THE BASS COLLEGE

After being away on business travel I was in need of a fishing fix. Having purchased a locally made A-Rig clone I decided to hit the lake a few days ago with dreams of slaying the fish. So off I went to the lake with my new rig. Weather was picture perfect with temps in the low 50's for the morning with a slight breeze and blue bird skies. Water temps was 54 degrees witha slight chop...my kind of water.

So I ran to a few of my favorite spots and started throwing the Rig. Now, as far as I am concerned, there is some learning to do here. How to cast, where to cast, how deep to let the rig sink before retreiving it and how fast. And the big one, how the heck to cast the thing.

Well after throwing it for a few hours in several spots and only getting to strikes, most likely on the hookless setups...go to stay legal...with only 2 hooks allowed here, I concluded that while this may be the hottest thing going across the country, there is more to just dropping it in the water and striking gold.

The only saving grace was that at one point I was fishing near another couple of anglers and they had not hit gold throwing it as well that day. I felt much better...LOL

But, while this rig is a great idea, I believe you need to spend some quality time trying diferent setups and trowing it until your arm falls off to get a real feel of how to put this rig to work.

Can't wait to go out again and work on my presentation.

Setup was:

MH 7'6" BPS Carbonlite CL76TXF Power Hvy with an Extra Fast Tip, 5 hollow belly swimmers with 1/16oz jig heads.

Setup actually worked very well, the Rig traveled well through the water and all of the swimmers tracked very well.

I'll get'em next time!

LMHO

I do believe there will be a time when and not to throw this bait. And like you said , it will take a lot of time on the water to learn about this new bait.

This is exactly what I have been saying since it came out and people started saying they wanted it banned. Yeah, ban it, that way I can relax when I am fishing and wont have to work so hard. lol There is a time and place for it, it does not work all the time, everywhere, all year long, just like a swimjig, hot many times in many places, not hot sometimes or at all many times in many places. It's a tool, like all the rest, waiting to be used when it is the right time to use it thats all it is and all it ever was. I will throw it when the shad are schooling in certain places and slam them hard!! I will throw it in the fall at times and slam them hard. I will throw it sometimes after the spawn in places where they haven't seen it and pick up giant singles that i usually catch on bigger swimbaits, but it will not be the go to Magic bait, anymore than a Chatterbait or my SWIM JIG  is, lol, they are tools that make it great at the right place and time.

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I'd have to say it was fun to throw it but, it won't be my go to rig unless the situation is right.  I can see it used even as a search bait from time to time though. 

On the flipside, from what the local reports are here in Arizona this seems to be working at certain lakes quite well for some anglers and tournaments are being decided by throwing them.  But again, time and place....and time on the water perfecting your presentation. JMHO

Hey Fred, What baits did you have hooks in? Top, middle or bottom.

The report is completely true, its not a savior rig that will work 24/7 but on certain situations it'll be a blast, just like any other presentation at the right timing. Theres definately a learning curve but I personally think its fun to throw and it will be a main part of my arsenal, mainly because I dont want to get beat by not having it. Im not sure how Fred has his setup exactly but I had the bottom two hooks on mine rigged up with scrounger heads and I lost one and missed one(no hookup). From what Ive heard the bottom hooks followed by the middle get the most hookups and are a higher percentage for anyone throwing it without 5 hooks. Theres no 100 percent way to throw it and it will expand as time grows, but go out and try it, its something new to learn

I sure will Chris after this dang ice gets off the water. lol We are allowed 3 hooks here in Ohio. Just looking for the best way to rig. Thanks for sharing.

Well when to water warms and thaws Id personally throw hooks on the bottom two and the middle one since the fish will be coming from below to hit them.

Chris at January 6, 2012 at 7:42 PM

Well when to water warms and thaws Id personally throw hooks on the bottom two and the middle one since the fish will be coming from below to hit them.

Thats right thats how they have been hitting them anyway so far from all people who throw them that talk to me. 

sisezz73 at January 6, 2012 at 7:07 PM

Hey Fred, What baits did you have hooks in? Top, middle or bottom.

I was throwing Basstrix Fat Minnow hollow belly  Paddle Tail in a Trout pattern.  Had the two hooks in the two bottom arms of the rig.

only aloud 3 baits here in Tennessee. You can't go hookless on the other two. You can leave two wires empty, But no baits on the two, or get a three wire rig. This was set 10 years ago by request from the striper fishing industy. Becuase of high mortality rate in the summer months deep trolling for stripers. Apologize if this has already been told here. A little new to the site

Thanks Rick for the info. Good info to hear what are the rules in other states.