Or should I say," California Rig"? To make this bait legal here in CA it would have some alterations. But I can see this being very effective on a certain spotted bass lake right now. :)

To fish is to live!

Does it work with square bill crankbaits?

The rig does bring up a nice grey area in the DFG rules. You clearly can't use 5 swimbaits on this rig that all have hooks on them. But if you removed the hooks from two it's unclear if this still constitutes 5 lures.

Somewhere, Jerry Rago is laughing.

D'oh! Sacto John also posted about the AL Rig in the "New Product Introductions and Product Availability" section.

A number of years ago I saw a swimbait rig in Bass West magazine which had a small Basstrix soft baitfish up the line ahead of a Stocker Trout. The idea was to create an image of a trout pursuing a minnow and not paying attention to what may be lurking below. I thought you could do the same thing with a trolling umbrella rig. Rig small hookless soft plastics around the umbrella with a larger bait (with hooks) following a short distance behind.

Too many ideas out there and not enough time! :-)

Tim

>Somewhere, Jerry Rago is laughing.

NO, somewhere he is crying, but working hard to bring you his California version, The Rago BaitBall, fully rigged with mini's.

Just as Nico said, 3 baits with hooks and two without. A lure is only a lure if it has a hook, otherwise it's a decoy, so i've been told.;)

I'll post pictures as soon I get the O.K.

Also, I can see this thing killing at those giant spot lakes.

Love to see the pics. Is Jerry sad because the 'secret' is out on castable umbrella rigs or because he didn't try selling them sooner?

As similar as this Alabama rig is to an umbrella rig, you have to give some credit to the guy who invented it because it puts the baits on the wires with no leaders and it's castable. Could be wrong, but I don't recall seeing those two features on any rig ever before.

I hope TW gets some kinda rig in stock pretty soon. I want a triple hookup on striper this fall at the Delta.

>Love to see the pics. Is Jerry sad because the 'secret' is
>out on castable umbrella rigs or because he didn't try selling
>them sooner?
>
>As similar as this Alabama rig is to an umbrella rig, you have
>to give some credit to the guy who invented it because it puts
>the baits on the wires with no leaders and it's castable.
>Could be wrong, but I don't recall seeing those two features
>on any rig ever before.
>
>I hope TW gets some kinda rig in stock pretty soon. I want a
>triple hookup on striper this fall at the Delta.

Yes, because the "secret" is out and Yes, because he didn't try selling them sooner. He never want to sell castable ones because he is not much of a caster.

I give ALL the credit to the guy in Alabama, but Jerry says when he was with Osprey, Steve Harner built a castable version very similar to the Alabama rig, no leaders. Jerry wouldn't let him sell it, so now he is trying to play catch up.

Stripers?? What about a triple on bass at Clear Lake, or Bullards? YES???

Retail $24.99



http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/8841-photo.JPG

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Where are they available? The fish head is cool.

So I don't see how this is legal in CA. would you only rig 3 of the arms?

Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have-yous

5 baits, only 3 with hooks.

When can we buy?

I thought the rule was three artificial baits period

2.00. Fishing Methods –General.

(a) Except as otherwise authorized, all fish may be taken only by angling with one closely attended rod and line or one hand line with not more than three hooks nor more than three artificial lures (each lure may have three hooks attached) attached thereto.

Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have-yous

Someone on another forum said they discussed it with DFG and they said only lures with hooks count, you can have as many "teasers" as you want.

But if you're worried, talk to DFG. Fishing forums are very bad sources of info for regulation specifics :p

Its weird my fascination with this rig as I do not think I would even throw one, except maybe for Stripers on the delta. Maybe this rig would work on spotted bass lake when they are casing pond smelt, I don't know?

Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have-yous

So, I thought Tackle Warehouse was going to get the first order this week, but they want swivels and snaps added. Jerry would like to know what you guys think, would you like to put your own hardware on, or would you rather have it ready to rig??
I would like to choose my own hardware IMO such as split rings vs. snaps and swivels. If Jerry has to add hardware this could change the retail to $29.99.
That said, I believe Monster and Bait Barn will receive their orders sometime this week. Those orders will NOT have hardware. I hope you LIKE!!!



http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/8842-baitball.jpg

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At this point I think people just want Alabama rigs period, hardware doesn't really enter into it.

