Some Pleased, Others Would've Preferred To Wait

By John Johnson
Managing Editor

As 2012 progresses, the fishing community will come to know a lot more about the Alabama Rig and whether it's the most effective tool for putting bass in a boat short of electromagnetic shockwaves or underwater explosives. Those answers, however, won't come from the Bassmaster Elite Series.

Some Elite anglers are happy about that, others not so much.

B.A.S.S. announced Tuesday that the A-Rig – introduced to the tournament world by Paul Elias last October during his stunning FLW Tour Open victory at Alabama's Lake Guntersville – will not be allowed for practice or competition during next month's Bassmaster Classic, nor during the Elite Series season to follow. All other umbrella-style or multi-lure setups – double Flukes, dropshots employing a jig as the weight, double topwaters, etc. – are out as well.

The ban technically starts on Feb. 1, but since it pertains only to the Classic and Elites and there are no such events between now and then, for practical purposes it's effective right away. It remains to be seen whether other tournament organizations will follow suit, although FLW has indicated that no such prohibition is immediately forthcoming.

Too Dang Easy?

B.A.S.S., which stated in its press release that the ban was put in place at the unanimous recommendation of the Elite Series Rules Committee (a group of anglers whose identities are not publicized), took pains to emphasize that the organization doesn't view the A-Rig as some sort of five-headed monster that's primed to decimate fisheries from coast to coast. Rather, the rationale seemed to be along the lines that the A-Rig, which was responsible for numerous lower-level tournament victories in the wake of Elias' triumph, detracts from the prestige of the Elite Series by making bass (in certain situations, anyway) simply too easy to catch.

One anonymous Rules Committee member went so far as to say: "It doesn't matter how you work it. The fish can't help themselves."

It's doubtful that the ruling will have a negative effect on sales of the A-Rig (developed over the last several years by Alabamian Andy Poss) and its now-numerous knockoffs. There's certainly nothing to stop the producers from touting it as "so good that it's been banned by the Bassmaster Elite Series," much the way that longer-hitting drivers outlawed for tournament use by the United States Golf Association were marketed in the 1990s. Many thousands of recreational players went out and bought those clubs after the ruling.

Elite anglers who oppose the ban think that B.A.S.S. should've allowed the A-Rig to be used during the upcoming season so that a better reading on its overall effectiveness could be obtained. It's proven to be deadly on suspended bass in the fall (and into the winter in some of the warmer parts of the country), but its impact during the three spawning stages and into the summer is not yet known.

Even if it proves to be a year-round killer, some of those same anglers wonder whether its use can be considered more unethical than the completely legal sight-fishing technique, which involves standing on a boat deck above a nesting bass and attempting to agitate it into biting.

Opinions Mixed

Following is a sampling of the comments BassFan obtained from Elite Series anglers on the heels of Tuesday's announcement.

Paul Elias
"I'm very disappointed in B.A.S.S. and the anglers on the Rules Committee. I feel like they owed the technique at least a season on the tour to be proven whether it's all that everybody's saying it is. It's a new technique, and all it did was enable people who love fishing and love catching fish to have a new way to go out and have a lot of fun. It put additional anglers on the water and it bolstered tackle sales within the industry, and those things are all positive.

"I think a lot of times these kinds of decisions are sponsor-oriented – like if I'd been on that committee, I'd have been screaming and hollering. If certain other companies were the manufacturer of the Alabama Rig, I don't think you could've gotten a unanimous vote to ban it on the Elite trail.

"It's very hard for an angler to make a conscious decision like this because they've got too many irons in the fire that might turn against them. When I was on those types of committees, I tried to pride myself on doing what was good for the whole group, and that was very hard. I don't think eight or 10 anglers can make that type of decision.

"I have a lot of respect for the guys on that committee and I know they're trying to do what's best for the sport. I disagree with them, but it is what it is.

"I will say, though, that if I knew who the guy was who said the fish couldn't help themselves, I'd be the first one to laugh him out of the house. I've obviously seen it when the fish would bite it, and I've seen it when the fish wouldn't bite it. That's a pretty foolish statement coming from a guy who's supposed to be one of the 100 Elite anglers in the country."

