B.A.S.S Rains down on the Umbrella Rig (Alabama Rig)

I dont think this comes as much of a surprise to many of us who have been watching the dramatic rise of this years fad product.. the Alabama Rig. There has been rumblings for months now that BASS would squash the use of this somewhat controversial product, and now they have.. well sort of.


In true B.A.S.S fashion they have banned the use of the Alabama rig in all Elite Series events starting on Feb 1st.. Just in time to have the ban in place for Feb's Bassmaster Classic the series main annual event. But not all levels of B.A.S.S tournament are effected by the change, lower level series and college will still continue to use the rig at this time.


I do get where this rule change came from, and if you read the fine print you will also notice the Alabama or Umbrella rig is not the only thing effected by the change. B.A.S.S will continue to enforce the 1 rod, 1 reel, 1 cast mantra and will no longer permitted double soft jerk-bait rigs, drop shot rigs with jigs used as weights, double topwater setups and other multi-lure rigs. These all fall under the ban put in place to stop the use of the Alabama rig.


So the question now is... how does this effect the sales and growth of a technique still in its infancy? Tournament guys will tell you that it is dead in the water, but what percent of fisherman are tournament anglers? does this really effect the mass? I think the answer is yes and no.


Yes, because the success of tournament anglers  has been pushed down the line and enhanced to legend of this product, and yes because tournament anglers spend more money on gear then the average weekend warrior.. but No, because the hype is out there, and as long as it is legal in  your area a catches fish guys will use it.


To be honest I never thought the Alabama or umbrella rig would have a ling life span, and I think this recent ban will shorten it for sure. That being said then the tackle shops start to clear them out at discount prices, i think I will pick one up, just to say I gave it a toss.

If you are looking for more info here is a link to the article posted on the B.A.S.S site


http://www.bassmaster.com/news/bass-imposes-one-lure-rule-classic-and-elite-series