Breaking Down the Alabama Rig

Breaking Down the A-Rig
The craze of the A-Rig has spread to other parts of the country with Oklahoma being the latest with a state record bass of 14.13 lbs. caught on the A-Rig. There has also been several fish on Guntersville caught over 10 lbs. recently with one over 13 lbs. weighted in during a local tournament. In Tennessee there was a tournament won recently with a total weight of 44 lbs. All caught on their 5 prong version with only 3 hooks allowed. The stringer included two 10 plus pound fish plus 24 lbs. of 3 smaller fish. Can you imagine a 44 lb. stringer; it just wow’s me to think about it!

Even though for me this winter the A-rig has not been as productive as other baits, this has been of my own choosing not to fish it as much because of the danger of all the hooks in the boat with customers. I also think that the different manufacturers of the A-rig are starting to create different versions of it so the bait can be fished at different depths with more flash and for a variety of fish species. Many of the manufacturers have taken weight out of the bait and reduced the size of the wire and added willow leaf blades for flash, to improve presentation.

The other change is that the A-rig is being fished in more types of cover and at different depths than the original use presented. Anglers have found that the bass have not moved to the bridges as they did last year. I believe this is a by-product of the rig beating up the fish and changing some of their normal migration paths. Allowing anglers to move to creeks, shallow water, points and river ledge areas to find the fish that will hit it. The good news is that as the migration path changed the A-rig manufacturers were ahead of the curve and did many of the things stated above to allow the bait to take on more water other than the 20 to 30 ft. drops we all fished last year. The thing that hasn’t changed on the A-rig is it is a young man’s bait as most average and older fisherman are physically challenged to fish with it!

Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
Email: bassguide@comcast.net
Phone: 256 759 2270
Captain Mike Gerry