Jeff Kriet
"I'm all for (the ban) – I don't think we need that thing out there. Is it a good way to catch fish? Yeah, but so are trolling and live bait. It's like in the major leagues, you can't use an aluminum bat.

"Absolutely, that thing catches them. What would happen is tournaments wouldn't be won deep-cranking and they wouldn't be won on a football jig or a big worm. You'd either have to throw (the A-Rig) or find a new profession, and that's a fact. You can't beat that thing offshore.

"B.A.S.S. will get crucified for this, but the majority of the guys it affects are happy."

Terry Scroggins
"I could've gone either way, but I think it's probably a good idea that they banned it. You can't use but one rod at a time, so why should you be able to use five baits? I've thrown one, and you've still got to be able to catch them, but there's certain areas where it works extremely well.

"When you get to the Elite level, I think it should be more about skill and technique than chunking something out and winding it in."

Dean Rojas
"I was looking forward to learning how to fish it. Just 3 hours before I got home (Tuesday), I went out and bought four of them to mess around with, then I get home and find out it's been banned.

"I was actually intrigued to see how it would fare when the seasons changed and I thought it would pull more people off the bank. It's different and it's innovative, and I'm all about that.

"This is pure speculation, but I think (the ruling) probably had a lot to do with the laws and regulations of the different bodies of water that we fish. There could've been some gray areas there, and maybe they just said to heck with it, let's make sure we stay out of trouble and just not allow it."

Zell Rowland
"I could take it one way or the other, but I look at it as we're sportsmen and that means one rod, one reel and one bait and we catch one fish at a time, not a bunch on one cast. There have been a lot of times when I'd have loved to drift a flat with two rods, both of them with Carolina rigs, and I've often thought that I'd like to have a remote-control boat to put my jig on and then run it underneath some docks, and then reverse it and knock my jig off. I don't know that there's a rule against that, but if there wasn't and I started doing it, they'd make one.

"I guess this means I won't have to have a flipping stick with 80-pound braid on it."

Kevin Short
"I like (the ruling). I have no problems with it. I think it's a good call.

"I'm a little concerned about what's going to happen with this thing when it really takes off. I don't know that our not using it is going to slow it down any, but it catches way more fish than anything I've ever used. Yeah, we've got laws in place, but it's pretty easy to take home any fish you want to take home. Here in Arkansas there are two game wardens in every county and that's not enough. They just can't be everywhere.

"It flat-out catches them. I've seen it here in Arkansas, and I've seen it on every single lake. Cooler water temperatures don't seem to make a difference – the only thing that seems to affect it is it's not as effective in dirtier water. I'm worried about what's going to happen in March or April.

"I think we ought to cast one bait with one rod and one reel. If you're not good enough to catch them that way, then you don't need to be catching them.

"I'm glad to see B.A.S.S. make a good call, because they've made some bad ones. I have to give them props for this one."

Ish Monroe
"It is what it is. When rule changes are made, I go along with them and I don't argue or fight anymore. I'm not disappointed – as long as everybody follows it, it's good.

"I've fished one and I didn't think it was that big of a deal, but I'd have thrown one if I'd had to throw it."

Russ Lane
"I'm kind of bummed. I want to see the sport take it's natural course and when something comes along, I want to see everybody get excited about it and embrace it and learn the new techniques. That's how we all get better – to heck with watching Kevin VanDam win every tournament with a crankbait.

"I just wanted to make sure the decision was based on the right motive, and I guess we'll never know that. I would've liked to have seen them let the bait take its course over a full year. I really don't think it's any more detrimental than sight-fishing or using any other bait with treble hooks."

Notable

> In an email earlier this month, FLW public relations director Chad Gay communicated the following to BassFan: "Concerning the Alabama Rig, there’s no news concerning this technique. Since last year’s EverStart Championship (the first tournament that the Alabama had to be addressed), FLW’s stance has not changed. The Alabama Rig is a legal technique in FLW competition as long as it is defined as legal by the host tournament’s state wildlife and/or fisheries organization."