapt? Of course it will. Just like GPS, side-imaging sonar, sight-fishing, shallow-water anchors and countless lure, line and rod innovations have done over the years. Buzzbaits and ChatterBaits were once considered radical, as were flipping and sight-fishing. But they are all simply tools of the trade now. The same will hold true for Alabama Rigs. It’s not the end of fishing as we know it.
Anglers are still held to a daily five-fish limit. Tournaments are still catch-and-release. Our conservation ethic has not changed. We’ve taken the additional step of contacting wildlife officials in each state hosting an event in every FLW circuit to urge them to study the effects of castable umbrella rigs on live release rates. If conservation issues are discovered, we will reevaluate our rules accordingly. For now, we are leaving that in the capable hands of the experts within each state, and castable umbrella rigs will be permitted in our 2012 tournaments.
Sincerely,
Kathy Fennel
President, Operations Division
FLW Outdoors
http://thebasscollege.com
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