Alabama insanity: How the A-rig fundamentally changes our thinking about bass behavior
It’s been almost a month since Paul Elias first tied on an Alabama rig and completely transformed Lake Guntersville and the final Walmart FLW Tour event of the 2011 season. The insanity surrounding the five-wire contraption, which looks more like my 8th-grade head gear than a fishing lure, hasn’t died. In fact, this could be just the tip of the iceberg.
My first experience with the Alabama rig took place at the Forrest Wood Cup back in early August. My wife and I were headed over to the Expo Saturday afternoon and by chance we encountered a man named Andy Poss. Andy introduced himself in the hotel elevator, quickly explained his new contraption and then handed me his business card with an open invitation to come visit his booth.
I remember getting off the elevator and shaking my head at what I just heard. While Andy was a nice guy, I was convinced there was no way that this metal chandelier-looking thing was ever going to catch a bass. My wife asked me if the Alabama rig would work and I defiantly said “no.” I may have even thrown a four-letter cussword in front of the “no.” Needless to say I never visited the booth.
Fast forward three months and the Alabama rig is for real – my sincere apologies to Mr. Poss.
Like it or hate it, the A-rig catches fish because it presents a series of baits in an entirely new fashion. 
For a moment, let’s forget about the ridiculous eBay prices and all the knock-offs being made and just think about the pure fishing impact.
What’s so fascinating about the A-rig is that it fundamentally changes how we think about bass behavior. It struck me two different ways. For starters, why do we pay all this money for premium invisible line when bass will eat baits presented on wires? We’re not talking thick mono or even braid here; we’re talking wires. WIRES! From now on I’m going to use leadcore on all my reels so I never break a fish off again.
Secondly, it lends tons of credibility to the theory of bass being conditioned to certain baits. Think about all the pros and recreational anglers who had been pounding Guntersville with crankbaits, worms, spoons, jigs, etc. Then Elias picked up the Alabama rig and reignited those stagnant fish.
In his words: “It was crazy. I would throw everything a bass pro would normally throw at these fish and I wouldn’t get a bite. Then I’d throw that Alabama rig and I’d catch one immediately.”
After the tournament, I spoke with several of the very best pros in the business. Until the A-rig phenomenon, many of them were convinced something was seriously wrong with the Guntersville bass population – perhaps a virus or fish kill. But the truth is that the bass were there all along. They just became conditioned to the standard offshore offerings – sitting there watching as bait after bait went by their noses.
Call me crazy, but I think it’s entirely possible that highly-pressured bass have learned not to feed on singular baitfish. These Guntersville bass wouldn’t eat a solo swimbait, but if you tied five of them on at once, they attacked with ferocity. That concept is enthralling and could lead to more multiple-bait presentations.
The questions and the possibilities are endless. Personally, I can’t wait to see how the A-rig performs in other situations. Will the same principles hold true in clear water? Will it work in the late spring during a shad spawn? Only time will tell.