Alabama Rigs
By Capt. Craig Price
Since bass pro Paul Elias used an Alabama rig to blow away the field and win an FLW event on Lake Guntersville in October 2011, Alabama rigs (A-rigs) have enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity and use. As with almost all “latest and greatest” discoveries, the excitement has plateaued in the last couple years, but these rigs are still widely used and are still effective at catching fish.
In case anyone is still not familiar with A-rigs, www.bassmaster.com says “the Alabama rig is not a lure, but a device that allows an angler to deliver multiple lures on a single cast. The Alabama rig devised by Andy Poss…..is a cast-able umbrella rig.”
I primarily troll A-rigs because I often have too many anglers on my boat to safely cast them. But I wanted to learn more about when and how to cast them to catch bass, stripers, and hybrids. So I consulted Shane Lehew, who is a young, accomplished pro bass angler and guide from Charlotte. In addition to being well versed in fishing these devices, Shane and his father operate a company, www.shanesbaits.com, that manufactures a line of multi-arm rigs along with jigheads and other accessories.
Shane’s tips on how to best rig, apply, and fish multi-lure equipment are summarized below.
- Keep the overall weight of the rig as light as possible. Try 1/16 oz. jig heads and paddle tail swim baits that mimic the forage. Even with rigs that utilize 5-9 jigs, the overall weight shouldn’t exceed 3 oz.
- Jig heads with springs help hold the soft plastics in place, and allow for weedless rigging.
- Shane typically fishes a 7’ or longer medium to heavy action rod with 20 lb. fluorocarbon line.
- The most widely recognized opportunity to effectively fish A-rigs is when casting to suspended fish that are focused on large schools of forage in 20+ ft. of water, an ideal scenario for fall and winter. Your casts should allow the rigs to fall into or near the feeding zone, then use a medium speed retrieve.
- A 3 oz. rig should fall about 1.5 ft./sec.
- Adjust the speed, or stop and start the rig to vary the presentation. Fish more slowly as water temps fall past 50F.
Shane also fishes the rigs slowly over brush and rock piles when the fish are deeper and less active. He suggests rigging the first layer of jigs weedless to minimize hangups. - Weedless rigs can also be cast into shallow water when fishing banks and piers.
Here’s a few of my own pointers to add to Shane’s recommendations. If fluorocarbon line is too expensive for your budget, try 20-30 lb. braid. One can get plenty of distance casting 30# braid, and the extra strength is useful when recovering snagged rigs. In addition to paddle tail swim baits, I’ve had success on LKN using really small baits like Lit’l Fishies and Gulp Alive Mullet curlytail bodies. Fluke type baits may be more effective in cold water due to a more minimal swimming action.
A technique that intrigues me is power reeling which I first encountered via some Lake Lanier guides who use it to target stripers in deep water (50+ ft.). The technique is pretty simple – when you’re marking suspended fish, drop the rig to the bottom, tighten up your slack, then reel the rig vertically to the surface with a medium to fast retrieve. There’s something about the lures swimming upward past an unsuspecting hybrid or striper’s nose that triggers a reaction strike. Keep a firm grip on the rod because the strikes are vicious, and multiple hookups are common.
Finally, it amuses me that all my life I learned and practiced stealthy and quiet approaches to catching fish. Small tackle, invisible leaders, even quiet casts were among the measures paramount to success. Now we’re throwing antennas at ‘em that sound like bricks hitting the water. Plus A-rigs have all kinds of visible metal arms, clasps and swivels. But they catch fish, often two or more at a time! The rise of Alabama rigs is just another reminder that in the fishing world old dogs can and should learn new tricks.
Captain Craig Price – Writes articles about fishing
www.folkn.com ~ 704-996-0946
Capt. Craig Price is locally born and raised, and has been fishing the Catawba River and its impoundments since the 1960’s. As his guide business has grown, his area of operations has also grown to include numerous freshwater lakes in NC & SC, plus inshore saltwater charters along the coasts of both states. Beginners to master anglers, live bait to artificial – Capt. Craig enjoys showing his anglers when, where, and how to catch them all.