The trout pattern ones are interesting. I'm curious if the rig is weighted in a way to make the trout head run upright?

The only improvement I could see would be the option of having a much smaller head, and wire which has more of a matte finish. But I have no idea if any of that really matters. I'll find out soon enough :)

First off, the Rig ain't no joke. I don't care California or not, you guys better get into this Rig. I guarantee you this rig will catch them good in CA and will be winning $ in short order. 3 baits or 5 baits and/or teasers, it's likely gonna be 'case by case' basis depending on tournament directors and tournaments and states, so just be ready and flexible.

Rafael, Jerry's rig looks killer, I'm just confused about what he expects to put BEHIND a trout head? What are the baits he's stringing up? I can see stringing up 3 weedless 6" Hudds for example, because they won't foul, can run extremely close together, and offer a good rigging with the line tie on the nose of the bait (vs. the top hook style). I don't know what of Jerry's baits he suggests fishing behind that rig? To me, its the baits that are fished BEHIND the RIG that is most important. Baitfish don't chase a larger predator fish. Trout swim in small schools, I'm just curious about a 'castable' rig that involved 3 or more BIGBAITs...that might require some super heavy artillery to lob. Trolling, the sky is the limit with size and rigging. Casting and castable only. I think a mistake of the rigs I'm seeing guys create is too big a 'head' on the thing. Make it compliment the bait ball thing, not contradict it, with the bait chasing a teaser head that could eat them.

The Alabama Rig out this way (stuck on Kentucky Lake trying to get a lower unit replaced), is about creating a small bait ball. 5 baits, 10 vortexes and buddy, let me tell you the fish will eat this rig. Don't get all bubbah biased, stupid Southern fish do this and do that. Kentucky Lake is TOUGH fishing, don't get confused it was NOT some slug fest. Not easy out there, and this rig caught fish no other bait could..suspended fish with millions of natural baits to eat at their hearts content. My buddy Casey Martin, the CoAngler Champion at Guntersville, said Paul Elias was like, dude, he couldn't catch the fish he won the Tour Event with on a deep crank, blade, spoon, nothin else....only the Rig. Catching otherwise uncatchables. G'ville is as pressured as anywhere, if not more...no it isn't gin clear water, but CA isn't gin clear. Probably not a great rig for Lake Dixon, but a killer on El Capitan, I bet.

I'd embrace this, not fight it or snicker at it. This thing will catch fish that you otherwise won't catch. 10 vortexes, 5 baits, and a new presentation at the surface or sunk out somewhere slow rolled deep. They eat it off the wire, its crazy, and its fished on braid! I'm hearing how they are catching them, everywhere in the country on it, guys who sent buddies a rig to fish in TX or Georgia or wherever. Tournament rules and state DFG rules will be reacting to shape the future here, but just from a pure fish catching conversation, holy smokes, get into it.



http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/8843-Hammer-Alabama-rig.jpg

southernswimbait.com
BigBait Fishing in the South

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Oh yeah, I expect heavy duty barrel swivels and snaps, come OEM. Even with a Rig that throws 3" Hammers, with the heavy mono or braid main line (this thing a big rig, fishes like a bigbait), you can't funk around with hardware/terminal tackle. Another mistake I'm seeing out there is too small of snaps on guys' fabricated ones. Good snaps and barrels are hard to come by off the shelf. I prefer rigs come with the hardware.

southernswimbait.com
BigBait Fishing in the South

The head of the Bait Ball looks BIG but it's only 1 3/4 inches. Jerry designed the rig around the Mini Byron, 5 1/2 inches. Here is a picture to help you gage it's size.

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/8856-mini_byron_head.JPG

C'mon BIG BAITERS..........It's really not that big. Is it???

