John's Journal...

The Hottest New Bass Fishing Tactic - the Alabama Rig

Day 5: Fishing the Alabama Rig for Bass with Paul Elias

Editor’s Note: Paul Elias won $100,000 in October, 2011, on Alabama’s Lake Guntersville by using a new technique and a new apparatus called the Alabama Rig at this FLW tournament. Elias will tell us how he discovered the rig, how he learned to fish it, and how this new technique can put more bass in your boat during November and December and particularly any months that bass suspend.

Click for Larger ViewThe Alabama Rig is the hottest new tactic for bass in the fishing market today. News in the bass-fishing world travels fast. At the beginning of the October FLW Lake Guntersville tournament, only six or seven competitors started the tournament using the Alabama Rig. But after the second day of the tournament, the top 20 anglers in the tournament fished the Alabama Rig. Click for Larger ViewWhen the field was cut to 20, every fisherman had an Alabama Rig tied-on one of the rods on the casting deck. You can’t buy the Alabama Rig in stores at this writing. However, you can purchase the rig at www.thealabamarig.com.

I believe that at certain times of the year, the Alabama Rig will be unbeatable in terms of bass fishing. You’re presenting more than one lure to the bass at one time, and the bass never have seen this type of presentation. Too, the Alabama Rig displaces much-more water then a single lure does, so the bass can zero-in on the rig much quicker and easier than they can on a single lure. The strikes you receive on the Alabama Rig are much-more violent than they are when you’re fishing a single lure. I think the bass believe they’re busting into a school of shad and want to eat one of the shad and injure the other shad in the school. Some of the bass I’ve caught have had two lures in their mouths at the same time. Something else I’ve learned about the Alabama Rig is that it can be fished close to the bottom. Click for Larger View

As you know, when you’re fishing for suspended bass, you need to leave your hooks exposed. However, when you’re fishing the bottom, you need to make your lures weedless. Click for Larger ViewThe Alabama Rig without the five blures attached only weighs about 3/8-ounce. I was using 3/8- or 1/2-ounce heads, one on each wire with the Mann’s HardNose Jigs, which allowed me to cast 3 to 5 ounces of weight every time I threw the Alabama Rig out, using swimbait heads rigged with exposed hooks to catch suspended bass. However, to swim the Alabama Rig slowly and close to the bottom or the rocks, you’ll need Gamakatsu No. 6 or No. 7 wide gap hooks with either a 1/8-ounce or 1/4-ounce weight already attached to the hook. Texas-rig each individual hook, and then the hooks won’t hang on the bottom.


Check back each day this week for more about "The Hottest New Bass Fishing Tactic - the Alabama Rig "

Day 1: The Alabama Rig Pulls In $90,000 for Bass Pro Dan Morehead
Day 2: Learn More about the Alabama Rig for Catching Bass
Day 3: Bass Pro Paul Elias Wins $100,000 on the Alabama Rig by Catching 102-Plus Pounds
Day 4: Paul Elias Tells How to Fish the Alabama Rig and Why to Fish It
Day 5: Fishing the Alabama Rig for Bass with Paul Elias

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Entry 639, Day 5