bigbassctchr101

I use 12lb mono and flouro a lot.It doesn't bother me a bit to throw 10lb if its abrasion resistant. I'll even fish 8lb for smallies if the water calls for it. Usuaully only the mono during the hotter months because there are not many flourescent flouro's. This is for structure fishing mostly (points, humps, etc.) If i'm flipping and pitching into cover I'm usually using a creature style bait but if I was using a jig it would be with 40-50lb braid.

1st Place Finishes 3 Top 10 Finishes 21 2nd Place Finishes 0 Top 20 Finishes 36 3rd Place Finishes 2 Top 50 Finishes 91 He's ok. He does have a lot of money finishes. He's fished 164 tourns and above are his finishes from BASS. I couldn't do it. Many many others couldn't. But when putting him in a category of salesman/fisherman. I personally think he's the best salesman with most non consistent fishing.

I'll agree with Ish Monroe. That guy wouldn't be half as far as he is now without the way he can promote his sponsors. He shows that you don't have to always finish high to be pro fisherman. lol Shaw Grigsby because he loves and believes his sponsors AND he finishes well enough to usually be a name in the money. He has a great mix of personality, loyalty, heart, and talent. KVD has selling down because of performance. I honestly don't think i've ever heard him sound absolutely sincere when talking about how much he believes in a product. The man obviously does, or you wouldn't see him using out of the box strike king lures for the past couple classics and other elite tours. But he just doesn't act out the part to make it sound like he's truly in love with it.lol

I've done this a couple times. Not with a jig, but I could see how it could happen if you didn't take extra caution. There have been times that I wish I could have gotten about 2 inches closer so I could ram my hand in the mouth (and in all the trebles) so I wouldn't have lost the big fish lol I know thats a dumb move, but I know I would do it without thinking it thru in the heat of the moment. lol

I don't fish a swimbait too often, but occasionally I will use a small rubberband. If you put it over the entire bait and have it tight enough to hold the hook in place, it will usually break when you hook a fish (or a snag). But, i think it more securely holds the hook in place until you need it. Just a thought.

Norman used to make them several years ago...late 80's-90's??? They do work at the right time and conditions. I have a couple in about every size, and I use them in schools and alot in the fall.

Man, that would suck. I wonder if you can write the waist off on your taxes lol Most wire baits are made with lead. They do make spinnerbaits and buzzbaits with "hidden weights" with the lead balanced evenly over the shank of the hook and the skirt hides it. It would be tougher to fish a 1ounce spinnerbait everywhere, but this would be a way you could get by with this. Same with jigs, buzzbaits, etc. Just bring your total weighted mass to above 1ounce of lead. If the paint did make any difference it seems like everyone would just paint their lead so no rule would be broken, so it doesn't sound to me like you could get that lucky...but maybe. Brass, tungsten, weighted condensed rubbers, have all been used as substitutes. I hope your tackle doesn't become wasted. Maybe a coating can be added to reduce any lead emissions?

I'm not a reel pro by any means. But I know a lot of people run open ceramic bearings (with no shield) and I know several others that remove only one shield. The only problem I could see is that with only one side on, you have potential for small debris to get in and be trapped in the bearing. But, if you have taken the time to remove a shield anyway, cleaning is probably not an issue for you so you should be fine. The chance of much debris getting in there is slim to start with, coupled with frequent cleanings, I don't think you'll ever have anything to worry about.

We were using this in South Holston, which you can see your jig hoping around in 16ft of water. Everyone always preaches, light line, clear line, little baits. Doesn't make sense 65lb braid and a bunch of wires get bit. But they did...anywhere from less than a foot beside docks, down to thirty foot beside structure.

I'd hope that noone is paying this now. (but I know better) There are plenty of in stock versions made VERY similar to the original for $25 ...

With a catfish that size I grip them with my pointing and middle fingers. I reach up and place both of them around the spurs on each side. Gives you a quick handle and allows you to do what you need to do quickly.