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Rafael: No, its not that big, it's just that the trout head on Jerry's rigs makes it appeal to throwing multi-bigbaits, creating a school of trout vs. creating a school of baitfish (2" threadfins is about the size of the bait they are eating on the TN River right now) at first glance. Now, the head and color on the rig you show with the baitfish/shad, absolutely, sign me up, I know it will work. I still am in the mindset its the 3-6 baits (saw a rig with 6 baits on it yesterday at the Cabin in Kuttawa), is most critical and important. The head is just to mask whatever you are using for a line tie and how you have your wires twisted and mashed together. A good 'head' in my opinion would be another bait, or spinner, or combination of skirt + spinner....a teaser looking thing, infront of the ball of bait, vs. a full blown larger baitfish. I'm seeing some rigs with no head whatsoever, just a large crimp or sleeve to hold all the wires together and serve as a foundation for a line tie.

Jerry is sitting on a wealth of information about trolling and umbrella rigs and rigging, but I don't know to what extent any of this has been used in the field---CASTING umbrella rigs. I know I'd love to hear what Jerry has to say about umbrella rigs, and certainly as they relate to bigbaits, but as soon as the conversation goes to TROLLING, most of us lose interest quickly because that is outlawed the world over in tournament fishing. Trolling, I'd love to get into it as a trophy hunter, but castable is what most of us care to adapt and focus around. My head has been spinning about throwing multiple 8" Hudds or 6" Hudds and hardbaits too. Multirigs will undergo scrutiny in the coming months from the tournament perspective, but my mindset is like hey, where ever or whenever they are legal, you better be able to adjust. Also, fishing 2 baits simultaneously is clearly accepted everywhere. Defining baits vs. teasers and leveraging spinners and skirts, etc etc etc is what I'm talking about. So, if you can fish with 2 baits that have hooks in CA, and the rest of your rig be spinners, teasers and/or hookless swimbaits, there has to be a position (ie, the longest, trailing 2 baits with hooks) that gets bit more regularly or ways to better your odds based on where you put the baits with hooks in your rig. Colors, sizes, etc all variables too.

The sky is the limit with multirigs, deep or shallow and what baits get put on the rig, and what adaptations you can make to make it 'legal' from a tournament perspective. And of course the bigbait implications and multibait rigs.

Here is a 'double' from official practice on Kentucky Lake, on a home made version of the Alabama Rig. Notice, I had a 5" Hammer in the center, and 3 of the 3" Hammers as the outside wires on the rig. The fish both ate the smaller baits. Much to my chagrin, the Alabama Rig people showed up and sold 400 baits to the ENTIRE FIELD at the Everstart Championship. So, after working tirelessly to make my own and paying ridiculous overnight shipping fees and overpriced baits in short supply fees, the entire field got a chance to buy up to 3 rigs, at $25 list price each, after the tournament meeting!!!. I've never had a manufacturer show up and outfit the entire field with the bait of the day (rigs in this case), and it mattered. I bet 50% of the Top 20 didn't own a rig until that very moment. Everyplace I fished on Day 1 and the first part of Day 2 (lost my lower unit around 10am), both the Pro and Co were lobbing the rigs around. I was fishing in Kentucky, so 5 way rigs were raining in Kentucky. The event was won with the Rig, and it is an interesting look at tournament swimbait fishing because as the event progressed, and the field got cut down, the bite for the Rig and the 5 baits got better for the guys still out there. Not to mention the wind and weather let up, allowing a more run&gun style of fishing. Day 1 was a nightmare of wind and rain. Day 2 slightly better and so on... Less boats and more access and ability to run to places like dam walls, bridge pilings, rip rap points, marinas breakwalls, etc, just classic swimbait spots. (ie, Jim Tutt). Dan Moorehead had 19 pounds the last day with only 9 other boats to compete with. Dan is from Paducah, and believe me he knows where they live. His Prilosec boat and truck at KenLake ramp 3 of the days I was there in practice = fishing the North end. Kentucky Lake is supposed to get won down near New Johnsonville this time of year, but since it was TN water only 3 baits were legal, and the North End has the quality to win and the Rig provided the means to catch the uncatchables, it all came together. Dan has been throwing the Rig for months and knew what time it was well in advance of Paul Elias and the Tour Event on G'ville. I attempted to start Day 1 on the Kentucky Dam, only to have 2 other tournament boats outrun me there (earlier flights) both of whom fishing the Rig right on the sweet spots. That was how my event started. It ended with a blown lower unit 40 miles from takeoff on Day 2. You only needed 12+ pounds a day to make the Top 20 cut. I had 11-11 the first day and was right there. Day 1 I couldn't run around much due to horrible wind. Day 2, my lower unit put me behind the 8 ball at 10am. I knew I had trouble brewing, but I was 50 miles from takeoff. Tried to baby it, but it was doomed. I had 10 spots I didn't even get to run to in the tournament. 2 weeks for pre-practice down the tubes. Fudge. Tournament fishing, just have to roll with the punches sometimes, and 2011 has been a bunch of that for me!













