Take some cold water, plenty of current and just about any five swimbaits, put the swimbaits on an Alabama Rig, throw them into Pickwick Lake on 65 lb. braid and presto! It’s time to catch some big bass and lots of them. Pickwick has always been famous for its big smallmouth bass, but years from now it may be even more famous as the birthplace of the Alabama Rig, or “A-Rig”. The A-Rig was certainly a major factor on Sunday, February 17, 2013 in the D&D Marine Open on Pickwick Lake, the second stop of the 2013 Top Rod Solo Trail with 41 fishermen launching out of McFarland Park in Florence, AL in 20 degree temperatures.
The cold weather didn’t hinder the fishing at all, in fact, it set up perfectly for anglers to throw the Alabama Rig, which was invented at Pickwick two years ago.
The Alabama Rig has proven to be the best cold water bass bait on the planet…
The Alabama Rig has proven to be the best cold water bass bait on the planet, and the results from the tournament certainly bore that out. It doesn’t seem to matter to the bass what types of swimbaits or what color or what size they are, as long as you have five of them attached to an A-Rig. Water surface temperatures were in the high 40s, and the air temps did reach the low 50s with a mostly sunny day and only a light breeze at times. Another factor was the current, which has been heavy over the past month on the Tennessee River with over 100,000 cfs running through Wilson Dam for four straight weeks. TVA did have the spillways closed at the dam on the 17th for the first time in a month, but again ran over 100,000 cfs.
When the scales closed for the day, an amazing 18 of the 41 anglers had weighed-in 15 pounds of bass or more with Ben Smith, Muscle Shoals, AL, coming away with his first Top Rod Solo Trail victory. Smith finished with 21.87 lbs. of largemouth to edge second place finisher Shane Jewell, of Lawrenceburg, TN, who had 21.14 lbs. Lee Black, Danville, AL, took the Lifelike Taxidermy big fish with a 6.59 lb. largemouth.
Smith’s unusual combo pays off
Ben Smith went against the norm for his Alabama Rig components and it paid off with his first Top Rod victory and a check for $820. Five fat largemouths made up his winning weight of 21.87 lbs. He did catch his fish on the A-Rig, but, Smith used glimmer blue colored Zoom Fat Albert Grubs rigged on 1/8 ounce jigheads on the outside wires. On his middle wire Smith used a one ounce Storm swimbait instead of another grub. The added weight helped him get his rig deeper and stay down in 20 feet of water where he caught his winning fish. Smith said he caught about eight keepers on the day where scattered grass was nearby.
Jewell goes skinny dipping
Shane Jewell, Lawrenceburg, TN, also used an Alabama Rig to catch a big bag of four largemouths and one smallmouth from the lower end of Pickwick. He took home $512 for his second place finish with a weight of 21.14 lbs. Jewell used a more conventional approach in rigging his Alabama Rig, opting for Skinny Dipper swimbaits made by Reaction Innovations in money shot green and money shot violet colors. He rigged them on 1/8 and 1/4 oz. jigheads and threw the combo on 65 lb. braid to catch his fish out of 25 feet of water. He caught around 15 keepers on the day with his A-Rig.
Perrigo takes a dip too
Third place finisher Shawn Perrigo, Booneville, MS, took home $307 after weighing in 20.43 lbs. of largemouth bass. Perrigo also visited the lower end of the lake and tossed an Alabama Rig to catch his fish. He also chose the Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper swimbait to adorn his Rig. Perrigo used the sexy shad color and rigged them on 1/4 oz. jigheads which he threw on 65 lb. braid. He caught 12 keepers on they day en route to his final weight.
Oliver adds a blade
Finishing in fourth place with 20.41 lbs. of bass was John Oliver, Russellville, AL. Oliver had three nice smallmouth to go with two largemouths to help him earn $205 for 4th place. Oliver was the highest finisher to weigh multiple smallmouth and they also fell for an Alabama Rig. His rig may have been the most creative one thrown on the day. Oliver used a Terminator spinnerbait on his middle wire, with 3/8 oz. jigheads rigged with Skinny Dippers on the outside wires. He caught his three big smallmouths on his first stop of the
morning, in a 20 minute span, and had seven keepers total on the day. Oliver caught his fish in 15 feet of water.
Black takes lunker
In fifth place was Lee Black, Danville, AL, with a 20.24 lb. bag of largemouths that also included the Lifelike Taxidermy big fish of the tournament, a 6.59 lb. brute. He took home $102 for fifth place and the $100 big fish prize. Black was the only money finisher that did not make the long run downriver to catch his fish, but he did throw the Alabama Rig to catch them. Using a homemade version in 3-8 feet around rocks, Black caught all of his fish on the A-Rig with 5 1/2 inch unnamed swimbaits rigged on 1/4 ounce heads. He opted for 50 lb. braid and caught around 10 keepers on the day.
Neill nails ‘em
Adam Neill, Florence, AL, took home the last check of $102 with his sixth place weight of 19.03 lbs. Neill also used the A-Rig to catch his fish in 10 feet of water. He went with Lil Spanky swimbaits made by Netbait in Albino and rigged them on 1/8 ounce jigheads. Neill threw his combo on a Dobyns 735 Savvy Rod and a Shimano Curado E7 spooled with 65 lb. Power Pro braid.
Seventh thru Tenth
7th place: Don Perkins, Counce, Tn- 18.37 lbs.
8th place: Shelby Barnes, Muscle Shoals, AL- 17.75 lbs.
9th place: Eddie Jewell, Lawrenceburg, TN- 17.59 lbs.
10th place: Bobby Simmons, Lawrenceburg, TN- 17.40 lbs.
Photos and Story from Top Rod Solo Trail
