Alabama Rig- So Good It's Illegal in Some States

Every so often a new discovery is made or a new product developed that changes the course of history. Harnessing electricity, discovering radio waves, the invention of the telephone, radio, and TV are among those things that changed history. Last year a new lure was released that rose to that level for anglers of all kinds, but especially those involved in bass fishing. The lure, named the Alabama rig startled the fishing world with its amazing results. Many anglers thought it was too good to be true. Others, following the thinking that every thing great must be illegal, immoral, or fattening decided the Alabama rig should be illegal.

The Alabama rig was designed by Andy Poss. He took over a year refining his design to make it simple but effective. The concept of the Alabama rig is not new. Several years ago the umbrella lure was developed and used for trolling. The lure was so effective for catching stripers that states like Tennessee discussed outlawing it but decided to just regulate it.

The design of the Alabama rig is very simple. It is a single metal rod with an eye hook on one end to attach the fishing line. On the other end of the rod five longer metal rods are attached. At the end of each of these five rods is a swivel hook where a commercial lure can be attached. This design allows the angler to choose the type of commercial lure use. When the Alabama rig is equipped with swimbait it looks like a small school of bait fish.

The rig's effectiveness is due to the bass' nature. Bass are predatory, they hunt and ambush prey. They are also designed to conserve energy and hunt in the most effective manner possible. Therefore, when a bass sees a school of bait fish, they will attack every time. The older, larger bass know that they can get at least one and possibly two or three fish out of a school of fish. The amazing effectiveness of the rig has led most anglers to believe it should be illegal. In fact, the 2012 Bassmaster classic has outlawed the use of the rig. They claim it gives an unfair advantage to those who use it. It also increases the risk of fowl hooked fish, and fowl hooked fish have a low survival rate.

When Tennessee decided to regulate the umbrella lure they defined the lure in such a way that the regulations will apply to the Alabama rig. The rules apply to those rigs that hold three or more lures. When there are more than three lures, if the hooks used are #8 or smaller, then each of the lures may have a hook. That hooks maybe a single, double, or treble hook, however, if the lure use larger hooks, only one lure may have a hook and that hook must be a single hook. It appears other states will be looking at outlawing or regulating the Alabama rig in the near future. It just goes to show that a good thing may be too good.

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