Ban The Alabama Rig Petition

[Chief Grey Bear]

Definitely.

... requires to angler to drift the fly at the same speed of the current rather than the current carrying the fly.

I think I see a great political career in your future.

[jeb]

I will never fish the A-rig, due to the physical demands it puts on your body.

Kinda takes the fun out of it.

It's not as bad as you'd think. I've been throwing it for 3 weeks or so now. First few times, I'd spend hours with it in my hands. I'd guess the entire rig would come in at around 2 ounces. So much larger than anything I'm used to. And I really thought it'd be more a chore to deal with than it actually turned out to be. Easier to retrieve than a deep diving crankbait, but casting does take a little more power. But it's not like I'm sore at the end of the day or anything.

[Quillback]

Yep not too bad to throw, I was lobbing one the other day with a 7' 11" deep cranking rod, rod was a little light for this application, I think with a swimbait rod in the proper weight catagory you could throw these things all day.

BTW, I haven't caught one darn fish yet with this "magic" technique, though I did see Jeb catch 1/2 dozen in about 15 minutes one morning.

[Feathers and Fins]

Jeb has them named, I bet he pulls up and puts one of them boxes in the water they called Flipper with and the bass come to him and say KISS ME KISS ME, lol... Anyway tomorrow will see me killing those evil Geese with the Bows and possibly throwing an A-RIG for stripers, Im thinking Horse Shoe bend and Montne area.

Anyone seen any stripers or geese around those areas?

[sean c]

BASS has already banned the A-rig.

My understanding and I could be completely wrong is bass only banned this at its highest trail(elite series?)

CS the petition probably won't carry much weight with the orginizations that run these tournaments but I'm sure an uprising from their pro anglers and sponsors would. Also are these organazations going to avoid the states that ban this rig? Are the majority of the sponsors for or against this thing? What about the pro anglers fishing?

I don't tournament bass fish and these rigs are legal in my state(Oklahoma) but if I did I would find a trail that banned these if for no other reason than closness in gap between everyone in the tournament. If everyone is catching limits on these things and the difference between 1st and 20th is a pound at every weigh in that sounds pretty boring.

[Guest csfishinfool]

Yes BASS has only banned it from top level competition, and the classic.

The petition was actually started by a FLW Tour pro. And if your read through the people who have signed it you will see many big name pros from all over the country.

Thats kinda in question about what they are going to do in certain states that do not allow this thing, or certain countrys that don't have a hook restriction. For example when they go to Falcon Lake in Texas that shares a border with old Mexico.

I was told by FLW that it is going to be up to the co-anglers, and pro's to regulate themselves. For example in missouri on table rock your are only allowed to rig three with hooks, but in AR you can have five. The honor system at this level of competition with 100's of thousands of dollars at stake seems strange to me.

There are some pro's who are against it, many of who have signed this petition.

As for sponsors im sure that if they produce a bait that can be rigged on the alabama rig they are all for it.

The crazy thing about this rig is that you can really use your imagination and rig any bait that uses a single hook to it.

That being said, five baits is going to outfish one every time.

As far as regulations per state go, there are some out there that don't have a restriction on number of hooks, So where do we draw the line. How many hooks should be permitted? If five is not too many, then how about ten, or twenty?

[sean c]

As far as regulations per state go, there are some out there that don't have a restriction on number of hooks, So where do we draw the line. How many hooks should be permitted? If five is not too many, then how about ten, or twenty?

The organazations could put a max on hooks say five or four or abide by state laws when it is less than the max allowed. The interesting question is should you be allowed to have hookless baits on the rig in addition to the ones with hooks.

Talking to friends who are big into the tournament scene here in Okie it should be pretty interesting. They say the winning weights in the winter jackpots have gone up 8lbs since December and if Alabama rigs stay legal here they will be fishing them darn near 100% of the time this year. They also stated they rather fish in tourneys that they are banned in but they made no mention of boycotting tourneys where they are not. One did say he heard the GRDA was considering trying to get a ban on these things that would be interesting if the biggest tourney lake in Oklahoma bans these things and the rest doesn't.

The other interesting thing is to see what effect this has on these lakes after a season of this when 200 boats a weekend are catching 20 or 30bass instead of 8 or 9 or whatever they catch nowon lakes like Grand Table Rock etc.

Again I have no dog in the fight but this rig has caused quite a mess.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

You got to stand for something or youll fall for anything. If you have a problem with it, don't support it or those who use it. I have not heard about this until these forums. I am not sure that I would use it. I have been known to use multiple hooks at different levels while catfishing. ( I know the origin of this post is due to competition for bass) I fish mostly for fun. There have been times when I have caught alot of fish in one day, and while I remember those days, I enjoy the days when I catch just a few hit and miss. I have enjoyed seeing the thoughts posted on this topic. Please obey the laws in your state. The conservation departments do alot to make sure that we will have these opportunities for a long time. When we do not obey the laws, bad things happen, even if we don't get caught.

[Guest csfishinfool]

The organazations could put a max on hooks say five or four or abide by state laws when it is less than the max allowed. The interesting question is should you be allowed to have hookless baits on the rig in addition to the ones with hooks.

Talking to friends who are big into the tournament scene here in Okie it should be pretty interesting. They say the winning weights in the winter jackpots have gone up 8lbs since December and if Alabama rigs stay legal here they will be fishing them darn near 100% of the time this year. They also stated they rather fish in tourneys that they are banned in but they made no mention of boycotting tourneys where they are not. One did say he heard the GRDA was considering trying to get a ban on these things that would be interesting if the biggest tourney lake in Oklahoma bans these things and the rest doesn't.

The other interesting thing is to see what effect this has on these lakes after a season of this when 200 boats a weekend are catching 20 or 30bass instead of 8 or 9 or whatever they catch nowon lakes like Grand Table Rock etc.

Again I have no dog in the fight but this rig has caused quite a mess.

yeah its going to be something to see what comes of this. Certain states also allow you to only use one lure. And number of hooks doesn't matter. So say your throwing the rig with five baits on it, with only one having a hook. You would still be in violation of the law.

Another point to bring up, is in tournament competition your are allowed to keep five bass in your possesion and cull one fish at a time. The state limit for bass is six. Tournament limit is five. This gap allows you to cull legally. Now the question has been asked if you have five in your boat and triple on the rig, that puts your two fish over the legal limit. A clear answer has not been made about that also.

[tjulianc]

Another point to bring up, is in tournament competition your are allowed to keep five bass in your possesion and cull one fish at a time. The state limit for bass is six. Tournament limit is five. This gap allows you to cull legally. Now the question has been asked if you have five in your boat and triple on the rig, that puts your two fish over the legal limit. A clear answer has not been made about that also.

That isn't a tournament issue, but a state regulation issue. Its no different than if an angler fishing for sport and some food caught 6 legal bass and kept them, but still kept fishing just for fun. As long as the angler immediately releases each new bass he/she is legal to still fish, right?

With MDC being a permissive code I'd think you could still cull.