COuld very likely be bluegill, but I also think that a bass could do this as well. If you've ever had the pleasure of seeing a bass eat your worm or jig you can sometimes see it come and grab one end before it inhales the whole thing. I see it a lot with floating worms and flukes, they will grab the tail for about .5 seconds, flare the gills and suck in the rest of the bait. If your losing a pincher, or half of your worm, it is very possible you set the hook too soon and the bait did not enter the fishes mouth completely. As for rigging the bait down on the hook. This is how I fish a weedless wacky rig. I don't usually have a bullet weight on the head though. I have thrown it weightless and thrown it on a c-rig though and it works great. I start rigging the bait about 1/4 down off the head, and the hook point comes out about 3/4 the way down the bait.

The rig does look awesome. It really looks like a school of baitfish, not only because they are swimming side by side. But, just like a flock of birds, this rig will also mimick how the fish will suddenly turn, stop, or speed up just like a school of baitfish will do. There is no doubt of why it does work. Give it some time and there will be some rigs with some type of fiber optic material that is clear instead of flashy metal wires. And there are so many other things I would personally do to tweak them in various situations, but I don't have the time, money, or ability to do any of them lol Just the wish I coulds lol

Dang, a fractured wrist will certainly do it! I am only 25 and I have to wear a brace on my wrist when I go to catching them on big cranks. I found that a flexible (elastic) wrist brace that tries to mobolize your thumb and wrist works the best. It also helped me to hold the blank up higher with my non cranking hand. Turns out that for me you can feel a little better against the blank like that anyway. I have about 6 total cranking configurations, but it all comes down to lighter weighted rods, and slower IPT ratioed reels help me the most. Carpal tunnel and tendonitis almost can take some fun out of fishing but a little pain just goes with the game

OverstockBait is ending their $.99 sale today!

Had a tournament this past weekend and we threw the A-rig a lot. Started off by fishing a single swimbait and my partner was throwing TAR. We boated two fish before I decided to switch. We ended up with 15lbs on day one. We only caught 7 fish. Only 6 of them were keepers. On day two we went out and done the same thing. We caught 3 fish. One keeper. We fished the Virginia and Tennesee side and one had 3 lures on the rig with the other wires hidden and the other had 5 baits rigged up with only one hook in the middle bait (TENNESSEE). Virginia you can use 5 rigged lures. We caught fish both ways. This bait does absolutely no good if you can't find the fish. We did not foul hook one fish. We also did not double or triple not once. The presenatation is to invoke an instinctive feeding response by fish. Its not a reaction bite, its just instinct that these fish are suppossed to attack schools of shad. Thats what this bait does.

I down size on one rig. I have a rig with 14 or 15lb test with a lipless bait and a have the exact same set up with 8 or 10lb test. Has nothing to do with line visibility, but I just like to be able to run something deeper and not have to slow down a whole lot when I'm doing it. It may make a difference on a tough bite though (who knows)

As to not destroy an original post... Are these two methods the best you've found to help the ice build up? Do you do anything with the line guide going into the reel? Do the northerners use the float-n-fly as much for a winter technique as they do down here in Tennessee? *Side note.. man it depresses me to already be talking about winter and fishing in below freezing temps

Are you trying to imply that its colder up there than down here lol JK! I'd take your word for it. I was just basing that one rod, I would say that the constant movement and casting may have had a role in it as well.

I kinda disagree on this as I use a boyd duckett rod to fish my silver buddies. Several winter tournaments never get above freezing conditions here. While the very tip is very prone to icing over quicker than other eyes, the other eyes are less affected. The tip seems to wick away water better than the standard eyes (like a squegee) which will cause more icing on the tip, but less icing on the other eyes. With the bigger eyes its not uncommon to have ice problems almost all the way down (at least 3-4 of them). Usually its an easy fix is dipping your rod into the water and shaking it will allow the ice to clear.This does get very annoying though. Some people spray silicone on the rods to keep this from happening. Other people may have different experiences. But I have fished with that rod all day long and the temp never reach 25 degrees and I still prefer it over other rods.

