So I'm new to this whole "fishing with a daggone chandelier" deal, but i'm getting ready to buy a few and try them over the weekend, and ive gotta admit ... these things look pretty dern sweet! Are there any experienced umbrella rig fisherman out there that can give me some pointers? Whats worked best for ya'll? Any help would be great!

First make sure you have the wright set up,I mean rod,line,reel! You want a big rod like a flippin stick or a rod with a x-fast tip and at least a 7 ft. rod,and the line ,no less that 65 lb. braid and a good reel that has a good brake system.

awesome man,  thanks for the help!

You might want to start working out before you go throw one of these around for a full day.  Ha.  These things definitely take some effort to sling around on the water all day.

 

But x2 on the right setup.  I personnaly only used 30# braid, but always better to play it safe as bassman said.

haha i gotcha So is it pretty much a steady retrieve with these things?

I have been perfecting the lightest rig possible. This is an example:

 

Outside arms:  LFT Live Magic Shad on #3/0 Gamakatsu Light Wire Offset Worm Hooks, weightless

 

Inside arm:  Johnson Silver Minnow

 

This rig can be fished on your jig rod.

Steady retrieve I upgraded to a 7'11" crucial rod in MH swim bait rod get you a rig with some small blades on it . I like Keitech fat swing impact in 4.8" in blue gill flash with a good 1/4 or 1/8 heads depending on depth I am fishing. I like to use it when bait is present but I have now caught fish where there was none. Tip is you graph fish with no bait around make the rig stay in contact with the structure. I have a 6.4 to 1 reel 28 " per turn with 80# braid .Go ahead and buy a rig retriever you'll need it.Also be sure to put backing on your reel it stinks when you set the hook and the line just spins and your reel.

great help guys!

If you are fishing it deep, note the depth you are in on the graph.  Drop the bait over the side, and count it down to the bottom. Now, with a little math, you can get a fall rate.  If you are marking suspended fish, note their depth, and count the bait down to just above that depth before starting your retrieve.  This will put your bait right in the zone.

i gotcha

Steady retrieve I upgraded to a 7'11" crucial rod in MH swim bait rod get you a rig with some small blades on it . I like Keitech fat swing impact in 4.8" in blue gill flash with a good 1/4 or 1/8 heads depending on depth I am fishing. I like to use it when bait is present but I have now caught fish where there was none. Tip is you graph fish with no bait around make the rig stay in contact with the structure. I have a 6.4 to 1 reel 28 " per turn with 80# braid .Go ahead and buy a rig retriever you'll need it.Also be sure to put backing on your reel it stinks when you set the hook and the line just spins and your reel.

wait, why do you want to putt backing line on your reel?

Because the braid will slip on the spool an cause missed hook sets if you don't. My spools are solid so you can't tie thru them . You can also put a wrap of tape on the spool to prevent this.

I just started to throw "the rig" seriously this season after picking up a combo designed for it. I threw one some last year on a couple different rods that weren't ideal for it, one being a flipping stick. I picked up a Cumara A umbrella rig rod over the winter and it's made a huge difference in the effort and energy used while throwing a rig all day. So I'd say the previous advise on getting the correct set up is 100% spot on and in my opinion it begins with the rod.

 

I'm using 25# P-Line CXX on my rig gear, I tried braid on one of the set ups I threw it on last year and didn't like it for this technique. I've not had a single problem using the copoly and love the way it fishes so I don't see myself switching any time soon. One of my friends uses 50# braid and he hasn't run into any problems yet that I know of but I have been present when a backlash with braid coupled with a rig resulted in the lose of the rig. Granted the guy was only using 50# so going up to 65-80# may solve this issue.

 

The biggest thing I had to learn to do was not to set the hook as soon as I felt the strike, a lot of times the bass just "runs through" the bait intead of eating one, I learned if I just kept reeling steady that fish will come right back and bite. I always try and wait until I can feel the weight of the fish before setting, this may be common knowledge but it was hard for me to do at first. 

 

Also I run weighted swimbait hooks not open jigheads, this has cut down on the number of "snags" I've had. The last thing I can think of right now is to make sure you make the bait in the middle of your rig stand out a little from the rest. You could go with a totally different color or use a little bigger bait. You could just dye the tail of the bait in the center, just so it stands out from the rest. I usually use all the same color just with the center bait being the largest.

The micros are where its at for me

 

I have a three arm micro with three of the smallest sick fish made on it.

 

Doesnt even weigh an ounce.

http://www.basswishes.com/Store/tabid/269/List/1/ProductID/178/Default.aspx

I just started using these myself, albeit for striper/hybrid not bass. I had the most success when trolling the rig through big bait clouds. No bait clouds usually = no bites for me.