Castmasters Not Allowing A-Rig

[Stump bumper]

I haven't fished with that club in two years but wondering if there was anyone on here who had thoughts about this new rule.

I used to fish it when we were lucky to have 6 boats.

Seems the tempers rage both on the boats I was fishing on and at weigh in as the money went up so I just don't fish tournaments anymore because the fun went out of it the first time my partner told me "we are not out here for fun." lol

[Feathers and Fins]

No clue amigo, I quit tourney fishing years ago, mostly because the competitor in me started to take the fun out of fishing but also a large part of the (ego's and attitudes of others in it) It just became very obvious to me the people were not fishing for love of sport and fun of fishing but to stroke their ego's and the money.

[Stoneroller]

I'm a firm believer of angler skill over dredging half a tacklebox of lures through the water. Not to mention the completely retarded rules governing what constitutes a 'hook'. 1 angler, 1 rod, 1 lure. If you need more than that are you really an angler, or just a fisherman? And isn't tournament angling supposed to be the pinnacle and the patrons of the sport? There is a new steroid too, it's worse than the a rig, it's called Hydrowave. Who really wants to be the Barry Bonds of fishing? <ahem KVD, looking in your direction>

[Quillback]

I was out walking the dam on Lake Windsor here in Bella Vista yesterday, there was a guy fishing the dam throwing the rig. I asked him how he was doing and he replied that he had only caught a couple of small ones earlier in the day. I've talked to several people fishing the rig at Windsor in the last couple of weeks and none of them have done very well, Windsor is about 400 acres, has a good bass population but gets heavy pressure. One guy throwing the rig all day can pretty much cover the entire lake. I'm thinking that the rig has become over exposed to the bass and now they have become "conditioned" to it. It worked well earlier this winter but not so well now, next time I fish there I probably won't fish it. I think in certain situations the rig will still produce, but it's days of glory are over.

As far as tourneys, I don't care if they use it or not.

[jeb]

What Quillback said. It is, unfortunately, slowing way down for the A-rig. I'm just happy I was an early adopter and got in on the good times with it.

[Stump bumper]

I guess we should be happy that there won't be a 100 boats throwing 200 A-rigs every weekend on Beaver. Maybe the other clubs will follow the lead and since there will not be any money involved in investing time and effort in using one, tournament fishermen will not be throwing them for practice and it will get good again.

IMO the slow down on the A-rig bite right now is due to the craws starting to come out and still being slow and easy protein for pre spawn bass. They always seem to switch to craws this time of year even though there are plenty of shad around the shad are harder to catch and don't provide the fat content the big slow crawfish do, JMHO. That is why I think the wiggle wart bite turns on...

[Feathers and Fins]

Stump I have to agree with you. Though all my fish came on shad or fly yesterday most of what was being spit up by the walleye and bass were 2.5 to 3'' craws. The stripers were full of shad however. I still wish AGFC would stock trout in beaver

[Quillback]

I don't know if I agree with you guys, a couple of weeks ago I could not get bit on the A-rig over at Windsor, switched to jerkbaits and caught 8 or 9 bass. Jerkbaits don't look like craws to me

But Beaver is a different situation of course. But I've seen spots spit up craws in January when the A-rig was working real well.

[spahog]

Fishermen for Christ banned it too. Watersports Association (Chris Johnson) is the only well-known series on Beaver that has not banned it to my knowledge.

While I have no problem with it being banned, I hope that all multi-rig baits are banned (i.e. frontrunner on a spook, double fluke, carolina rig with a jig, etc.) The thing that bothers me about the ban is that the majority of people voting against the rig are posturing by saying they are voting against it for conservation, etc. reasons. In reality they are voting against it because it either takes away some of their advantage or they can't catch fish on it. I wish they'd just be honest about why they don't want it. Castmasters is definately not concerned with conservation. I have fished it for the last 5 years and only miss two or three tournaments a year. Last year near the peak, they had approximately 75 boats without flighting takeoffs/weigh-ins, requiring fish to be weighed in their bags, providing weigh tanks, or even renting out the pavilion. So the weigh lines would be huge with everyone's bags of fish sitting on the hot parking lot pavement killing fish. Needless to say, I was happy to see Chris start the Watersports Association this year.

The A rig bite has definately slowed down for me, but I think it has more to do with conditions than the fish being "conditioned" to the A rig.

[Feathers and Fins]

Spahog, That is the biggest line of horse manure I have heard in a long time. I know this may catch flack but { in the name of conservation ) is a load! I cannot think of one other species where it is legal to take a game animal durring the breeding / nesting time, not deer, not waterfowl, not upland birds and the list goes on. I agree with why you believe they are banning it, but to use conservation as a an excuse shows just how much bull it really is. If they are so concerned about "conservation" then ban tournaments durring the spawn. Durring summer have the weigh in scale on the dock or shore and weigh the fish as the boat comes in then immidiately release the fish. That is conservation while still allowing a tournament.