I never had a problem with the couple of carbonlites I had. I never used the mirco guides though. When fishing in the winter I always throw a spinning rod with my jerkbaits so I can get as much distance with lighter line as possible. I opt for a medium 6'6" for most jerkbaits, the 100's may need a little more rod though. When I can get away with the heavier line I like to use a stout Med Heavy with a soft tip, 6'9" works pretty great for me with the 100 size. I'd like to have a good 6'6" rod for smaller baits though.

I switch. Most of my reels are actually set where I can switch mid cast though and be ready to reel by the time the lure hits the water. I am left handed, but I reel with my right hand. I can't fish a left hand retreive baitcaster because my fingers keep slipping off the handle when I'm reeling. I have 3 spinning reels. Two are set to left hand retrieve and one is set for a right hand. I can switch between all my reels with absolutely no problem. Seems weird to me lol

I don't think people are so much targeting multiple fish catches any more than they are with a double fluke rig, or front runner/spook, double take lure. I'm sure everyone hopes and will now probably be expecting a multiple fish catch. But I believe, at least for me, that it is the presentation that this rig offers. I would personally fish this rig with only one bait if thats all I was allowed, and use the other leaders for spinnerbait blade attachments so I could still get the effect of the schooling fish presentation. I think thats the unique thing about the rig. Not that it can and probably has caught more doubles than most other lures have in the past.

Thanks for clarifying. My stance on the rig is that I think there is nothing wrong with it if you are within the legal boundaries of your state. If you are casting and not trolling and pretty much just using it like any other bait. I have heard one very legit explanation of why you should not be allowed to use this rig. And that is the number of fish in your boat. If an angler is only allowed 5 fish to his limit, plus 1 fish as he is culling. Never no more than 6 fish in the boat at one time. But, i think the legitimate and very fair rule to this would be that the angler wouldn't be allowed to bring them in the boat. If he has 5 fish and catches a double. He should not be able to bring both fish IN THE BOAT. He could either pick the one he thinks will cull and return the other before landing it inside of the boat, or he could free line, or some how keep the fish out of the boat while a fish from the livewell is released before the two fish are netter or swung into the boat. If you bring 7 fish aboard, you should be DQ'd. I think this would be a fair way of justifying and keeping a fair playing field to those that are using and those that are not using the alabama rig. (I also think that the same should hold true for doubles on any other lure...I can't remember, but I know that Tim Horton caught several doubles on crankbaits a couple years ago. I don't know if he had a limit or not when he did this though...but that wasn't really an issue then. It would be now and I think the same restraints should be put in place no matter the bait or reason) The posts about foul hooking fish... I am torn between. I am a catch and release angler, and I do want the fish returned in the best state possible. But, on the other hand, I have caught MANY fish that have foul hooked themselves on a trap bait, or spook when they whip around and grab a tail. AGAIN, some states do not allow you to keep foul hooked fish. If thats the case, and one fish is foul hooked in anyway, (even if it is hooked in the mouth) I think you should have to return the fish. I can't say what impact a foul hooked fish has on its health...it would have to be much more harm than good, but that doesn't really mean that it hinders them in any other way once they are released. I think a honest fisherman, like MOST fisherman are, can effectively fish an Alabama rig in tournaments, practice, and in good sport while still being a conservationist and practice healthy catch and release habits. This lure may help others that wouldn't follow the rules possibly catch more than they need to keep. But, the lure and idea is out. They are going to do that with whatever lure and whatever way they can find anyway. That is no reason to ban it from the people that care most about the habitats and well being of the fish that they pursue.

I still don't get this??? Isn't any kind of specific species fishing different from "just fishing"? I mean, just goin fishing to someone else may mean 12 beers, worms, and a bell to let them know when something is biting? A carp fisherman definition of "just fishing" is going to be completely different with different baits, tools, and techniques than someone fishing for largemouth. So yea, rightfully some of us will think its different from "just fishing".