BassBlaster

The Island of Misfit……Umbrella Rigs?

Can you spot the umbrella rig in this picture?

Two years ago, I was deep cranking a local reservoir during the summer with a Lucky Craft RC 2.5 DD. On one particular cast, my bait stopped and loaded up, so I reared back and swung. Turned out I was hung up. I gave the rod a few good sharp snaps, and the bait broke free from whatever I had hooked – sort of.

There was definitely some resistance when I was reeling back in, but it certainly wasn’t a fish. Once I got the crankbait back to the boat, I found out exactly what I had snagged on. It turned out to be another Lucky Craft RC 2.5 DD, just in a different color. I’m not sure exactly what the odds are of that, and perhaps you guys have a good story or two of something similar happening.

One thing I found out this past week though; this type thing may turn out to be a much more common occurrence on lakes around the country.

I was watching a video about how to fish this here new A-Rig bait, and the guy mentions that equipment is going to be a really, really big deal. He pointed to the fact that he’s already snagged and brought in 3 other umbrella-type rigs from the bottom of the lake that others had broken off. Sounded kind of hilarious to me given the fact you know how many guys are just chucking this thing on whatever equipment they’ve got right now, seeing as how this is the bestest thing since sliced bread in the bassin’ world – probably even better than that.

Then this weekend, I was talking with FLW Tour Pro Jacob Wheeler, who had just gotten back from a fishing trip down in Tennessee, plying the waters of Lake Chickamauga among others. That’s when he tells me about the A-Rig he snatched off the bottom of the lake while throwing a Rapala DT-16 on a deep creek channel flat.

That got me wondering – how many of these darn things do you think are lying on the bottom of your local waters right now? I’m thinking maybe we need to start a contest or something this year, like a big prize to the guy that snags the most umbrella rigs from the bottom of his local lakes. We could do like that Billy Bass thing Jay mentioned a while back and create a wall, all decorated with the recovered remains of long lost umbrella gear.

If anyone else has snagged one from their local lake already, let’s hear about it. If you haven’t done so yet, I bet you do before the year is out, especially after everybody and their brother starts chunking this thing come spring.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. admin (mostly Jay)

    January 16, 2012 at 2:10 pm

    The A-Snag?

  2. Alex Voog

    January 16, 2012 at 5:26 pm

    Not too many folks up this away chuckin’ A-Rigs, but in the last year I’ve “recovered” lures other people lost at a rate 4 times what I personally lost (like I really need more lures). Still, I give ’em a scrub and put new c-rings and hooks then chuck them in the nastiest places. If I lose ’em then , well no biggie, they were free and I’m not losing $20+ Japanese baits to marginal steel cable/mesh/old braid clustered locations nor to the toothy critters…

  3. Bill M

    January 17, 2012 at 8:57 pm

    On this front, I am definitely a “giver” and not a “taker”. I don’t lose much, but when I fished from the bank, I would always find great stuff leftover from the night anglers.

    Lanterns, flashlights, sunglasses and miles of stringers. I still use wire cutters and pliers that were bank finds.

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