I know the a-rig has received a lot of acclaim, to the point where it's been banned in some tournaments. I've been fishing the Yumbrella as my first foray into an a-rig over the past 2 years and I haven't had so much as a sniff on this thing. Not even a follow or a feisty pike. To me it looks d**n good in the water, so I don't think my rigging is the problem. I've tried a few different sizes of hooks/swimbaits/colours. Nada. Probably a total of 6 hours fishing the thing over multiple trips. 

 

I'm in Ontario and fishing natural lakes. I'm tried to fish it in the beginning of the season and the Fall when the water is coldest. I've mainly been fishing it where I would a spinner bait in the Fall, which is anywhere I think bass are busting on baitfish (bays, over weedbeds, main lake points, over rocky boulders). I've had bites with other moving baits in the same places, so I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong or if a-rigs just aren't the deal up here? Our water is fairly clear compared to say Alabama, so maybe that's the reason. We also don't have shad and to me the a-rig looks like a ball of bigger baitfish than what we'd normally see schooled up and getting eaten in Fall here (shiners, small minnows). 

 

Curious if anyone else has had success in Canada, NY, Michigan, Wisconsin?

Northern Michigan ~

A-Jay

In SW MI on a clear lake, the A rig has been best for me in sub 50 degree water and I use one without blades.  It's strange because spinnerbaits, underspins, spoons, and tail spinners are all effective with flash, but much less success with bladed a rigs.  My best a rig days have also been when the fish seem to be relating to the bottom.  Another confounding experience, as one would think suspending fish should be interested.  With how much effort it takes to fish, I find myself chucking it around less and less frequently,  about 4-5 weeks during oct/nov and march/april. I won't give it up completely because there is the opportunity for a big big bite.

 

scott

There are days when they won't eat a 4.5-5.5" standard size A-Rig that's typically rigged with 4-4.5" swimbaits, however they'll hammer the smaller 3.5" Finesse A-Rigs with 3-3.5" swimbaits.

 

If I fished clear water I doubt I'd throw rigs with blades on them, so I'd agree with softwateronly on that aspect.   

 

Sounds like you are just overwhelming them.....little too much flash, little too much bulk.   

 

I fish 2-3ft of viz, and I find that when it gets reduced even further after a strong winter rain, the A-Rig really shines.   

 

Lastly, the colder you are, the better the rig works in my experience.   I'm likely 2 months away from the start of peak A-Rig season here in central Alabama.    

I don’t even own one. State law does not allow more than one of the minnows to have a hook, so the rest are fakes. Really no advantage over any other lure when only one can have a hook.

To the OP @Cdn Angler, don’t force it if it’s not working.

 

Smashes on the St Lawrence 

Thanks for the replies all. Sounds like I should try downsizing and maybe change the one blade that I have to a dummy bait. And think about using an a-rig with smaller hooks/swimbaits. Perhaps there is a model of a-rig that would work better for this purpose. And think about using it at the tail end of the season (late October). 

 

The odd thing is that I've had quite a bit of luck throwing the on point lures multi-blade spinnerbait in clear water, which has four blades:  https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/spinnerbaits.html?from=basres. The only thing I can think of is that this looks more like a small ball of bait than four larger swimbaits that are separated by about 6 inches. 

 

Interesting that the St. Lawrence it has done well. I'm guessing the current helps. I don't fish the Larry, but I do fish the Ottawa River sometimes, which is similar-ish. 

6 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Northern Michigan ~

A-Jay

 

Lots of food for thought here, especially how you were fishing it in mid-August. I also assumed that this rig would have drawing power, but it sounds like your experience is that it's better to put it right in their grill. You also fished it a bit shallower than I would have thought to, mainly because I figured it would be too loud/spook the fish. But seems to not always be the case. 

 

So I need to ensure it is closer to bottom, maybe fish a bit shallower, and probably fish a bit slower. That's how I fish 4-5 inch swimbaits, so it makes sense. I was using it a bit more like a spinnerbait (running overtop of fish usually) perhaps. 

 

I don't mind hucking the thing if it gets bites. I'm shocked I haven't caught a pike on it yet since they'll basically hit anything subsurface moving bait. 

Most people including myself don't fish the A-Rig slow enough, and close enough to cover because it's harder to recover rigs vs. lures, they hang up so easily, and ultimately cost a chunk of change and can be a pain to rig up.    The A-Rig takes forever to sink, and tends to rise on the retrieve unless slow rolled, that's why the biggest mistake I think people make is to first not count it down to the desired depth, and then fish it slow enough that it remains close to cover or the zone where the fish are feeding in.  

 

Live scope really helps you put the rig not only in front of more fish's faces, but equally important put it right on top of cover but not in it.    

 

Rod pumps make all the difference with a Rig as well, I'd say the vast majority of the fish I catch on them come right after a rod pump........it's making that rig flex out and in like a real baitfish school.       

 

Last winter my biggest A-Rig fish was only a 7.1 but it came out a foot of water I kid you not.     Then I had a day where I caught a 25lb+ 5 fish limit all in about 8-12fow, and lastly I ended the winter catching suspended fish over 35fow.   One of the reasons the A-Rig is so deadly is that you can cover the entire water column with it.   Fish down here in the south start out the winter pushing shallow every warming front they can, but by mid Jan. through mid Feb. they push back out deep feeding heavily on the threadfins that push really deep to live comfortably above their threshold of about 45d.     So just follow the fish/baitfish, but keep using the A-Rig regardless if you are dirt shallow, or very deep.   

 

A-Rig season is electric, man I can't wait!   

Good info @AlabamaSpothunter

 

I got a couple to try this year and blade baits of course ?

 

 

Thanks!  You seriously got that Midas/big fish touch, it's scary to think what you could hammer on the rig.  

 

This thread is getting me jacked......talking about Blade baits ?

 

 

Nothing new but to echo some of the above. I'm way south of you though.

1) slowing down has always given me bigger and more fish. 

2) my standard size is a 3.8, and will occasionally downsize to a 3.0/3.2 

3) One of the a-rig makers told me that the bladed is for active fish and the non-bladed was for passive/neutral fish. He said to think of the bladed like a crankbait with a big rattle in it. There's a lot coming their way as it is a really big presentation with the blades on it.