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southernswimbait.com
BigBait Fishing in the South

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Yo Matt - thanks as always for the on-the-ground insight :)

I'd prefer if the rig came with hardware. The question is whether it should be a snap swivel or just a snap?

It seems like if you're going to have a twist problem it will be at the main line tie, not on the individual lures. So maybe all that's needed is the snap.

I'm similarly confused by the trout head as the center of the rig. If I was throwing three hudds, OK cool! But three 3in hammers would look odd. Jerry probably just wants to catch big fish :)

The rig I want is a super finesse rig with the smallest head possible and light wire, maybe titanium even. Load that thing up and drag it around in 40 feet for spotted bass so I can get my limit faster and get back to throwing real lures.

"The rig I want is a super finesse rig with the smallest head possible and light wire, maybe titanium even. Load that thing up and drag it around in 40 feet for spotted bass so I can get my limit faster and get back to throwing real lures."

Ditto Rob! I wish I could make these things. The one I would want would have a place for a willow leaf blade center line just behind the head and then three/four arms coming out off the sides for swimbaits/grubs. I would like to have the ability to switch out the blades to match depth and water clairity. I want to be able to imitate a ball of pond smelt for Folsom/Oroville/McClure

Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have-yous

Checkout the the lower left hand corner of the November 2011 Alabama Outdoor News magazine. My copy arrived a week ago when the discussion started on the rig.

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/8854-AON_Nov_2011.jpg


I had been thinking of how to make a garage version but I haven't had a chance to stop at a hobby shop to look at different wire sizes. Titanium is beyond my skill set so stainless will have to do. Does anybody want to do a little fatigue analysis to determine how many fish could be caught before catastrophic failure? :P

If nothing else, I may just scare the hell out of the shore bound trout anglers with my whirling dervish of death which would deploy Roland's Helicopter Lures on Rob's baby crib mobile idea. }(

Tim

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If you rig Big Hammers on it, should it be called an Alabama Hammer sandwich? lol

If you're in California and you only rig 3 lures with hooks in them, which two do you leave the hooks out of? What about spinnerbait blades, where do they fit in?

How long until some enterprising individual comes up with a specialty rod for this technique? I'm picturing the Dobyns Alabama Meat Launcher.

Will the reel come with a line counter on it?

You haven't lived till you've snagged a spreader bar in a big tree or grass bed. The amount of grass you can pull up on these setups is impressive. My personal best is two anchor ropes, with two anchors attached, in one day.

True story: After using spreaders trolling on and off for years, I've never caught a fish on one. This Alabama rig is cool because it's castable and the baits run tight together, but I think many will be sad when they have a hard time getting bit on it in CA.

There's a time and a place for these rigs, and when it's on - it's on. Guntersville must have lined up something special. But this ain't the end of bass fishing as we know it :)

Thanks Tim for remembering my rig. My friends called it the "Rogers Rig"

Non boaters tossing big ol DD22's off the back deck already keep me on my toes. This thing will be straight up scary.

Well I had some extra spinnerbait forms lying around and fiddled a bid and made my own A-Rig. Three swimbaits ans a willowleaf in the center. Tossed it in the river and to my surprise it swims great and looks good. I try it, who knows I might even catch fish on it.

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/380372_10150394963509513_856684512_8255564_251919561_n.jpg

Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have-yous